Reading first, Brutus enlightened the crowd of Rome’s oppressed fate under Caesar’s reign, and questioned, “…Who here is so vile that will not love his country?” (Julius Caesar Act III. sc iii. lines 23-24). Antony’s rhetorical question was better because he logically disproved Caesar’s kingly ambitions by stating a specific instance. Brutus evoked a feeling of patriotism in the crowd, which may have been more effective if he had spoken second.
His strengths and weaknesses are contrasted in the funeral speeches of Antony and Brutus. These conflicting perspectives highlight the use of rhetoric to manipulate and influence an audience. Likewise, the mass media also employs rhetoric which often results in many differing views of one single event. In both the play and the media, rhetoric is shown to be a very powerful device presenting conflicting perspectives. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus is the first to speak about the assasination, he gives a reasoned prose speech that convinces the crowd Caesar had to die.
Cassius decides to write letters to Brutus that are seemingly written by many angry and bitter yet powerless citizens in an effort to make Brutus believe that killing Caesar is the right, even though not necessarily morally, action to take; as a result the thought of killing Caesar starts to appear as the honorable thing to do. Furthermore Shakespeare comments, “Three parts of him is ours already, and the man entire upon the next encounter yields him ours” (Julius Caesar 1.3.154-156). Cassius believes that they have accomplished in winning over Brutus to their side; therefore, Brutus hass nearly been completely persuaded to commit treason against Caesar. The conspirators
In order to warn his audience of the dangers of creating false heroes, Shakespeare presents conflicting perspectives between the illusion of honour, and the private reality of Caesar, who believes himself to be the defender of Roman honour, tradition and democracy. His self promoting simile ‘as constant as the Northern Star’ exposes his vanity that makes him prone to the flattery of Decius in Act III Scene 1. Brutus observes that ‘Caesar, thou art mighty yet’, a public illusion of Caesar as a hero, which is supported by the fickle plebeians ‘making holiday to see Caesar and rejoice in his triumph’. By contrast, the accumulation of a ‘tired man of such a feeble temper’ who ails ‘like a sick girl’, as espoused by Cassius and Casca shows a flawed protagonist. However, despite this frailty, Caesar is still a cunning politician whose danger is exemplified in his pragmatic elimination of political foes, such as the ‘silencing’ of Flavius and Murellus .
Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’ and Michael Apted’s ‘Amazing Grace’ provokes election promises’ provokes audience’s interpretations of representation in texts, through the medium of political minds and situations. When points of view differ, diverse and sometimes provocative opinions will be generated. This is apparent in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, a play that explores a number of ideas from different perspectives: the clash of political ideologies; the clash of class and status; conflict between the public and private spheres. Shakespeare conveys the complexity of these concepts to the audience through language and dramatic devices. The ways concepts are represented shape how the audience will perceive them.
In the play, Brutus and Antony are the major contributors on the battle of honour, both using it is as a ploy to gain the support of the people of Rome and to accentuate their own honourable qualities. The funerary speeches are the point in the play where the audiences view is altered to be seen more from Antony’s point of view. Brutus initiates his speech utilising humility, intimacy and emotive language as key concepts to persuade his audience regarding the justification of Caesar’s assassination, where as Antony instantly uses flattery, moving into sarcasm and rhetorical question to sway the Roman crowd and audience into believing that Brutus’ acts were not done out of honour – an act which within itself is
The following dialogue seems to be set up in a way to manipulate Brutus so that he may join Cassius in his plot against Caesar. Cassius bespoke words against Brutus’ own honor, of which he was so inherently proud of it was likely a strike against his very person, in a sense to dress up Caesar to be an enemy of the state. “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world / Like
Henry IV Part One is a play that explores the dreadful consequences and civil unrest that arose from Henry's usurpation of the legitimate King of England. To what extent do you agree. A major concern of "Henry IV Part One" is the question of rebellion against legitimate authority. The protagonist, Henry IV, has decisively broken with the traditional form of political authority; the common allegiance to a legitimate king. This allegiance derives the King's authority from his inheritance and the common knowledge that this is the way the political order in the country should be determined.
* Select key scenes, soliloquies or monologues then deconstruct in detail for techniques and how they have been uses to reveal/expose/challenge/confront perspectives * Identify the conflict that surrounds Caesar and who constructs the conflict * Assess Brutus’ role and internal conflict * Assess Cassius’ revengeful and aggressive stance as a find suggest how he has been used as a foil to Antony or Brutus’ perspectives * How is Cassius’ anger and frustration and fear and need for regicide explored in the text? * Who argues against regicide and why? * Why are the perspectives of Caesar differing across the characters – as a man, as a leader, as a monarch – and how do these differ from Caesar’s own
* Paragraph 1 – Shakespeare portrays Brutus and Antony in unique and differentiated ways to explore his own perception of each character * Brutus’ agenda is to Justify the assassination of Caesar and to win the people over with the aim of leading the nation * Brutus’ speech is spoken in prose which Shakespeare has used to represent the idea that Brutus is talking down to the audience and shows us that he is condescending * Antony’s speech is spoken in verse which means that he respects his audience and treats them like they are greater than him * Represents his manipulative nature and that his speech is based on emotion * Shakespeare’s use of textual form * ‘Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead to live all freemen?’ * Use of rhetorical questions to show that he is trying to manipulate the audience * Antony’s agenda however is to denigrate the conspirators, with his underlying agenda being to become heir to Caesar * ‘Brutus is an honourable