Marcus Brutus and Julius Caesar, the Tragic Heroes in Shakespeare's .
William Shakespeare was one of the most influential writers in English literature. He was born in 1564 to a successful middle class glove maker, which allowed him to attend grammar school but his formal education proceeded no further. After leaving his family behind to go to London and become an actor and writer Shakespeare quickly became a famous playwright and part-owner of the Globe Theater in England. He died in 1616 at the age of 52, but his plays such as Julius Caesar are timeless. A tragic hero from Greek plays to 19th is usually a person of high status and standing who has to endure some sort of fall. Marcus Brutus and Julius Caesar are the tragic heroes as seen in their influence on the audience and their tragic flaw, which in both cases is trust towards other people.
Marcus Brutus's tragic flaw is his trust and loyalty towards Cassisus which eventually leads to his downfall. In the play Brutus thinks very highly of Cassius and he also believes that Cassius and the other conspirators are very honorable. He presumes that the fact that they live in Rome makes them an honorable men: .
"No, no oath: [ ] To think that our cause or our performance/ Did need an oath; when every drop of blood / That every Roman bears , and nobly bears, / is guilty of a several bastardy / If he do break the smallest particle/ Of our promise that hath pass"d from him" (Julius Caesar II. i).
This also explains Brutus's motive; he kills Julius Caesar because he believes that it benefits all Roman citizens for the good of all roman citizens because he trusts Cassius and the other conspirators and what they tell him. When he bids farewell to Cassius he still honors him, still not knowing that he uses him to achieve his goals: "O, if thou wert the nobles of thy strain, / Young man, thou couldst not die more honourable" (Julius Caesar V.
