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Courtney Bates
Honors English 10
Ms. Emmett
5/18/11
Tragic Heroes Then and Now
Every story has a hero. Whether it is The Little Mermaid, with Prince Eric saving Ariel
from both Ursala and a life at sea, or Leigh Anne Tuohy, taking in homeless high school boy and
turning him into a good man playing in the NFL, they do heroic deeds for the ones they love. A
tragic hero, however, has the potential for this heroism but is doomed to fail, like Tiger Woods,
who has fallen from stardom after scandal. These heroes are embedded with flaws leading to
their demise; the best example of this would be the trust and pride Brutus, from Julius Ceasar by
William Shakespeare, has in Rome. Brutus was born into nobility, endowed with a tragic flaw,
doomed to make a serious error in judgment, and accepts his tragic death with honor, making
him the quintessential model of a tragic hero.
From birth, Brutus has been in the line to do something great, as his ancestors are noble
men. Brutus’s family has a history of overthrows dating back to approximately 509 BC. His
uncle, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, assassinates his father, the king of Rome, to take the throne.
He seizes it, ruling like a despot, with the support of his wife Tullia and became the last king of
Rome (Joe). Because this great feat was in his blood, it made choosing to do like his ancestors
“did from the streets of Rome/The Tarquin drive when he was called a king” (Shakespeare
2.1.56-57). Brutus was also a nobility due to his place in the government. He was high standing
and a friend to Caesar until Caesar turned his back on friends in exchange for power. Brutus has
been as noble as Caesar since birth; he was “born free as Casaer…/Fed as well, and [Brutus] can
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endure the winter’s cold as well as he” (Shakespeare 1.2.104-106). They are both from similar
backgrounds, showing that they have both been noble since birth or before, with Tarquin the
Proud as Brutus’s ancestor.
Trust is an important virtue; however, Brutus trusts too many which makes him gullible
to Cassius and Antony, ultimately leading to his fall as a tragic hero. Brutus trusts Cassius who
takes advantage of their friendship and convinces him to murder Caesar against Brutus’s better
judgment. Cassius attempts to persuade Brutus using numerous persuasive techniques, including
appealing to his trusting nature. Cassius is pleased that his “weak words/Have struck thus much
show of fire from Brutus,” as his plan of persuasion has worked on the tragic hero (Shakespeare
1.2.185-186).
Antony also takes advantage of Brutus after Caesar’s murder. Brutus puts his trust in
Antony to ally with the conspirators, a serious error in judgement, but he is betrayed once again.
While Antony does call Brutus an honorable man several times, he uses it in a rhetorical sense to
portray the conspirators as murderers and traitors. He disproves Brutus’s points, saying that
when “the poor have cried, Ceasar hath wept/Ambition should be made of sterner stuff./Yet
Brutus says he was ambitious/And Brutus is an honorable man” (Shakespeare 3.2.100-103).
Antony continues with this reasoning throughout his speech, showing that Brutus is wrong in
trusting the assassinated king’s loyal friend to not deceive him. This mistake in judgment is
further benefited from by Antony. While Brutus has the ability to strategize, he makes the error
of letting Antony speak last, leaving his words in their mind when the ceremony concludes. This
move was not smart on Brutus’s part, yet he does not believe Antony will go against him;
therefore, he trusts him and knows no better.
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In the final days of his life, Brutus is still a noble man and faces his death with honor,
fitting to his role as the tragic hero in Julius Caesar. He comes from the battle, only to see both
Titanius and Cassius lying dead on the ground, much to his dismay. He feels as though to his
friends he “owes more than tears/to this dead man [he] shall pay” (Shakespeare 5.4.114-115).
Because Brutus’s friends died for him and their cause, he is indebted to them and owes them a
great sacrifice. While Strato holds a sword, Brutus runs on to it, dying with honor as he declares
that he “killed not [Caesar] with half so good a will” (Shakespeare 5.5.57). Brutus went much
more willingly than Caesar, paying for his past debts and his cause. He realizes “that to uphold
the cause of truth and honor he must sacrifice himself” (Paolucci). In order to clear his
conscience and win the internal battle with himself, Brutus needs to sacrifice his own body for
the others that have been lost. While Brutus may not win the external battle with Antony and
Octavian, he dies a noble man, a characteristic well respected in tragic heroes.
Brutus and others from classic literature are often classified into categories such as tragic
heroes, but books from today still have similar examples of tragic heroes in them, like Dobby
from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. Dobby is an elf, standing no more than four feet tall and
wearing rags, that is enslaved when he first appears to Harry Potter. His tragic flaw is revealed to
be that he feels he must be unconditionally loyal to Harry for freeing him from his master, even
if his loyalty comes at a price. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, this trait leads to his
downfall and death. Furthermore, Dobby shows he is a tragic hero because his death is
honorable. Dobby dies washed up on the shore of a beach, in Harry’s arms, as a free elf and
Harry’s friend. He receives a gracious funeral from those closest to him, and lives on nobly,
qualifying him as a tragic hero.
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While tragic heroes are often easy to point out in literature, they are more difficult to find
in our times today; however, there are many men and women that can fit the tragic hero criteria,
like Martha Stewart. Martha Stewart has been known for years as the ideal woman when it
comes to baking, cooking, cleaning, and nearly every necessary chore around the house. What is
hard to overlook, however, is her recent fall that makes her a tragic hero. Stewart was sent to jail
in July 2004 for insider trading (“Martha Stewart Biography”). Prior to that, she had been seen as
the woman with the answers and money, selling cookbooks, kitchenware, and countless other
products to build up a legacy. Martha Stewart’s great fall from her position at the pinnacle of her
career after being arrested and convicted places her in the category of a tragic hero as well as her
flaw of greed. Greed is what caused Stewart’s great downfall, and therefore contributes the
criteria of being a tragic hero.
William Shakespeare, like various authors of the time, embedded tragic heroes as lead
characters in his works. Brutus, from Julius Caesar, is one example of this. Brutus’s ancestor is
Tarquin, who was noble and overthrew Rome. When he follows suit, Brutus has the tragic flaw
of being too loyal and trusting, leading both Antony and Cassius to take advantage of him. He
also dies an honorable death, killing himself after seeing the consequences of his murder. While
tragic heroes like Brutus are scarcer in society today, they can still be seen in fictional characters
like Dobby or real people such as Martha Stewart. In a way, however, most people are embedded
with a tragic flaw. Whether someone is too kind, too harsh, too shallow, or even too pretty, these
can all lead to other negative traits and an eventual downfall. Whether these flaws are miniscule,
like being blunt about an outfit, or more significant, like marrying someone primarily based on
their wealth, the negative parts of character will lead to downfall, whether honorable or
unexpected. While these flaws in personalities can bring out the worst, they are vital to make
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each person an individual; therefore, people like Brutus, who do bad things for good reasons,
will always exist in our society.
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Works Cited
Joe, Jimmy. "Tales of Rome." Timeless Myths. Classical Mythology, 16 Nov. 2008. Web. 13
May 2011.
McKeown, Adam, Janet Hamlin, and William Shakespeare. Julius Caesar. New York: Sterling
Pub., 2008. Print.
"Martha Stewart Biography." Biography.com. A&E Television Networks, 2011. Web. 16 May
2011.