Antony exceeds Brutus in the matter of performance because he spells out his evidence without using words. His use of these nonverbal tools helps him draw the attention of the fickle audience. After Brutus finishes his plain and dull speech, Antony takes the stand with a bored and fickle audience not only by using clever speech tactics, but by keeping their fading attention by using nonverbal tactics. The use of these so-called props keep them listening as he explains himself. For example, right when the audience is about to leave in fury, he brings them back saying, “You have forgot the will I told you of” (3.2 252). This fickle audience is drawn back to Antony to listen for their share and this makes them even more upset. This explains that …show more content…
This clever thinking leads helps him earn the support of the people he most needs it from. When Antony asks to speak at Caesar’s funeral, Brutus agrees to let him say a couple words with the guidelines of, “You shall not in your funeral speech blame us / But speak all good you can devise of Caesar / And say you do ’t by our permission” (3.1 270-272). These rules that Brutus gives Antony are protect the conspirators’s honor. To defend his honor, after his speech, Brutus introduces Antony by saying, “Mark Antony/ (By our permission) is allowed to make.” (3.2 64-65). Brutus tries as much as he can to defend his honor before Antony takes the stage. When Antony gets up and speaks to the plebeians, his overuse of Brutus’s honor suggests he is mocking all that Brutus told the Roman people in his speech before. Rome now understands that Brutus actually isn’t honorable and begin to go after the conspirators. The purpose of the speeches is to convince the crowd to choose a side that is more honorable. After hearing both sides, the audience chooses Antony’s side not because they believe he is honorable, but because he proved Brutus wasn’t through his talk with the important character, Rome. Thus, he has the better speech. Antony’s clever tactics show that Brutus is dishonorable to the
Throughout his speech, Antony repeats the words “[Caesar] was ambitious” and “Brutus is an honorable man” to create a contrast between the two statements. (3.2.95-96). Through this repetition, Caesar successfully undermines Brutus. Everytime he calls Brutus an honorable man, he lists a positive trait of Caesar that contradicts Brutus’s claim that he was too ambitious. He tells the crowd about the times when Caesar showed compassion for the people and when he refused the crown thrice. Antony’s sarcasm about Brutus’s honor brings into question as to whether his honor deserved. This leads the audience to doubt their feelings upon Caesar’s ambition. Near the end of his eulogy, Antony uses apostrophe when he claims that “judgment ... art fled to brutish beasts” as a reason for why the Roman people believe Brutus. (3.2.114-115). Antony indirectly shames the crowd for their belief in Brutus in that Caesar was a tyrant. Fearing alienation of the crowd, he attributes this belief to a lapse in judgement that beasts have taken. Antony also makes a pun upon Brutus’s name when he comments “brutish beasts.” Antony implies Brutus has caused a lapse in judgement within the Roman people through his oration
Antony reminds the plebeians about the time when he, himself “presented [Caesar] a kingly crown, / Which [Caeasar] did thrice refuse” (III. ii. 97-98). Using logic and reasoning, Mark Antony explains to his crowd that the fallen Caesar couldn’t possibly have been ambitious if he had refused the ticket to become King multiple times. Immediately afterward, Antony made sure to remind the plebeians that Brutus is an honorable man. This use of logos with verbal irony proves to be extremely effective. Since Antony presented the crowd with a compelling fact supporting that Caesar was not ambitious, the phrase “Brutus is an honorable man,” would be even more effective in allowing his audience to realize that Brutus and the conspirators may not be honorable (III. ii. 83). According to Brutus, the conspirator's sole reason to kill Caesar was because they believed he was ambitious, Antony’s statement would then be incredibly useful to turn the crowd against Brutus and his people. The plebeians would start to realize that noble Brutus and his conspirators might not be honorable and could potentially have their own, personal reasons to assassinate Julius Caesar. Once the crowd realizes that Brutus and the conspirators could have murdered their leader for no valid reason, they would begin to feel anger which are the building steps to starting a rebellion just like how Antony
Brutus has a way with the people. He is a politician, and he knows how to get the people on his side. