Julius Caesar paper

Hi I had to write this Julius Caesar paper. The topic is whether Brutus was a hero.

It's pretty long so please mind.

In everyone’s lives we have always had a hero during our childhood. A person’s hero could be a superhero, an actor, a friend, family member and even a normal stranger. A hero in my opinion is someone who has done something good for the people. But even heroes can have fatal laws which can lead to disaster or mishap. Even someone who has killed someone else for the common good can be considered a hero and that someone is Brutus in the play Julius Caesar. In the play, Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Marcus Brutus is a hero because Brutus assassinated Julius Caesar not because of jealousy but for the good of the people of Rome to prevent potential tyranny.

The first reason that Brutus is a hero is that Brutus is an honorable man and has stayed honorable from the start to the end of life. The first example of Brutus’ honor is, “If it aught toward the general good, Set honour in one eye and death I’ th’ other, And I will look on both indifferently; For let the gods so speed me as I love, The name of honour more than I fear death” (1.2.85-89). By this Brutus means that he will do what’s right for the good of all romans and that he loves honor more than he fears death. From looking at this quote, it tells us about how Brutus admires his honor and that he will fight for Rome with his honor and not fearing that he will die. This quote implies how nobles had a belief in the “rightness” and “greater good” of the State over individuals (“The Fasces and Roman Nobility”) and this would relate to how Brutus would fight for the greater good of Rome with honor. Another example of Brutus’ honor is, “My heart doth joy that yet in all my life, I found no man but he was true to me. I shall have glory by this losing day More than Octavius and Mark Antony By this vile conquest shall attain unto. So fare you well at once; for Brutus’ tongue Hath almost ended his life’s history. Night hangs upon mine eyes; my bones would rest, That have labored to attain this hour” (5.5.34-42). In other words, this means that Brutus will have glory and honor by killing himself with his own hands and it’s now the end of his life. This quote shows that Brutus is an honorable man by taking his own life with his own life to prove his honor and not letting Octavius and Antony have any of the glory of defeating Brutus. This implies how a man in Roman nobility would have to prove his virtues of a warrior or his worth as a man and have courage. From the beginning to the end, Brutus stayed an honorable man, he would fight for Rome and he took his own life with his own bare hands to show honor and thus one of traits that makes Brutus is a hero is that he is honorable.

Brutus in Julius Caesar has proved his obligations as a Roman Noble which is the duties and expectations that a Roman proves and that’s one of the achievements that prove Brutus as a hero like joining the conspiracy to kill Caesar. The first example of Brutus proving his obligations as a Roman Noble is, “It must be by his death and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, But for the general. He would be crowned. How that might change his nature, there the question. It is the bright day that brings forth the adder, And that craves wary walking. Crown him that And then I grant we put a sting in him That at his will he may do danger with” (2.1.10-18). This quote means that Brutus is going to kill Caesar not because he doesn’t like him but for the interest of the people. Brutus also talks about how Caesar would be if he was king. Brutus implies that crowning Caesar would mean giving him the power to damage or cause danger. The importance of this quote is that it shows Brutus wanting to fulfill his duty of killing Caesar not for himself but for Rome which he loves more than just Caesar. This quote shows how in Roman nobility a man would have courage and intelligence and show discipline (“Obligations”) like Brutus having the courage and intelligence to vanquish Caesar. Another example of Brutus proving his obligations as a Roman Noble is, “Grant that, and then is death a benefit. So are we Caesar’s friends, that have abridged, His time of fearing death. Stoop Romans, stoop, And let us bathe our hands in Caesar’s blood Up to the elbows and besmear our swords. Then walk we forth, even to the market place, And waving our read weapons o’er our heads, Let’s all cry Peace, freedom and liberty!’ (3.1.103-110). This quote is saying that they are Caesar’s friends and that they have done him a deed of shortening his time spent fearing death and that they will cover their hands in Caesar’s blood and shout peace, freedom and liberty to the people of Rome. The importance of this quote is that it shows Brutus fulfilling his duty of removing Caesar and that Brutus is exclaiming that Rome has peace, freedom and liberty with Caesar not becoming king. This supports the idea of how in Roman Nobility, the destruction of a powerful foe led usually led to the young man, whose standing had inevitably risen in the eyes of the public, taking the very senatorial seat of the man he had just vanquished (“Obligations”). In the play this idea is how Caesar, a powerful man who has risen in the eyes of the public would fall by how Brutus and the conspirators kill Caesar and now will announce to the people of Rome that they are in peace from the noble deed of Brutus and the conspirators. Brutus proving his obligations as a Roman Noble is a way of how Brutus is a hero. Brutus showed his respect to Caesar by still calling him his friend and bathing his hands in his blood to announce his Nobility to the people of Rome.

The last idea of Brutus being a hero is Brutus leading the conspirators and killing Caesar in order to abolish potential tyranny. The first example of this is, “That lowliness is young ambition’s ladder, Whereto the climber upward turns his face…Would run to these and these extremities; And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg, Which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous And kill him in the shell” (2.1.22-34). One way of restating this is that Caesar is ambitious and his ambition will lead him to possibly becoming a tyrannical leader. The quote also shows Brutus comparing Caesar to a serpent’s egg and once that egg hatches, it becomes dangerous like a serpent, so Brutus suggests killing him before the egg hatches. This quote reveals that Brutus thinks Caesar as ambitious and as an evil serpent waiting to hatch. This quote shows how in Roman nobility a citizen dedicated themselves to the good of the state then things would turn out well for the state (“Fasces and Roman Nobility”) which would relate to Brutus killing Caesar before he becomes King so it that Rome will be a better condition. Another quote which shows this is, “Not that I loved Caesar less, But I loved Rome more”(3.2.22-23). This quote means that Brutus loves Brutus but he loves Rome more than Caesar. The quote tells how Brutus cares for Rome the most out of anything even though he loves Caesar and will kill Caesar if it is needed for the sake of the common good. The quote shows the belief in the “rightness” and “greater good” of the State over individuals which would relate to Brutus caring for Rome more than he cares for Caesar. Brutus killing Caesar for the common good and stopping potential tyranny is a way how Brutus is a hero because he cared for the people of Rome.

Brutus is a hero because he was honorable, fulfilled his obligations as a Roman Noble and stopped potential tyranny by helping the conspirators kill Caesar. Sometimes someone even killing a leader who has the potential to become a tyranny can be considered a hero as Brutus didn’t kill Caesar because he was jealous of Caesar like the other conspirators and Cassius but killed him because of his ambition and for the people of Rome. But even a hero can have his flaws as Brutus was gullible and even his own honor which recognizes him as a hero is a flaw of Brutus. Brutus’ flaws led him to making wrong decisions like letting Antony live and letting him speak during Caesar’s funeral which would eventually lead to the people turning against Brutus and the conspirators. Sometimes we can call Brutus a tragic hero, a character who makes a wrong judgment or is ruined by a flaw in his personality. But could heroes still be considered heroes if they have done something that have led to a tragic event? Although, Brutus made errors and had flaws, his ideals and purposes were based solely on protecting Rome and that’s what makes him a hero in Julius Caesar.

Please see if I need any corrections or anything else. Thanks