Brutus Speech In Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar was killed brutally by conspirators led by Brutus, one of Caesar’s friends. Through William Shakespeare’s play, “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”, the interpretation of these events from Roman history suggests Caesar is killed because of his ambitions. Today we see ambition as a good trait, however in the case of Julius Caesar, it is portrayed as a ruthless, self-ambition. During Caesars funeral, Brutus and Mark Antony give speeches appealing to the audience in different ways. Brutus appeals to the audience's logic, while Antony appeals to their emotions. There is a crucial difference between the two characters, Brutus was very noble and Antony was very calculating. The strongest contrast between the two characters appears to be their ability and inability to be both honorable and persuasive.

Brutus speaks first in hopes to set the mood of the funeral. He begins to talk in third person, explaining that he did this not against Caesar, but for Rome. He tells them, "...not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more." Brutus tries to speak to the people’s reasoning, his speech is short and to the point. He

However, different rhetorical devices were used in diverse ways in order for each to have an effect on the people of Rome. While Brutus uses logic to convince them that he and the conspirators did a good deed by killing Caesar, Mark Antony, through emotion, sways them to believe that Caesar did not deserve to die. Each of them had their own objectives to giving their speeches, each had selfish motivations. Although both speeches were persuasive, Mark Antony’s was most effective because he could identify with the audience and he spoke with passion. The audience respected Brutus but Mark Antony was one of their own. It could be said, Brutus made a huge mistake by allowing Antony to speak at Caesar’s