Pride, ambition, and arrogance- are these traits of rulers and of greatness, or prominent defects that inevitably lead to destruction? In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Caesar's own flaws lead him to his own destruction. In the play, Cassius, Brutus, and a few other characters make a plan to kill Caesar, who is the ruler of Rome. Decius persuades Caesar to go to the Capitol, where all the conspirators murder him. Although it was the conspirators who murder Caesar, it was Caesar's pride, ambition, and arrogance that lead him to his downfall.
             Pride is one of Caesar's major flaws and a cause for his death. For example, Calpurnia, Caesar's wife, asks him not to go to the Capitol because of omens that frighten her. Calpurnia asks Caesar to tell Decius that he is sick and that is the reason why he will not go to the Capitol. Caesar thinks Calpurnia's suggestion is stupid and says, "Shall Caesar send a lie/ Have I in conquest stretched mine arm so far/ To be afeard to tell greybeards the truth" (II.ii.65-7). Caesar does not think he should tell a bunch of old men a lie because that would make him appear cowardly. After Caesar tells Decius the real reason he is not going to the senate is because Calpurnia had a dream of happy Romans bathing their hands in Caesar's blood. Decius reinterprets the dream as signifying that Rome will take reviving blood from Caesar as a ruler. Caesar then feels ashamed he believed Calpurnia's interpretation. Caesar then says, "How foolish do your fears seem
             now, Calpurnia/ I am ashamed I did yield to them" (II.ii.105-6). This shows that he was prideful because he thinks he shouldn't have believed someone like Calpurnia.
             Caesar's ambition is another reason for his death. Brutus even decides to join the conspirators because of Caesar's ambition. At his home, before the other conspirators arrive, Br
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