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BRUTUS as tragic protagonist

BRUTUS as tragic protagonist. Monday, 06 January 2020. What is tragedy?. Shakespeare was influenced by the 1 st century writer Seneca. He was a Roman, writing plays which were influenced by the great Greek tragedies of 4 centuries earlier. Let’s look at the features of SENECAN tragedy:.

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BRUTUS as tragic protagonist

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  1. BRUTUS as tragic protagonist Monday, 06 January 2020

  2. What is tragedy? • Shakespeare was influenced by the 1st century writer Seneca. • He was a Roman, writing plays which were influenced by the great Greek tragedies of 4 centuries earlier. • Let’s look at the features of SENECAN tragedy:

  3. Senecan tragedy: • Obsessed with “crime” • Preoccupation with mutilation and torture • Witchcraft and the supernatural – think of Macbeth! • “vaulting ambition” • Ghosts calling for revenge • Use of “stichomythia” in dialogue – passages where characters speak in alternate lines.

  4. Is this BRUTUS? • Can Brutus be said to be obsessed by crime? Consider the evidence of 2.1 • Mutilation and torture? • The Supernatural? • Ambition? • Revenge? • Ghosts?

  5. Doing well… now consider this: • Classical tragedy, as explained by Aristotle, a 4th Century BC Greek, is based around these elements: • The fall from grace of a good person • A tragic flaw leading to the fall

  6. There’s more: • These plays have a set structure: • The “exposition” or the part where the protagonist makes the mistake that will lead to his fall. • The “reversal” when the character realises his error. • The “catastrophe” - when the inevitable happens.

  7. IS this Brutus? • We are left in little doubt that Brutus is good • Brutus acts out of a misguided idealism. Is this his flaw? • The outcome is inevitable once Caesar is dead, BUT more than that, if Brutus is seen as contributing to his own fate is he more tragic still?

  8. SO… • Brutus seems to fit into the tragic scheme. • Shakespeare did not know the Greek dramas, so was this intentional? • Why is the play not called “Brutus” do you think?

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