Comparisons to Shakespeare

COMPARISONS: 

1. I first compare Tris Prior from The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth to Brutus from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare because they are both tragic hero's and compare in the same elements of a tragic hero.
• SIMILAR ELEMENTS OF A TRAGIC HERO:
• Nobility - Tris and Brutus compare in nobility because Brutus's ancestors founded the Roman Republic (1.2.156-158) and he has a Praetor's chair in the senate (1.3.145). Though Tris does not come from a rich family, her father helps to run the government: "Like my father, she works for the government..." (Roth 31). Both families are involved in their government, but in Brutus' case, the Roman Republic. 
• Flaw - Brutus' flaw in the play is honor, and more specifically, believing that him and the conspirators are killing Caesar for a good cause: "For let the gods so speed me as I love the name of honor more than I fear death" (1.2.90-91). Tris's flaw in the books is her loyalty to her family, but also her honor because she believes in sticking up for the people she loves, even when they hurt her: "I love my brother. I love him, and he is quaking with terror at the thought of death" (Roth 455). These two characters flaws relate to one another because they both die by being loyal and honorable to what they believe in, even if it's not the same thing. Tris is loyal and honorable to her family while Brutus is loyal and honorable to his country. Both are different, but they put what they are loyal to over themselves, ultimately leading to their deaths.
• Error in Judgement - Brutus' error in judgement was joining the conspiracy, trusting Cassius, deciding on the death of Caesar, and trusting Antony: "Good countrymen, let me depart alone. And, for my sake, stay here with Antony" (3.1.53-54). Tris's error in judgement was trusting her brother because he hurt her, but she still put herself at risk for her brother and saved his life. Their error in judgements compare because by both trusting people they shouldn't have trusted ( Tris with her brother and Brutus with Antony and Cassius), it lead to their deaths. If Brutus stayed with Antony or didn't trust Cassius, he would have still been living and would have not stabbed himself. If Tris didn't go back to her brother and trusted him after he almost killed her, she would not have gone into the weapons lab and have died. Both characters trusted the wrong people which then lead to their tragic downfalls. 
• Responsible for Fate - Tris and Brutus were both responsible for their fates because first, Brutus lead the conspiracy that killed Caesar and made all the decisions. Brutus also went to Philippi because he was confronted by Caesar's ghost, which caused him to loose the battle and take his life: "Why, I will see thee at Philippi, then" (4.3.293). Tris was responsible for her fate because she went into the weapon's lab on her own, knowing she could possibly die, but still going anyways: "Through the windows in those doors I see the Weapons Lab, the even rows of machinery and dark devices and serum vials, lit from beneath like they're on display" (Roth 458). Both characters are similar due to being responsible for their fates because like Brutus going to Philippi, Tris had a choice to go into the lab and die. They both made the wrong choices that lead to their deaths by making a wrong call in what was best to do. Brutus could have spared his life if he didn't listen to the ghost and stayed in Sardis. Tris could have spared her life, as well, if she let her brother go into the lab and she didn't sneak behind every ones backs. 
• Irreversible Mistake - Both Tris and Brutus made irreversible mistakes long before their deaths, which set the path to their failure: "Et tu, Brute?-Then fall, Caesar (dies)" (3.1.84-85). As shown, Brutus' mistake was not only letting Antony speak at Caesar's funeral and then leaving, but the act of killing Caesar in the first place. Tris's irreversible mistake was choosing Dauntless in the beginning of book one because by choosing Dauntless as her faction, it put her at risk for her divergence being discovered and it opened up her mind to things she never knew about herself, which played a role in her death: "Then, with a grasp I can't contain, I shift my hand forward, and my blood sizzles on the coals. I am selfish. I am brave" (Roth 47). Tris and Brutus's irreversible mistakes compare to one another because they both made mistakes in the beginning, which followed them through and rest of their stories and created a primary conflict. Also, both acts (the act of killing Caesar and the act of choosing Dauntless) were acts that brought inner conflict and struggle to these characters.
• Accepts Death with Honor - Tris and Brutus both accept their deaths with honor by realizing their mistakes and learning to accept them. For Brutus, he realized that killing Caesar was not honorable, right before he died: "Caesar, now be still. I killed not thee with half so good a will" (5.5.56-57). Before Tris died, she finally realized that she could accept what she did wrong, and embraced her death with open arms: "Can I be forgiven for all I've done to get here? I want to be. I can. I believe it" (Roth 476). These two characters last words compare because they both achieve inner acceptance for their wrongs in life and willingly meet death. Brutus, thinking killing Caesar was honorable, finally sees that it wasn't, and Tris, beating herself up for killing Will, finally learns to forgive herself. Tris and Brutus's acceptance of death with honor started with them accepting themselves and learning their mistakes, first. 
