A Shakespearean tragic hero generally has these criteria: usually high n society, normally men, generally a flaw in character, flaw causes tragedy, usually die after great suffering, downfall arouses the audiences sympathy, downfall involves conflict and twists of fate and tragedy conveys a sense of forces greater than mortals.
One of the criteria of a Shakespearean tragic hero is ‘being high in society’. All of the main protagonists have this factor. Caesar is being appointed the position of emperor of Rome, “there was a crown offered him”. Mark Anthony is a highly respected athlete, “in your speed” and also has the respect of Caesar. Brutus is also a highly respected friend of Caesar and the population of Rome and respect him equally, “the noble Brutus is ascended: silence” Cassius, although not as liked as Brutus is still just as respected due to his intelligence “he reads much” this shows that all these men could be considered as a tragic hero.
A flaw in the character of a tragic hero almost always occurs. Mark Anthony has a tendency to do things without thinking. He leads himself by his emotions “blood and destruction shall be seen so in use” this is a major flaw because he drove the country to civil war through his grief over the murder of Caesar and his Hatred for the murderers, ”he shall not live”. Brutus also has a flaw. Brutus is a very naïve man and through his complete and utter trust, Cassius convinces him that joining the conspirators will be beneficial for him and Rome. Cassius’s flaw is his jealousy and hatred for Caesar, “so vile a thing as Caesar.” He is led by his hatred and need to be leader of Rome. Cassius believes that Caesar is too weak to rule Rome and believes it should be him, “why should Caesar be a tyrant?” Caesar has a tendency to be over-confident about himself and it comes off as arrogance, “Caesar shall forth,” speaking about yourself in the third person is an arrogant thing to do. He believes nothing can harm him and is not afraid, “but I am constant as the northern star.” This shows he believes himself to be in the realms of a great star.
The flaw in a tragic hero’s character always causes some sort of tragedy. The main tragedy is the civil war that occurs after the ‘success’ of the murder. Mark Anthony is so upset and angry that these men have murdered his good friend that he feels there is no other option but to start a civil war to over throw and kill the conspirators, “domestic fury and fierce civil strife.” The civil war took many innocent lives as wars often do, and it was driven by Mark Anthony’s emotions. Caesar’s flaw of being arrogant was one of the main reasons Cassius believed he was not good enough to rule Rome and therefore decided to kill him, “he were no lion.” Cassius also believed that Caesar was weak, “he would not be a wolf.” Brutus’s mistakes could be completely to blame fro the whole tragedy of the murder and the war. Cassius suggested to Brutus that they kill Mark Anthony too because he fears him and his closeness to Caesar, “let Anthony and Caesar fall together.” Brutus says no to this suggestion, “our course will seem too bloody.” Cassius knew this was a huge mistake but he was willing to make it because the conspiracy would have no chance at winning over the roman public without Brutus, “win the noble Brutus to our party.”
To be considered as a tragic hero, the tragic part is to die after great suffering. Mark Anthony does not die in the play and does not encounter great suffering on his part. Caesar does die but through great suffering. He is brutally murdered but there wasn’t a lot of suffering, as he didn’t know it was going to happen. At the end of the play, after admitting defeat, Cassius decides to kill himself. He realises there is no way he can win now and he would rather kill himself than have Mark Anthony kill him in front of the roman crowds. He asks Pindarus to stab him with his own sword, “When my face is covered as tis now, guide thou sword.” He believes by doing this he will have revenged Caesar and levelled the heavens, “Caesar, thou art revenged.” Brutus can see all his friends dying around him and regrets what he has done. He feels there is no other option than to kill himself, “I know my hour is come.” He is racked with guilt over Caesar, “the ghost of Caesar hath appeared to me.” He asks his friends to hold out his sword so that he may run on to it but many deny him, “not so my lord.” This shows that even after his many mistakes he is still loved and respected by many citizens of Rome.
The downfall of a tragic hero often arouses sympathy from the audience. When Brutus is racked by guilt and feels he has made a terrible mistake, the audience does feel sorry for him as he originally believed, at the beginning of the play that the murder would be for the good of Rome and he did not see Cassius’s evil plan. Also at the very end of the play Brutus receives sympathy and respect from Mark Anthony when he hears of Brutus’s death, “this was the noblest roman of them all.” I don’t think that Cassius receives sympathy, respect or any emotion from the audience but hatred. His evil plan to be ruler has resulted in many innocent deaths and he destroyed Brutus. I think the audience are glad when Cassius kills himself because he is the general baddie of the whole play. Mark Anthony does not need sympathy of any kind from the audience, but by respecting and mourning Brutus leads the audience to do nothing but respect him, “he only, in a general honest thought and common good to all.” Caesars arrogance prevents any sympathy but after he was brutally murdered the audience does tend to feel a little sorry for him as he didn’t actually do anything wrong.
After reading the play thoroughly and considering the criteria for the tragic hero of it, I have come to the conclusion that Brutus is the tragic hero of the play. He was destined for downfall and tragedy after he accepted Cassius’s proposal to join the conspiracy, even though his intentions were good.
