Fatal Flaw Essay Research Paper A

Fatal Flaw Essay, Research Paper

A “fatal flaw,” is a trait of a character that is a weakness and leads the character to his downfall. The play Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, shows this concept of a “fatal flaw.” This play speaks about a militant general who gained power after winning many wars, and believed he could become emperor of the Roman republic. Roman Generals feared Caesar was becoming too popular among the Romans and Rome was bound to be his. They decided to take matters into their own hands, even if it meant the death of a great hero.

Julius Caesar, a powerful and brilliant general, was under the influence of ignoring numerous warnings from friends and relatives who knew what was best. One example of this was when Caesar receives a warning from a soothsayer to beware of the Ides of March. Caesar feared the soothsayer s message, but he showed himself to the public as if he wasn t afraid of anything. Another example was when Caesar s wife had nightmares of people on fire and beasts roaming the streets. This meant that Caesar was going to be murdered and shouldn t go to the senate house. Caesar decides to go to the senate house; He believed that the senate was going to make him king that day. Caesar received various omens to take precautions before stepping outside, but he didn t listen. Fate caused Caesar to be stubborn, and once he let his guard down he was assassinated.

Marcus Brutus, an important judge of Rome is portrayed as a character that is easily influenced by another man s word. One example of this is when Cassius flatters Brutus and sends him letters pleading that Brutus should strike Caesar down. These actions manipulate Brutus to believe Caesar must be murdered, or else Rome will crumble under his kingship. Brutus was gullible and fell into Cassius s trap by taking part in the conspiracy. A second example of this is at the funeral of Caesar. Brutus is the first to give his speech on behalf of why he murdered the great Caesar. What Brutus didn t understand is that his gullibility of speaking first, and allowing Mark Antony, Caesar s loyal friend, to speak last, got him the support of the people. The people forget what the first speaker had said and pay absolute attention to the second speaker, and Brutus leaving before Antony finishes speaking didn t make anything better. We see that the gullibility of Brutus caused him the help he needed which later led to his suicidal death.

Caius Cassius, an important statesmen of Rome who was jealous of the power the great Julius Caesar was receiving. The first example of this is when Cassius decided he was going to plot a conspiracy to assassinate the honorable Julius Caesar. He manipulates many high officials including Brutus and Casca . Cassius was a master of using people for his own needs, and convinces them using their weaknesses to aid in his plot. Another example was while Cassius was speaking to Brutus he told him of the normal qualities Caesar had. One of the events he mentioned was when Caesar and Cassius were younger. Caesar didn t know how to swim and was drowning. Luckily, Cassius was there to save him. We see from this that Cassius was lying and was extremely jealous of Caesar. This led him to believe that he had to murder Caesar to prove to himself that he was greater than him. Cassius later committed suicide because of the problem his jealousy brought him.

In conclusion, we see from these three characters that their “fatal flaws” caused them to endure a tremendous downfall. They received no mercy, and when their flaws could have been altered, fate clinched on them and forced them to head into the same direction they were going. We see from Shakespeare s play that one minor weakness can become into a colossal predicament, which fate controls.