The Role of Ambition and Tragedy in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

This essay delves into Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, analyzing the play's central themes of ambition and tragedy. It explores the complex characters of Brutus and Caesar, arguing that Shakespeare portrays Brutus as the protagonist despite Caesar's title role, highlighting the destructive nature of unchecked ambition. The essay examines how ambition leads to Caesar's downfall and Brutus's honorable death, emphasizing the play's message about the consequences of human vices. It references critical perspectives on the play, including discussions of ambition's role in the downfall of tragic heroes, and contrasts Caesar's utilitarian ambitions with Brutus's concern for Rome, ultimately concluding that Brutus's death is more honorable as he dies for a greater cause. The essay also touches upon the manipulative tactics employed by other characters to influence Brutus, further illustrating his complex character and tragic fate. The essay utilizes references to support the arguments made throughout the analysis.

Running head : JULIUS CAESAR
JULIUS CAESAR
Name if the Student :
Name of the University :
Author Note :

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Surprisingly, in the drama Julius Caesar, Shakespeare had made Brutus the protagonist
and Caesar the antagonist. It might occur as quite strange that the character after whom the
drama is titled is the antagonist, while the hero has been denied the privilege. There are reasons
behind the nomenclature and shall be elaborated upon in this particular part of the essay. First of
all it has been mentioned that Julius Caesar is a tragedy, and not a comedy (Lee). Naturally, the
hero is not supposed to be the main character in the drama. Shakespearean tragedies are
supposed to be the disseminators of the message which is centered around the thrust on the vices
of human nature. Hence the main characters in the Shakespearean tragedies are but a reason for
the readers to reflect upon the question whether they should be choosing to implement the vices
of human nature in their lives or they want to follow the virtuous path to leading life. The
underlying motive of Shakespeare behind projecting the antagonist of his tragic dramas in
general, and specifically in case of Shakespeare is to deliver the message to the masses that no
matter how great accolades a vicious person might achieve, they are bound by the laws of justice
that prevails in the nature as an invisible force to be doomed ultimately. Caesar was so
overwhelmed by his ambition that ultimately he had to face his end in a tragic way. The basic
idea thus is to convey that vice wins the trust in trivial instances and betrays in the greater causes
of life (Wiegandt).
Shakespeare has often experimented with the role of ambition in his plays and dramas.
Ambition has been the reason for the downfall of his heroes like Macbeth and others. For every
man who has been overly ambitious it has resulted in some kind of retribution (March, Mayer,
and Vienne-Guerrin). These punishments are often meted out by a person or fate or some kind of
supernatural force. Similarly, in Julius Caesar one of the most celebrated plays of Shakespeare,
the ruthless ambitious nature of Caesar leads to his inevitable downfall. When the assassins

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surround Caesar’s lifeless body, Brutus blurts out in front of everyone, “ambition’s debt is paid”.
The readers understand that there is some kind of universal relation that is related to ambition
and downfall of man (Kestemont et al). It is as if Shakespeare himself was thought of ambition
as an evil entity in a man’s life. According to him, wherever ambition resided it brought
damnation with it. In the play, from Cassius’ point of view we understand that Caesar had to be
killed since he was about to overthrow the empire and establish his control over the entire city of
Rome. Brutus is not jealous of Caesar but he in way wants to tolerate Caesar’s high headedness
and ambition. He further says, “As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I
rejoice at it, as he was valiant, I honour him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew him”
(Fuller).However, Antony completely denies the ambitious nature of Caesar. He instead points
out the valor, loyalty, generosity and the love for his compatriots.
One must understand that while Caesar was only concern about his victory and gains,
Brutus was more concerned about the lives of the citizens of Rome. Caesar had an utilitarian
motive behind his ambitions. When Brutus was torn apart between his love for his friend and his
country, he chose his country. Even though his friendship with his friend Caesar was strong but
his relationship with his countrymen was stronger. He never wanted Caesar to hold a position of
dictatorship. Brutus is farsighted and wise enough to know that once Caesar seizes the thrown he
will take the role of a dictator (Grene). The other man wants to kill Caesar out of envy and
jealousy but Brutus wants to kill him for his overreaching ambition.
However, we can agree that Brutus is a complex character with high intelligence. He
lives by moral and ethical codes of conduct. It is his gullible nature that he becomes the victim of
Antony, Cassius and others. It is they who instigate Brutus to kill Caesar. They use Brutus as a
weapon against Caesar. Therefore, it was not Brutus who was responsible for murdering Caesar.

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Later, Brutus commits suicide and takes away his life for the betterment of his countrymen.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the death of Brutus is much more honorable than Caesar’s as
he dies for a greater cause.

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References
Fuller, Maj-Gen JFC. Julius Caesar: man, soldier, and tyrant. Pickle Partners Publishing, 2018.
Grene, Nicholas. Shakespeare's tragic imagination. Springer, 2016.
Kestemont, Mike, et al. "Authenticating the writings of Julius Caesar." Expert Systems with
Applications 63 (2016): 86-96.
Lee, Bailey. "Honor and Power in Shakespeare's Rome: A Close Reading of Julius Caesar and
Plutarch's Parallel Lives." (2017).
March, Florence, Jean-Christophe Mayer, and Nathalie Vienne-Guerrin. "Introduction:
Mythologizing Shakespeare–A European Perspective." (2016): 7-18.
Wiegandt, Kai. Crowd and Rumour in Shakespeare. Routledge, 2016.