Essay: Tragedy in Julius Caesar: Exploring Shakespeare’s Illustration of Tragedy Through Brutus’ Story

William Shakespeare illustrates the concept of tragedy through Julius Caesar by taking the audience back in time to a compelling event in Roman history that begins with a man who “was a successful general who conquered territories outside of Rome and helped turn Rome into a large empire.”
When one thinks of tragedy they often think of death or destruction of land; they seldom think of tragedy in literature. The death of Julius Caesar is a tragedy in its own and the foundation for the events that follow, but Caesar is not the tragic hero. This is too predictable, and despite the name of the play, the protagonist and true tragic hero is Marcus Brutus.
Brutus is from a famous family of great honour. “One of his ancestors 400 years earlier was responsible for overthrowing the last king of Rome and founding the Roman republic.” With this he takes great pride in protecting the people of Rome, and building on the work of his ancestors. Brutus fights on the side of Pompey in the Battle of Pharsalus. When Caesar defeats Pompey, he does not kill Brutus even though Brutus fought against him. When Caesar returns to Rome after the Battle of Pharsalus, he becomes dictator even though Rome is still a Republic. Brutus becomes friends with Caesar after the battle, but despite their friendship, Brutus fears “Caesar my rise to power and lose his humility and become the tyrant Cassius describes.” His fear is prevalent when talking with Cassius: “What means this shouting? I do fear the people / Choose Caesar for their king” (1.2.78-79). Brutus must choose between killing Caesar, his friend who he loves to in an effort to save the Roman republic, or spare Caesar’s life with fear of him taking over Rome.
Shakespeare is able to portray to the audience what tragedy is but also the power it possesses to make people do what they would otherwise consider ludicrous. In a tragedy you reach a fork in the road with two options, neither of which are appealing, each with severe consequences. This is what a true tragedy is and Shakespeare does this well. Caesar dies because he is arrogant and refuses to listen to the many warnings brought before him. His death could have been easily avoided had he just listened. Indeed, the death of Caesar is tragic but not compared to the tragedy of Brutus. When Brutus is presented with his fork in the road, he chooses to “join the conspirators and attempt the assassination.” In his speech to the Romans at Caesar’s funeral, he provides his reasoning for his actions: “If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (3.2.20-22). He assures the people that he loved Caesar and that he only assassinated Caesar to protect the people. Brutus is a noble person and does what he does with good intent, but unfortunately for him he is easily fooled and is taken advantage of by Cassius.
As tragic as Brutus assassinating Caesar was for Brutus, what follows is the most freighting nightmare one could imagine. Imagine sacrificing your friend who you love to protect your city and the people Rome, only to have them turn against you and become your enemy. After Mark Antony’s speech, the crowd becomes livid. The entire crowd yells with anger: “Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay! Let not a traitor live!” (3.2.198-199). Cassius uses Brutus to be the spokesperson for the conspirators because he was friends with Caesar so there a better chance the people would believe Brutus than if Cassius were to take the responsibility for Caesar’s death. As result, the people of Rome put the blame on Brutus which is expressed by one of the plebeians: “We’ll burn the house of Brutus” (3.2.219). With this, Brutus is left no choice but to flee the city he was trying to protect. This plays the downfall part of any tragedy. The turning point was when Brutus assassinated Caesar, the downfall is the city of Rome turning against him, and his death is what soon follows. Shakespeare uses the death of Brutus to complete the story leave the last thought of what a tragedy is. Brutus, the man who only acted in good deed, has Strato hold a sword while he walks into it, killing himself. Here is another example of Brutus be noble and acting only with good intent: “It is more worthy to leap in ourselves / Than tarry till they push us” (5.5.24-25). Brutus knows that he will be defeated as the rest of his army already has, showing how his true character. Even Antony agrees Brutus is a noble man as speaks over Brutus’s body: “This was the noblest Roman of them all: All the conspirators save only he / Did that they did in envy of great Caesar” (5.5.69-71). This is what a true tragedy is. A noble man who acts in good deed, taken advantage of and left to kill himself for having lost.
Tragedy can be simple and predictable, leaving little effect on the audience, or tragedy can be more clever, having a much stronger impact on the audience. Shakespeare is able to illustrate the concept of tragedy with his clever writing, thus, expanding the knowledge toward the reader of what a tragedy is.