Table of contentsIntroductionAnalysis of the speech of Brutus and AntonyBrutus' speechSpeech of AntonyConclusionWorks citedIntroductionIn The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the speech plays important role in the plot. The people involved are easily persuaded to take opposing viewpoints through the speeches of Anthony and Brutus. In Brutus's speech he says: "Not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more." Would you rather that Caesar lived and died all slaves, rather than that Caesar died and all men lived free? As Caesar loved me, I mourn him; as he was lucky, I rejoice; as he was valiant, I honor him; but as he was ambitious, I killed him. There are tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honor for his bravery, and death for his ambition. Brutus portrayed Caesar as a power-hungry ruler intent on enslaving Rome. He was able to manipulate the crowd's point of view. At the end of the speech, the crowd congratulates Brutus for killing Caesar. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Although the crowd was convinced by Brutus, they are once again convinced by Antony's speech. In Antony's speech he says, "Come and speak to me at Caesar's funeral." He was my friend, faithful and fair to me; But Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man. He brought back to Rome many captives whose ransoms filled the general coffers. He goes on to speak of Caesar as a friend and a misunderstood person. Then he said: “But here is a parchment bearing the seal of Caesar; I found it in his closet, it's his will... And, when they die, they mention it in their will, leaving it as a rich inheritance. In this quote he is telling people about Caesar's will and the fact that he had left the money in Rome. The theme of the story is that the power of speech can easily persuade a person to believe any point of view of the opposing characters. Antony's speech at Caesar's funeral in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar was more effective than Brutus's because Antony used a multi-faceted emotional argument, instead of relying on assertion, as Brutus did. had done. Thanks to this, Antony managed to attract the crowd to his side, against Brutus and the conspirators. “Antony does not show the inadequacy of any approach. Rather, its different rhetorical devices influence and reinforce each other” (Wills 46). Analysis of Brutus and Antony's Speech Brutus's Speech The main flaw in Brutus's speech at Caesar's funeral was that his argument had only one source of proof, his reputation. “Brutus's speech at Caesar's funeral hammered home a point: one must rely on one's own honor” (Wills 79). During his speech, Brutus gave no tangible proof that Caesar was ambitious: no examples, no witnesses or letters proving that what he said was fact. The main weakness of this type of argument is that if this single source of evidence, in this case Brutus's honor, is refuted, the entire argument falls apart. Another flaw in Brutus's speech was his inability to properly "read" the crowd: and because of this, he presented the wrong kind of argument, a logical one, when he should have been projecting a more emotional one , as Antoine did. In preparing his speech, Brutus did not realize that the crowd would be more responsive to emotional incitement. Although presenting a logical argument to more educated people generally produces the desired effect,People with less education are almost always more receptive to emotional cues. During his speech, Brutus only tries to emotionally engage the crowd once, when he tells them that he loved Caesar and was Caesar's good friend, but that he loved Rome more and had no choice but to kill him. While it was a good tactic, he didn't emphasize it enough, and seeing as it was the only emotional point in his entire dialogue, the pathos part of his argument left a lot to be desired. “Brutus's speech is very precise, in a pedantic way” (Wills 53). Overall, Brutus uses too many logos, logical points of an argument, for an uneducated crowd. They agree with him, encourage him, and want to crown him king, proving that they do not understand the real reason why Brutus killed Caesar. Brutus didn't want a king. But Brutus' most intriguing flaws are the flaws in his personality that prevented him from understanding the crowd. “Brutus is a vain man, an impractical idealist, and he lacks the saving sense of humor that comes from understanding one's neighbor” (Matthews, Web). The way he acts and thinks puts him at a terrible disadvantage, because he doesn't understand and doesn't know how to talk to people. Since Brutus came from the upper class, he did not have much interaction with the lower classes of society and did not realize that common men are not logical and idealistic creatures. If they had been, his speech would have been very effective. Antony's speech Antony, on the other hand, had several examples demonstrating that Caesar was not ambitious. “Caesar brought many captives back to Rome,/whose ransoms filled the general coffers” (3.2.90-92 Shakespeare). Antony reminds the Roman people that Caesar was not ambitious because he gave his spoils of war to the Roman people instead of keeping them for himself. “When the poor wept, Caesar wept; Ambition must be made of sterner stuff” (3.2.93-94 Shakespeare). He also tells them of Caesar's compassion and empathy for ordinary people. “Thrice have I presented Caesar with a royal crown, which he thrice refused” (3.2.98-99 Shakespeare). He goes on to say that if Caesar had been ambitious, he would have taken the crown that Antony had presented to him. Caesar's refusal proves Antony's point that Caesar was not ambitious, and Antony begins to gain the approval of the common people by thinking about what he said. One of the other techniques Antony used to influence the people was deception. He lied or talked about things he could never have known to touch the crowd on a more emotional level. For example, Antony tells the crowd how he remembered the first time Caesar put on the mantle in which he died. Antony was not an associate of Caesar during the military campaign that defeated the Nervians, when he said Caesar first donned the mantle. Besides, Caesar probably wouldn't wear an old coat he had fought in to a ceremony in which he expected to be crowned. Later, Antony points out the various wounds on Caesar's body and attributes each to a specific conspirator. But how could Antony, who did not witness Caesar's murder, know who caused these individual injuries? The individual conspirators were probably unable to trace the individual injuries they had caused because of the frenzied manner in which they attacked him. But even if this is not true, it is a very good tactic used by Antoine because it “puts a face” on the conspirators and makes the now angry crowd hate them. Antoine triumphs because his skills and his.