In the tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare the element of the tragic hero is presented. A tragic hero is defined as a high-ranking character who has a flaw that leads to his downfall, this individual is enlightened by his own mistakes and is often viewed with pity or sympathy by the audience. Shakespeare created two tragic heroes in his classic, Brutus and Caesar. The character that the tragic hero primarily focuses on in this story is the protagonist, Brutus. Brutus is a tragic hero because he is of high political standing, a poor judge of character, and is enlightened by his mistakes. Throughout the story of Julius Caesar's assassination we get a window into the life of Brutus and observe the unraveling of the Republic. They are the flaws that transform characters into tragic heroes. All tragic heroes possess a unique and individual flaw that leads to their downfall. Shakespeare highlights Brutus' flaw as his extraordinary capacity for poor judgment and faulty reasoning which leads him to make the decisions he makes. Brutus is being manipulated by Cassius and is trying to find a logical reason to kill Caesar. The problem is that there is no reason why Caesar should have died. Brutus attempts to gain the loyalty of the plebeians by asking. Would you have preferred that Caesar lived and died as a slave? (948.) This is an example of either/or reasoning which implies that there are two possible options for an event to occur. Another common faulty reasoning technique used by Brutus is the cause-and-effect route. Brutus uses it masterfully when he says. Because he was ambitious, I killed him (948). Accusing Caesar of being ambitious is Brutus' attempt to defame Caesar. Imagine if he told the Roman citizens that Caesar...... middle of paper ......for taking advantage of Brutus' poor judgment and naivety. The truth is, no matter how much Cassius convinced Brutus to betray and assassinate Caesar, Brutus acted on his own initiative. He made his decisions. We cannot place the blame for Brutus' actions on anyone but himself. Although Brutus is guilty of killing his friend and leader, it is natural to pity him in the epilogue when it is revealed that he has lost everything. However this is what makes him a tragic hero. The tragedy of Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare gives us the tragic hero of Brutus. This Roman is a tragic hero because he comes from a high political position and brings about his own downfall due to his fatal flaw of being a poor judge. Brutus teaches us to distrust those we trust because the decisions we make could ultimately destroy what we try hardest to protect..