1. Tragedy and the Tragic Hero

2. Famous Tragic Heroes—Romeo, Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, etc.
The tragic hero or protagonist is a person of high standing in society; he is admirable but will experience a downfall. This fall is not necessarily death though in Shakespeare’s tragedies it tends to be.
Famous Tragic Heroes—Romeo, Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, etc.

3. Who is the tragic hero in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar?

4. The Tragic Flaw
The tragic hero works to achieve a goal that is important to him; he must make choices; he has a tragic flaw that will lead to his downfall.
The tragic flaw is a flawed personality trait in the character of the protagonist of a tragedy that brings the protagonist to ruin or sorrow.

5. What about Julius Caesar?
What is Brutus’ tragic flaw?
What is Caesar’s tragic flaw?

6. His own inner forces are his downfall but often an antagonist, an outside force or another character, contributes to that downfall.

7. Catastrophe Fatal errors in judgment and/ or a weakness of character lead to an inevitable catastrophe that the hero cannot or will not foresee.

8. What are Caesar’s catastrophes. What causes them. What are Brutus’
What are Caesar’s catastrophes? What causes them? What are Brutus’? What are his fatal errors in judgement?

9. Sympathy When it is too late to change the course of events, the tragic hero recognizes his tragic flaw and gains the sympathy of the audience.

10. How does Caesar gain sympathy before his end? What about Brutus?

11. The tragic hero is bitter but meets death with courage.