• Tragic Death - Both these characters deaths were extremely tragic in the books because Tris and Brutus had good intentions from the start and were hero's in every way, but their good intentions lead to their deaths. With Brutus, he was an honorable, well-intended man who fought for what he believed in, only to die by being manipulated by Cassius. With Tris, she was a gifted and amazing person who risked her life to save others, even surviving the death serum to do so, but she died from a simple gun shot: "The gun goes off again. More pain, and black edges on my vision, but I hear Caleb's voice speak again" (Roth 474). Tris and Brutus were great people who made sacrifices to what they believed in fighting for what was right. What was tragic about their deaths was that they died in the simplest way and could have easily been avoided, but their fight and passion clouded their judgements. Also, Tris and Brutus's deaths were tragic because, like mentioned in "accepts death with honor," they both forgave and understood what they did wrong right before they died: "Can I be forgiven for all I've done to get here? I don't know. I don't know. Please" (Roth 476). "Can I be forgiven for all I've done to get here? I want to be. I can. I believe it" (Roth 476). As shown in Divergent and Allegiant, Tris was struggling with forgiving herself and accepting herself from the very beginning. It was only until her last second being alive that she finally realized she could be forgiven. This goes the same for Brutus because throughout the entire book he thought it was the most noble and honorable thing to kill Caesar, thinking it would help save Rome. It wasn't until Brutus' last words for him to finally realize that killing Caesar was the wrong thing to do, and that it wasn't actually honorable. These realizations in both characters, right before they died, made their deaths tragic because if they realized these things before, they could have avoided their deaths. 
• Audience Pity & Fear - Brutus and Tris first evoke fear in the audience because for Brutus, he was a powerful man and lead the conspircay: "People and senators, be not affrighted. Fly not. Stand still. Ambition's debt is paid" (3.1.90.91). Tris evokes fear in the audience by not only being divergent (not able to be controlled), but what she can do with that divergence, and it lead her to killing Will, her friend: "My eyes squeezed shut. Can't breathe. The bullet hit him in the head. I know because that's where I aimed it" (Roth 446). With Tris killing Will, not only did it create fear and tension in the audience, but it also created inner conflict that follows Tris around until she dies, possibly another irreversible mistake. The fear evoked in Tris and Brutus both have to do with the power they hold and what they can do with it, like Tris being divergent and killing Will, and Brutus being a big name in Rome and killing Caesar. For pity evoked from these characters, the act of Cassius abandoning Brutus in war caused the audience to feel bad for Brutus: "Caesar, thou art revenged, even with the sword that killed thee (dies)" (5.3.48-50). Tris evokes pity in the audience when both her parents die to save her, but she still fights anyways: "My father fires over his shoulder at the guards pursuing him, but he is not fast enough. One of them fires at his stomach, and he groans so loud I can almost feel it in my chest" (Roth 471). The pity evoked for both Tris and Brutus are similar because they were both abandoned by the people they needed the most, but instead these people died and they were left all alone. 
2. A theme that is similar in both The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and The Divergent Series is fate versus free will and how the choices you make define you. These themes can be seen throughout the books and play a major role in how the plot is prevailed.
• THEMES:
• Fate versus Free Will - This theme is seen in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar through the character Caesar, who understands that death will come when it comes and it can't be avoided: "Seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come" (2.2.36-37). Caesar realizes that death is beyond his control and he cannot stop it, which is dramatic irony because when he said this quote on the day he died. Through this, it shows that it was free will for Caesar to say this, but fate for his death. Also, fate versus free will is shown throughout the book when Cassius says fate is nothing more than cowardly, and that it is their free will to do what's best and kill Caesar: "Men at sometime are masters of their fate./ The fault, dear Brutus is not in our stars/ But in ourselves, that we are underlings" (1.2.140.142). By saying this, Brutus thinks it is his free will to save Rome, when really it is Cassius manipulating his fate, and leading Brutus to his death. Fate versus free will is seen in The Divergent Series because it was Tris's free will to save her brother and go into the weapons lab, but fate brought her to that point altogether: "I am Divergent. And I can't be controlled" (Roth 442). Tris had a choice to choose Dauntless and to save her family, but fate gave her Divergence. By giving her this special power, it made all her choices for her and altered her fate altogether, so her fate became her free will. Divergence became her. 
• The Choices you Make Define you - This theme is prevalent in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar because by Brutus making the choice to kill Caesar, it ran him out of his home and ruined his reputation. Brutus was a good and honorable man, but it was never known because all the people knew him for was murdering Caesar: "Come, brands, ho, firebrands. To Brutus' to/ Cassius', burn all" (3.3.34-35). By Brutus making the choice to listen to Cassius and to create the conspiracy, it followed him through the rest of the book and defined who he was, up until his last second before his death. This theme is now shown in The Divergent Series because Tris chose Dauntless and throughout the rest of the books she has been trying to prove that she made the right choice: "Tomorrow, these two qualities will struggle within me, and only one can win" (Roth 37). Tris's inner struggle was first making this decision and then learning how to keep her divergence a secret. The choice she made in the very first book (choosing Dauntless) defined and shaped her character until she died, showing that choosing Dauntless made her brave. 

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

Divergent