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Essay / The speeches of Brutus and Antony in Julius Caesar
Over time, people considered powerful men have been given authority based on the words and actions they offer to their followers. In “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare, the character Caesar is a powerful ruler of Rome. His growing power and dramatic increase in authority made senators fear his government, leading them to plan for his impeachment. His old friend Brutus is manipulated into believing that Caesar's sudden rise to power is extremely bad for Rome, leading Brutus to betray him, followed by his death. Shortly after Caesar's death, senators Mark Antony and Brutus spoke about Caesar's dramatic death using persuasive speeches to gain public trust. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay Although both Brutus and Antony performed effective persuasive speeches, Antony's use of repetition, rhetorical questions and loaded words made his speech more powerful. Brutus and Antony used repetition in their speeches to move their audiences. Both Brutus and Antony consider Brutus to be an honorable man. During his speech, Antony calls Brutus an honorable man after reminding the audience of what he did to Caesar. An example of this would be when Antony says, “He was my friend, faithful and fair to me but Brutus says he was ambitious” (Julius Caesar. 3.2.10). In saying this, Antony's main purpose is to point out that if Brutus was so honorable, why would he do something so dishonorable. Brutus, however, presents himself as an honorable man to prove his love for Rome. Brutus said: “If there is anyone in this assembly, a dear friend of Caesar, I tell him that Brutus's love for Caesar was not less than his own” (Julius Caesar. 3.2.7- 9). Brutus says this to gain the audience's empathy and acknowledge their love for Rome. Above all, Antoine used repetition in a more striking and meaningful way. Both Brutus and Antony's speeches reflected many differences, but the most important were their use of sarcasm and credibility. To establish his credibility, Brutus asks the audience to hear from him about his intentions to kill the great Julius Caesar. Brutus said: “Believe me for my honor, and respect my honor that you may believe; censure me in your wisdom, and awaken your sense, that you may judge better” (Julius Caesar.3.2.3-6). Brutus tries to connect with the audience by establishing himself as an honorable man. While Brutus used credibility to pursue the audience, Antony used sarcasm to wake them up. Throughout Brutus' speech, he refers to Caesar as an ambitious man, stating that his pride was greater than his love for Rome. Antony contradicts Brutus' statement by recalling the times when Caesar refused the crown three times, something an ambitious man would never do. Antoine said: “You all saw that during the luperial spectacle, I presented him with a royal crown three times, which he refused three times; Was it an ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious” (Julius Caesar.3.2.23-26). This statement brings awareness that shifts the audience's attention to Antoine. In short, Antony's use of sarcasm was more valuable in proving his case than Brutus's was in establishing credibility. Both Brutus and Antony delivered impressive messages appealing to the people of Rome. Two main reasons why Antony gave the best overall speech are that, even though he and Brutus were on opposite sides of this feud, he respected his.