Essay: Idealism: The Flaw of The Great and Tragic Brutus in Julius Caesar

Idealism is a powerful tool to break oneself into their own reality. Having too much of this can cause you to hurt yourself and others as well. Brutus was known to be a very honorable man. With that came the tragic flaw of being too idealistic, breaking away reality and making his own. Brutus stabbed Caesar in order to keep Rome’s Republic. Brutus thought that he saved Rome, but instead he leads himself to be hunted in a matter of days from being known as the most honorable man in Rome, aside from Caesar. Brutus is the tragic character in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. His idealism not only brought himself down but it also brought others down with him, therefore; Brutus is the tragic character in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.
Brutus had the idealism of Caesar becoming the dictator of Rome. This lead Brutus to kill Caesar which in Brutus’s mind thought that he saved Rome. Instead, he made a war between the city of Rome and himself. During a soliloquy, Brutus was scared of what Caesar might become if they don’t stop them. “He would be crowned / How that might change his nature, there’s the question. / It is the bright day that brings forth the adder / and craves wary walking. Crown him that, and then I grant we put a sting in him. / That at his will may do damage with.” In modern language, this quote says, “The question is, how would crowning him king change him? Just like snakes that come out in open daylight; evil can come from good. If we crown him, we’d be giving him the power to do damage.” Brutus’s Idealism is evident in this quote, in fact, it is evident throughout the whole play. He perceives reality in a different way than the other conspirators. Brutus believes that everyone is as honorable as him, yet he is the most honorable man in Rome. Brutus believed that Antony would become powerless and insignificant without Caesar, yet Antony persuaded all of Rome that Brutus was an evil man. In this case, Brutus questions if Caesar might become overruling. Brutus’s idealism is that Caesar is going to become a dictator; he needs to be killed in order to save the people of Rome. Brutus is the only senator that is concerned about the people of Rome. Brutus, being good friends with Caesar, was scared of what Caesar might become. This is what drove Brutus to do the difficult decision of killing Julius Caesar. Which caused all of Rome to go against him. When Brutus went to Phillipi to, he said “Hath given me some worth cause to wish things done undone; but if he be at hand, I shall be satisfied.” In modern language this says, I wish I could turn back time and not do what I’ve already done. If he is nearby, I will be satisfied. Brutus’s reality was that all of Rome would’ve praised him, giving him the utmost respect. The actions that Brutus did were because of his idealism. His perfect world that he wanted to make was brought to shambles because of the way he perceived reality. Brutus is finally realizing that what he did is wrong. His idealism is going away and realism, the opposite of idealism, is kicking in. He thought that he saved Rome from a king. Which, according to Brutus’s world, was going saving Rome’s republic. Instead, he caused havoc in Rome which ultimately brought him down.
Brutus’s lack of grasp on reality made him unaware of a lot of the things that other people could do. Many of the characters in the play took advantage of Brutus’s Idealism. When they killed Caesar, Antony took advantage if Brutus’s idealism in order to make him look bad in front of Rome. “Mark Antony, here, take you Caesar’s body. You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, But speak all good you can devise of Caesar, And say you do’t by our permission”. Mark Antony, take Caesar’s body. At the funeral speech, you cannot blame us for this, speak by careful thought of Caesar. You are doing this with our permission. Brutus has too much trust in people. Cassius tells Brutus that this would be a bad idea, but he didn’t acknowledge anything that he said. Brutus gives Antony the permission to speak at Caesar’s funeral. This quotation reveals his flaw that Brutus’s idealism is that everyone will do what they say. This leads to his downfall because Brutus gave Antony the permission to speak at Caesar’s funeral, Antony took advantage of Brutus’s idealism and used it against him, causing a war to break out between Brutus and Antony. Cassius also took advantage of Brutus by manipulating him in order to make him join the conspiracy. “Well, Brutus, thou art noble. Yet I see thy honorable mettle may be wrought from that it is disposed. therefore it is meet that noble minds keep ever with their likes; For who so firm that cannot be seduced?” In modern language, Brutus, a very noble man. I see that you can be easily persuaded. Which proves that noble men should be with noble men. Who is so firm that he can’t be seduced? This quotation reveals that Brutus can easily be manipulated because of his idealism. Because Brutus can easily be manipulated, Cassius took advantage of this and used him in order to cover up and make it seem that they killed Caesar for a good cause. This caused Brutus to not only harm himself but everyone in the conspiracy group.
Brutus was known to be one of the most honorable man in Rome. He was one of Caesar’s best friends. Brutus’s idealism was taken advantage of by many people in the play. This caused Rome to go against Brutus since he was the face of the conspiracy group. Brutus killed himself because he didn’t want to be humiliated in front of Rome. Brutus is the tragic character in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. This caused Brutus to not only bring himself down but others down as well, this caused him to go against the whole city of Rome.