Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Brutus and his conflict
Brutus and his conflict
Argument of brutus and antony
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Brutus and his conflict
It has been said fighting fire with fire only leaves both parties burned. Human emotions have the strength of fire; consequently, emotion can damage many souls if left to burn. At the funeral of Caesar, Brutus is aware the crowd is burning with passion and mistrust and strategically chooses to fight their raging emotions with soothing logic. This choice defines Brutus' speech. Even though he had the disadvantage of going first and the crowd ultimately sided against him, Brutus's speech managed to best Antony's in the areas of Ethos, Parallelism/repetition, and logos.
From the beginning of his speech, Brutus makes it clear that he is trustworthy and should be listened to. "...believe me for mine honor, and have respect to my honor..." he pleads to a confused and angry crowd (3.2.15-16). He continues by making appeals to those who love Caesar, saying that he and Caesar were good friends. He uses his own reputation to strengthen the bond of trust between himself and the crowd. Meanwhile, Antony only makes himself trustworthy by associating himself with Brutus and the conspirators. "Here under leave of Brutus and the rest..." he mentions in the opening of his speech, siphoning off of the trust recently created between Brutus and the crowd (3.2.80). After that line, he simply goes on to glorify his dead friend, turning the ethos created by Brutus onto himself and severing the connection the crowd had with the former. If the roles had been reversed and Antony had gone first, one would find no reason to trust Antony, making Brutus the uncontested best at employing ethos.
Being that Brutus bases his speech on logic and trust, it would make sense that he does a better job at parallelism and repetition, due to the fact that this techniqu...
... middle of paper ...
...t does appear it is not anything special. Brutus clearly has bested Antony at using logos.
Brutus has a clear and concise argument that depicts the logical tendency of his thinking. Antony's argument is the foil of Brutus's, kindling the crowd's anger by constantly letting his emotions push his speech forward. But just as fire can offer warmth during chilling times, it can also cause severe damage. Because of Antony's speech, an innocent poet was killed and Rome was almost destroyed. Brutus managed to take a group of passionate, outraged people and calm them enough to see the reasoning in Caesar's murder. He went to great lengths with the techniques of ethos, parallelism/repetition, and logos to help others look forward into a promising future without Caesar. And though the crowd chose differently, from these aspects one can conclude Brutus had the superior speech.
Even though both of their logos catches the ears of the people Antony's caught their full undivided attention. Brutus uses something most people have for their country, love. Brutus states," Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more." (III:2:20-21). Brutus says that he iis doing his all for the sake of Rome and that Caesar's ambition scares him. Antony on the other hand, proves that Caesar did not have much ambition, and that he loved his people. Antony says," You all did see that on Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?". (III:2:93-95). Also he states," Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal to every Roman citizen he gives- to every several man- seventy-five drachmas." (III:2:230-232). This is what mainly helps him win over the
Brutus vs Antony The most predominate and important aspect in the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare are the speeches given to the Roman citizens by Brutus and Antony, the two main characters, following the death of Caesar. Brutus and Antony both spoke to the crowd, using the same rhetorical devices to express their thoughts. Both speakers used the three classical appeals employed in the speeches: ethos, which is an appeal to credibility; pathos, which is an appeal to the emotion of the audience; and logos, which is an appeal to the content and arrangement of the argument itself. Even though both speeches have the same structure, Antony’s speech is significantly more effective than Brutus’s. Both speakers used an ethical appeal to the crowd and established their credibility.
Shakespeare uses dramatic pathos, ethos, repetition and logos in the case of Antony to make his speech memorable in his effectiveness to sway the audience’s opinion. William’s use of Antony having the last word and subterfuge powerfully displayed a moment of literature memorable for the art of persuasion and manipulation. He veiled the true intent. The weaker written speech for Brutus had one effective point. The point that he killed Caesar for Rome. The breakdown of Brutus’s speech makes readers feel the tension and
Brutus was to trying to convince the Romans that Caesar's assassination was justified. He claimed that he and the conspirators did what they did for the love of Rome. Brutus declared, "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more."(Act 3, scene 2, lines 20-21). He truly believed what he did was the right thing, and that if he didn't do it, Rome would have fallen. I found, and possibly others, found mistakes in Brutus' speech. First, he disperses half of the audience: "Those that will hear me spea...
As a final point, Antony and Brutus both spoke at Caesar’s funeral to prove their reasoning’s to the people. Antony’s speech turned out to be the more effective one because he manipulates the words ambitious and honorable to contradict Brutus, he uses props to provide substantial evidence to the people, and his speech was more effective because it essentially persuaded the people to be on his side whereas Brutus did not convince the people of anything.
