Julius Caesar Tragedy Essays - Julius Caesar, Cleopatra,

Julius Caesar Tragedy 1.) The great philosopher Aristotle makes the distinction between comedy and tragedy. Aristotle defines tragedy as a tragic character falling from a high place in society due to a flaw they possess and provides an insight into human existence. He defines comedy as any story that begins in adversity and ends in optimism. Shakespeare offers his own six elements to a tragedy; a tragic hero, conflicts (internal and external), humor, the supernatural, revenge, and chance happenings or bad luck. The tragic hero is clearly Brutus who seals his own fate through his character flaw, which is being a stoic. Conflicts are present in great numbers throughout this story both internally and externally. Brutus struggles internally when he contemplates whether or not to go through with joining the conspirators. Caesar obviously struggles with his counterparts during his own death scene. Humor or puns are illustrated when the cobbler describes himself as a "mender of bad soles." The ghost of Julius Caesars accounts for the supernatural element. Marc Antony brings about revenge when he rallies the people against Brutus for killing Caesar. When Portia is too late in stopping Brutus from reaching the capitol where he will kill Caesar is a great example of chance happenings. 2.) The element of character flaw play as huge role in this play. Character flaw is defined as a trait character lacks or possess which leads to their ultimate downfall from a high place in society. Brutus' character flaw is the very fact he is a stoic or he believes in what people are and say. He lives in an idealistic world. A modern example would people in get caught up in certain gimmicks and schemes that the media offers. Caesar's flaw is he is over ambitious. He lets the idea of being emperor blind of the conspiracy going on around him. An example of this would be someone who is a so-called "work-aholic." That is a person who allows their goals in the work place to obstruct the goals of life. 3.) The roles of Portia and Calpurnia play an influential role in this play as the act as the better halves of Brutus and Caesar. Portia and Calpurnia differ in their own mental stableness. Portia stable set of mind allows her to think and reason with logic clearly make a woman before her time. Calpurnia, on the other hand is a woman who overacts, panics, and really is too big in the logic and reasoning department. Portia's action taken when she tries to stop the conspirators before they reach the capitol and Calpurnia's actions taken when she tries to prevent her husband's trip to the capitol after she has the dream about Caesar's murder are best explain for their love of their husbands. Though their mindsets may be different they still love and deeply care about their spouses. I would rather marry Portia because of her mental stability and strength in times of adversity. 4.) Blank verse is key in establishing social classes in "Julius Caesar." Blank verse is defined as unrhymed verse written in iambic pentameter in which every syllable is stressed. Shakespeare uses blank verse as a device to distinguish social classes. The Patricians speak in blank verse while the Plebeians do not contrasting the their own ignorance. 5.) In Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" Brutus is the tragic character. His flaw of being an idealist causes him to believe the conspirators and murder Julius Caesar and fall from his high place in society. By definition you arguably see how Brutus' inability to see and hear people for what the are causes his own horrible demise. His idealistic world creates the illusion killing Caesar and following the instructions of the conspirators is perfectly logical. Through these conclusions it is plain to see that Brutus is the true tragic character. JULIUS CAESER 1.) The great philosopher Aristotle makes the distinction between comedy and tragedy. Aristotle defines tragedy as a tragic character falling from a high place in society due to a flaw they possess and provides an insight into human existence. He defines comedy as any story that begins in adversity and ends in optimism. Shakespeare offers his own six elements to a tragedy; a tragic hero, conflicts (internal and external), humor, the supernatural, revenge, and chance happenings or bad luck. The tragic hero is clearly Brutus who seals his own fate through his character flaw, which is being a stoic. Conflicts are present in great numbers throughout this story both internally and externally. Brutus struggles internally when he contemplates whether or