IndexIntroductionAnalysis of the speech of Brutus and AntonyBrutus's speechAntony's speechConclusionWorks CitedIntroductionIn the tragedy of Julius Caesar the speech plays an important role in the plot. The people in the game are easily convinced to opposing points of view through the speeches of Antony and Brutus. In Brutus' speech he says “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Would you have preferred that Caesar lived and died entirely a slave, rather than Caesar died to live entirely free? As Caesar loved me, I cry for him; since he was lucky, I am happy about it; since he was valiant, I honor him; but because he was ambitious, I killed him. There are tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honor for his valor, and death for his ambition. Brutus portrayed Caesar as a power-hungry leader who intended to enslave Rome. He was able to manipulate the perspective of the crowd. At the end of the speech, the crowd praises Brutus for killing Caesar. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayAlthough the crowd has been persuaded by Brutus, they are once again persuaded by Antony's speech. In Antony's speech he says “Come and speak at Caesar's funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me; But Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man. He brought many prisoners back to Rome, whose ransoms filled the general coffers. He continues speaking of Caesar as a friend and as someone misunderstood. Then he says: “But here is a scroll with the seal of Caesar; I found it in his closet, it's his will... And, dying, they mention it in their wills, bequeathing it as a rich inheritance. In this quote he tells the people about Caesar's will and that he had left the money in Rome. The theme of the story is that the power of the word can easily persuade a person to believe any point of view of opposing characters. Antony's speech at Caesar's funeral in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar was more effective than Brutus's because Antony used a multifaceted emotional argument, instead of relying on one statement, as Brutus had done. For this reason Antony managed to bring the crowd to his side, against Brutus and the conspirators. “Antonio does not show the insufficiency of any approach. Rather, its different rhetorical devices interact and reinforce each other” (Wills 46). Analysis of Brutus and Antony's SpeechBrutus's SpeechThe main flaw in Brutus's speech at Caesar's funeral was that his argument had only one source of evidence, his reputation. “Brutus's speech at Caesar's funeral reiterated one point: his honor must be relied upon” (Testament 79). During his speech, Brutus gave no tangible evidence that Caesar was ambitious: no example, witness, or letter to prove that what he said was fact. The main weakness of this type of argument is that if the only source of evidence, in this case Brutus' honor, is disproved, the entire argument falls apart. Another flaw in Brutus' oration was his inability to "read" the crowd correctly, and for this reason he presented the wrong, logical type of argument, when he should have projected a more emotional one, as Antony did. While planning his speech, Brutus did not realize that the crowd would be more responsive to emotional stimuli. While presenting a logical argument to more educated people usually has the desired effect, less educated people are almost always more reactive to emotional cues. During his speech, Brutus tries to emotionally engage the crowd only once, when he tells them that he loved Caesar and was a goodfriend of Caesar, but loved Rome more and had no choice but to kill him. While it's a good tactic, he didn't emphasize it enough, and since it was the only emotional point of the entire dialogue, the pathetic part of his argument left a lot to be desired. “Brutus's oration is all very cut and dried, pedantically so” (Testament 53). Overall, Brutus uses a lot of logos, logical points of an argument, for an uneducated crowd. They agree with him and encourage him, and want to crown him king, showing that they don't understand the real reason why Brutus killed Caesar. Brutus didn't want a king. But Brutus's 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 devoid of the redeeming sense of humor that comes from understanding his fellow men” (Matthews, Web). The way he acts and thinks puts him at a terrible disadvantage, because he neither understands nor knows how to talk to people. Since Brutus belongs to 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 were, his speech would have been very effective. Antony Antony's speech, on the other hand, provided several examples that Caesar was not ambitious. “Caesar hath brought many captives back to Rome, / Whose ransoms have filled the general coffers” (3.2.90-92 Shakespeare). Antony reminds the people of Rome that Caesar was not ambitious because he gave his war spoils to the people of Rome instead of keeping it for himself. “When the poor cried, Caesar cried; Ambition should be made of sterner stuff” (3.2.93-94 Shakespeare). He also tells them of Caesar's compassion and empathy for the common people. “I have thrice presented to Caesar a royal crown, which he has thrice refused” (3.2.98-99 Shakespeare). He then goes on to say that if Caesar had been ambitious, he would have taken the crown that Antony had given him. Caesar's refusal proves Antony's point that Caesar was not ambitious, and Antony begins to gain the approval of the common people as he thinks about what he said. One of the other techniques Antony used to influence people was deception. He lied or talked about things he never could have imagined reaching the crowd on a more emotional level. For example, Antony tells the crowd how he remembered the first time Caesar wore the cloak he died in. Antony was not an associate of Caesar during the military campaign that conquered the Nervii, when he said Caesar first donned the cloak. Furthermore, Caesar probably would not have worn an old cloak he had fought in during a ceremony at which he expected to be crowned. Next, Antony points out the various wounds on Caesar's body and assigns each to a specific conspirator. But how could Antony, who had not witnessed Caesar's murder, know who had caused the individual wounds? The individual conspirators probably failed to find the individual wounds they had caused due to the frantic manner in which they attacked him. But even if it's not true, this is a great tactic employed by Antony because it "gives a face" to the conspirators and makes the now angry crowd hate them. Antony triumphs because his skills and is strong in every area where Brutus are weak, and he has the advantage of speaking after Brutus, he knows what he is getting into. “The crowd psychology that [Brutus] ignored or ignored Mark Antony understands and applies” (Matthews, Web). Antony is able to understand the crowd and adapt a discussion full of emotional stimuli that engages the crowd and makes them feel pity and empathy for Caesar, such as when he points out the holes in Caesar's cloak. His other advantage, talking.