Commemorating Julius Caesar’s Brutus
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Commemorating Julius Caesar’s Brutus
Tragedies are a representation of serious actions that lead to a disastrous end for the protagonist that evokes feelings of fear and pity. Considering such features of a play, while reading William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (1599), qualifies it to be one of the most remarkable tragedies in English literature. An important question must be raised during tackling tragedies; "Who is the tragic hero of the play?” Aristotle defines a tragic hero as a noble character who has a Hamartia or a tragic flaw that causes his downfall. Delving deep into Julius Caesar confuses readers with questioning the truth about heroes and villains in the play. Bearing in mind Aristotle’s definition, this article intends to show the reasons that qualify Brutus to be the tragic hero of Julius Caesar without denying the existence of an opposing view.
To begin with, Brutus enjoys two main inseparable characteristics of a tragic hero that are acknowledged by him and others, namely honour and nobility. To clarify, from the very beginning of the play, Brutus explicitly states how valuable honour is to him, so if anyone "Set honour in one eye, and death in the other, and I will look on both indifferently.'' (I, II, 85) Brutus, also, utilizes his honour to convince commoners that killing Caesar is not a treason; ''believe me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour.'' (III, II, 15) Regardless of the debate upon the truth of Cassius’ relationship with Brutus, he sincerely admits the noble ancestry of Brutus. Even minor character, such as Casca, describes honourable Brutus as ''alchemy''; that turns the evil conspiracy into a good deed. Remarkably, Brutus’ honour and nobility is even reemphasized posthumously. To manifest, he refuses to lose his honour in the battlefield and be conquered by his enemies; "For Brutus only overcame himself, and no man else hath honour by his death." (V, V, 57) These words of his former servant, Starto, are followed by Antony’s "This was the noblest Roman of them all". (V, V, 68) To summarize, no character, a friend or an enemy in the play fails to recognize Brutus’ honour and nobility during his life and after his death.
Furthermore, for a complete picture of Brutus being a tragic hero one must consider his tragic flaw or as Aristotle names it "Hamartia" which leads to his own deterioration. Identifying Brutus’ tragic flaw is not an easy task, as his character is quite complex; however, Brutus’ inability to judge, both people and events, can be considered his main flaw that contributes to his downfall. Unlike Caesar and Cassius, Brutus is not a good reader of people. For instance, Brutus does not recognize the manipulating personality of Cassius who urges him to kill his own friend thinking that this is simply for the "general good". Moreover, Brutus underestimates Antony and does not think of him as a "shrewd contriver" who is able to move the mobs against the conspirators with his powerful funeral speech. Furthermore, Brutus gets involved in actions that have fatal consequences because of his misjudgement of events and facts. Although, he believes that killing Caesar is only to ensure stability in Rome, he fails to understand that this deed just destabilizes Rome and sets war instead. He also believes that initiating the attacks at Philippi is a wise choice, ignoring Cassius’ refusal, and this unfortunately costs him a great deal of loss including his own life. Generally, Brutus’ misjudgement of people and actions deteriorates him regardless of his nobility.
On the contrary, many critics argue that Brutus is not a tragic hero, but rather a villain who has been consumed in a lot of drama and death. Professor Whitaker, for example, takes a close insight in Brutus' soliloquy in the Orchard Scene in Act two as a reflection of his inner conflict and ill-mannered character. Brutus follows faulty analogy throughout his soliloquy; he stars with a conclusion of assassinating Caesar that "It must be by his death". (Line 10) He also builds his decision on mere assumptions with the recurrent use of probable future events instead of objective facts. As in "How that might change his nature, there's the question" (Line 14) and "That at his will he may do danger" (Line 18) Therefore, Brutus is not simply manipulated but his corrupt nature is already prevailing. To illustrate, he is the last one who stabs Caesar, though he asks him unbelievingly ''Et tu, Brute?''. Ironically, this last stab got Caesar killed, not of an extra painful injury but of an incredible shock! Thus, Brutus should not be thought of as the merely deceived poor friend.
Nevertheless, critic Mildred E. Hartsock in his article The Complexity of Julius Caesar welcomes a wide range of interpretations of the central ideas and characters. Therefore, identifying the tragic hero of the play remains debatable. However, committing fatal mistakes just like other characters in the play does not simply categorize Brutus as a villain. This is because Shakespeare creates real characters of flesh and blood; Brutus is one of them. This is being pointed out by D. J. Palmer in his article Tragic Error in Julius Caesar, “As the hero, Brutus is, therefore, to be distinguished from the other characters by his nobility alone, and not by his capacity for delusion, since in this he shows his common humanity". Brutus’ good nature rejects murdering Antony, after murdering Caesar; as he didn’t want to seem ''too bloody'', as well as rejecting taking bribes and other dishonourable actions.
To conclude, after all being said, the issue of whether Brutus is a tragic hero or a traitor who has to go to hell is still arguable. However, Brutus’ characteristics almost qualify him to be a tragic hero with regards to Aristotle’s definition. He is a noble man who has poor judgment, and this leads to his death at the end. Regardless of any efforts to answer the question of Brutus’ true character, there will be no fixed answer because literature knows no pure black or white. Reading other tragedies; Macbeth, Othello and Hamlet, of the great English poet, playwright and litterateur William Shakespeare, is highly recommended for a full appreciation of such well-crafted piece of art.
References
- Hartsock, M. (1966). The Complexity of Julius Caesar. PMLA, 81(1), 56-62. doi:10.2307/461308
- Kennedy, X. J., & Gioia, D. (2013). Literature: An introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and writing (Pg. 1496). Boston: Pearson.
- Palmer, D. J. (1970). Tragic Error in Julius Caesar. Shakespeare Quarterly, 21(4), 399-409. doi:10.2307/2868424
- Shakespeare, W. (n.d.). Julius Caesar. Cairo: Anglo Egyptian Bookshop.
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