Julius Caesar Tragic Hero Essay
The Tragic Hero in Julius Caesar
Shakespeare's characterization of Brutus has often puzzled readers and critics of Julius Caesar, but rarely has anyone challenged Brutus' role as the hero of the play. Critics have labored, rather, in trying to understand Shakespeare's treatment of Caesar and in attempting to justify the title of the play without falling into the problematic assertion that Caesar and not Brutus is the real protagonist. A recent critic, however, reviewing some modern productions of the play, applauds the effort of one company to focus the play on Caesar rather than Brutus. Describing the Glen Byam Shaw production of Julius Caesar, in volume 11 of Shakespeare Survey,1 Roy Walker suggests that a successful interpretation of the …show more content…
He is, after all, the descendant of the noble Brutus who drove the Tarquins from Rome and who preserved the republic even against his own sons. But in the soliloquy of Act. II, Scene i, it is clear that for Brutus political justification is not enough to excuse the contemplated deed. In the privacy of his heart he forgets his ancestry and the cause of liberty; he repudiates Cassius' arguments and seeks out better ones. Through probing self-analysis he admits that his fears have to do with the effect that absolute power will have upon Caesar the man. He is afraid that Caesar will become cruel, merciless, disjoining "remorse from power". He is afraid that in the flush of victory, Caesar will turn his back on his old friends, "scorning the base degrees by which he did ascend". His scrupulous conscience forces him to admit that "the quarrel will bear no colour for the thing he is", that Caesar has not manifested any …show more content…
What! Shall one of us,
That struck the foremost man of all this world
But for supporting robbers, shall we now
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes. ...
(IV. iii. 18-24)
The cause of the sudden outburst is not important; what is significant is the complete reversal of values that has taken place. Caesar is now the "great Julius", the "foremost man" not of Rome but "of all the world", and those who struck him down are "villains". But the breaking point comes with the appearance of the ghost. Caesar's ghost is the bursting forth, full-fledged, of the truth which lies heavy on Brutus' soul. The pressure is too great. The ugly truth will no longer contain itself in the hidden depths of the wounded conscience. It comes forth in unmistakable clarity and speaks for itself.
After the initial excitement brought on by the appearance of Caesar's ghost, Brutus becomes to all appearances his old patient self, the calm Stoic. But it is an illusion. The serenity and resignation which settle over him just before the battle are nothing more than the symptoms which announce the death of the soul. The calm is the calm of death, the resignation is that of despair:
O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty
Shakespeare's characterization of Brutus has often puzzled readers and critics of Julius Caesar, but rarely has anyone challenged Brutus' role as the hero of the play. Critics have labored, rather, in trying to understand Shakespeare's treatment of Caesar and in attempting to justify the title of the play without falling into the problematic assertion that Caesar and not Brutus is the real protagonist. A recent critic, however, reviewing some modern productions of the play, applauds the effort of one company to focus the play on Caesar rather than Brutus. Describing the Glen Byam Shaw production of Julius Caesar, in volume 11 of Shakespeare Survey,1 Roy Walker suggests that a successful interpretation of the …show more content…
He is, after all, the descendant of the noble Brutus who drove the Tarquins from Rome and who preserved the republic even against his own sons. But in the soliloquy of Act. II, Scene i, it is clear that for Brutus political justification is not enough to excuse the contemplated deed. In the privacy of his heart he forgets his ancestry and the cause of liberty; he repudiates Cassius' arguments and seeks out better ones. Through probing self-analysis he admits that his fears have to do with the effect that absolute power will have upon Caesar the man. He is afraid that Caesar will become cruel, merciless, disjoining "remorse from power". He is afraid that in the flush of victory, Caesar will turn his back on his old friends, "scorning the base degrees by which he did ascend". His scrupulous conscience forces him to admit that "the quarrel will bear no colour for the thing he is", that Caesar has not manifested any …show more content…
What! Shall one of us,
That struck the foremost man of all this world
But for supporting robbers, shall we now
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes. ...
(IV. iii. 18-24)
The cause of the sudden outburst is not important; what is significant is the complete reversal of values that has taken place. Caesar is now the "great Julius", the "foremost man" not of Rome but "of all the world", and those who struck him down are "villains". But the breaking point comes with the appearance of the ghost. Caesar's ghost is the bursting forth, full-fledged, of the truth which lies heavy on Brutus' soul. The pressure is too great. The ugly truth will no longer contain itself in the hidden depths of the wounded conscience. It comes forth in unmistakable clarity and speaks for itself.
After the initial excitement brought on by the appearance of Caesar's ghost, Brutus becomes to all appearances his old patient self, the calm Stoic. But it is an illusion. The serenity and resignation which settle over him just before the battle are nothing more than the symptoms which announce the death of the soul. The calm is the calm of death, the resignation is that of despair:
O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty