He had won them over until Antony began his speech. Mark Antony started off with a dramatic entrance, he entered the pulpit carrying Caesars lifeless body. Antony then began his speech with a contradiction, he talked about not praising Caesar but throughout most of his speech that is exactly what he did. Not only did he praise Caesar but he also tore at Brutus and the other conspirators image by repetitively and sarcastically calling them “honorable men”. He began to turn the crowd against the conspirators by convincing them that there was nothing ambitious about Caesar and he loved Rome more than he did himself.
When Anthony came up, he knew that he had to work harder to gain the crowd’s attention, so he begins with saying, “I come to bury Caesar, not praise him.” (Act 3 Scene 2; 72) He says this because he knows people don’t want to hear a speech about how “amazing” Caesar was, so he says he’s not there to praise him. In saying this, he gets people’s attention. Both start off with trying to get their credibility first, Antony wins in doing a better job because he worked harder in trying to get it. Pathos, the emotional appeal, is used most in both their speeches. Brutus asked rhetorical questions to try and stir up emotion in the crowd, “who is here so rude would not be a Roman?” (Act 3, Scene 2; 29) In asking these questions he knows people will begin to think about what he has to say.
After the climactic point in the play, Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, the characters Brutus and Antony both give speeches at Julius Caesar’s funeral. Brutus’ purpose in making this speech is to put the plebeians’ minds at ease and to explain why Julius Caesar was just assassinated. Brutus shows his love for the people of Rome to show that all he wants is to better the audience's lives. Antony has a much more sinister purpose for making his speech and that purpose is to seek revenge upon the people that have killed Caesar. He uses a sorrowful tone to bring out the anger within the plebeians.
Brutus' tragic flaw is that he is nationalistic, very gullible, and is too honest. These flaws allowed people to manipulate his trust, his honesty, and his patriotic beliefs. During Caesars rein, the public was mostly pleased with having Julius Caesar as their emperor but there were people who were outraged and were determined to stop this from happening. The conspirators, as they were called, were a group made up of senators and men of high status in Rome. The two most important men were Marcus Brutus and Cassius.
One thing that Antony said sarcastically that got the crow angry was “Let me not stir you up to sudden munity. They that have done this deed are honorable.” (3.2.200-202). What Antony was really trying to was, I want you plebeians to go avenge Caesar death because I cannot do this on my own. After Antony speech all the plebeians were fired up and helped to start a war. Antony persuasion was the most effective because all of the men sided with Antony until the end of the
In contrast to Brutus , Antony speaks to the plebians as if they are his equals . He respects their intelligence to understand a speech given in verse . In a roundabout manner , he needs to use rhetoric to 1) make the people doubt brutus's honor and excuses . 2) to stir pity and increase the achievements of caesar and to 3) incite the crown into mutiny . He starts out by adressing them as "friends" because he wants to come to them as a friend rather than a ruler trying to get power .
The devices work together to convince the crowd that Caesar being the better and more legitimate ruler, has previously connected with the Romans in a proffessional ethical way as well as connecting with them an emotional way. Antony's use of red herring actually lights the light bulb for the crowd of Rome. The fact that he draws attention to the central issue of Brutus killing caesar and his death affecting Rome, brings the crowd
He is gullible because he is easily manipulated and he will believe almost anything. When asked to join the plot against Caesar, he first does not want to, but then he finds the "notes" in his window and then tells himself that he needs to do this. After reading the notes Brutus said in Act 2 Scene 1, "O Rome, I make thee promise, if the redress will follow, thou receivest thy full petition at the hand of Brutus! "(Line 56-58) Everything Cassius tells him about Caesar he begins to believe just because what other people are telling him. His downfall is that he does not think for himself, his decisions are rather based on what other people tell him to do.
The audience is initially memorized by the Brutus they love, and are grateful for the ‘honorable acts’ he committed. This element of coercion helps him achieve his intentions of blindsiding the people to all aspects of the truth. But no worries, Brutus’ kind friend Antony will be sure uncover all and nothing but the truth for the commoners to second guesses Brutus’ words. 2nd Textual Quotation: “If, then, that friend demands to know why I rose up against Caesar, this is my answer: it’s not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?...Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman?
Caesar was so ambitious that it wasn’t good for high power. Brutus said, “If then that a friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is the answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more… as Caesar loved me, I weep for him” (3.2.21-26). This shows that Brutus did it for the people and not for himself. Brutus was saddened to see his friend fall dead, but there was no other choice; Caesar was the ambitious person. He would only try to win the crowd and use them for his own good.