Logos: "And Brutus is an honorable man". Throughout his speech, Antony keeps on making comments just before he remarks Brutus , H e says something he had something wrong
...o go second so you can counter the other person’s argument. Brutus, even when his mind has good intention it is also littered with ignorance. Brutus had good intentions but his ignorance made him make not the best decisions. He had made many ignorant decisions because he did not want to listen to Cassius. The first time Brutus showed this trait was when Cassius warned Brutus many times about the danger of Mark Antony. Brutus simply thinks the good of people, not ever wondering if he does one action, if the other person might retaliate. He let himself get fooled by Mark Antony’s manipulation of words which made Brutus to trust Mark Antony even more. Because of this, he trusted him enough to let him speak in front of the Roman Citizens. This is never a good idea when a person is debating; it is more opportune to go second so you can counter the other person’s argument
By nature, the crowd of Romans will be more concerned with their personal safety than the death of their ruler. Antony appeals to his personal experiences and friendship with Caesar in a touching, personal, primarily pathetic argument; on the other hand, Brutus appeals to the Roman citizens directly by presenting himself as their protector against Caesar, a threat to their safety and liberty. Therefore, in terms of effectiveness, Brutus reaches his audience on a much more personal and convincing level with his argument than Antony was able to with his account of his friendship and life with
Brutus has several tragic flaws. One of these tragic flaws is how he trusts people a lot. Brutus says that he “know[s] that we shall have [Antony] well to a friend” (1140). He trusts Antony will be a friend of the conspirators, yet he seems to not realize that Antony is obliviously against them, because they killed his friend. Brutus trusts Antony so much, that he lets Antony speak to the public alone. Antony turns the people against Brutus and the conspirators, leading to the wars where Brutus takes his own life. Brutus also receives letters, supposedly from the people of Rome. As he reads the letter out loud, Brutus remarks “‘Speak, strike, redress!’ Am I entreated to speak and strike? O Rome, I make thee promise, if thy redress will follow, thy receivest thy full petition at the hand of Brutus” (1118).
Brutus made his speech effective in persuading the people by using tone and rhetorical devices. Brutus was compassionate when referring to how he loved Caesar as much as Caesar`s friends of his speech. Brutus was showing compassion on lines18 - 20 when he said, "If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's, to him I say that Brutus's love to Caesar was no less than his." Brutus said this to help the people understand the sorrow he felt for the loss of Caesar, but he felt he killed Caesar for the good of Rome. Brutus anticipated an objection by the people when he said he loved Caesar , so he went on to say on lines 20 - 23, "If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: Not that I love Caesar less, but Rome more."Brutus manipulated the people with rhetorical questions. He asks them on lines 29 - 33, " who is so base, that they would be a bondman, who is so rude, that they would not be a Roman, and who is so vile, that will not love his country," the people do not want to be against their country nor do they want to be so base to be a slave....
Because Antony ingeniously uses a plethora of logical, emotional, and credible arguments, he outshines Brutus’s speech, which lacks in verifiable evidence. Antony also seizes the power of rhetorical devices in a more effective way than Brutus to convey his message. This battle between their speeches reflects in the outcome of their war, showing the superiority of Antony’s persuasive ability. While Brutus may have been an “honorable man,” it was Antony that proved to be the more effective one.
As a “speculative man of high motives and refined sensibility”(Catherine C. Dominic) Brutus does have his confusion of motives. Act I, scene ii, is the first we see his weakness, “his concern with reputation and appearance, his subtle vanity and pride”(Gayle Green). Yet the main bases of Brutus’s bewilderment of motives takes place in Act II, scene I, with his famous soliloquy beginning with “It must be by his death”. This speech may be the turning point in which Brutus feels better about the assassination of his once called friend.
Brutus commits three costly mistakes during the play. The first mistake that he makes is that he participates in the assassination of Julius Caesar. “People, and senators, be not affrighted. /Fly not; stand still; ambition’s debt is paid”(938). In doing this, Brutus does just the opposite of what he set out to do which is to protect Rome from the ambition of humans. This action also perpetually gives him the name of a traitor. The second and most important mistake that Brutus makes is that he allows Antony to speak at Caesar’s funeral. “And you shall speak in the same pulpit whereto I am going /After my speech is ended”(945). Not only does Brutus allow Mark Antony to speak after Cassius tells him not to let him have such a right, but he gives him the better time to do it as well. Speaking second is more strategic than first because of the fact that the man or woman that speaks second is delivering the speech that the audience will remember. The citizens most likely will not remember Brutus’s meager speech that is soon disregarded after Antony begins to speak. This act of arrogance is actually the backbone to the downfall of Brutus. The third mistake that Brutus makes is tha...
& respects the intelligence of the common people to understand a speech given in verse. Brutus's authoritative air is once again illustrated at the very opening line of his oration when he demands the attention of the people, "Romans, countrymen, and lovers, hear me for my / cause, and be silent, that you may hear. Believe me / for mine honor and have respect to mine honor, that / you may believe"(Act III, scene ii, lines 13-16). this one line, Antony uses Brutus's words to his advantage by changing them to make himself sound friendlier. By the very first word of Antony's speech, one can infer that he is about to give a humbling oration; he uses the ethical appeal to convince the people to believe in his cause rather than Brutus's. Finally, while the crowd is in awe of Brutus's raw power and booming authority, Antony uses sarcasm He is "an honorable man" (Act III, scene II, line 84) in a tone of biting mockery, therefore questioning Brutus's credibility. & nbsp; It is true that the Roman people have emotions that sway with the winds, but this is partly due to the great speaking skills of both Brutus and Mark Antony.
One of these important virtues necessary for rule is the ability to move a large crowd with impressive orating skills. This ability is seen particularly by Brutus in his first speech, as he manages to move the Roman crowd from fear at the assassination to disdain of the now late Julius Caesar. As Brutus spoke to the masses, he made sure to cleverly weigh his loyalty to Caesar to his loyalty to Rome, as he claims, “not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (III, ii, 23-24). He even more cleverly sets the crowd with himself and against Caesar as he dares those loyal to Rome to challenge his judgement: “Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak, for him have I offended. I pause for a reply” (III, ii, 33-36). Thus, while playing on the crowd’s loyalties and using his love for Rome and...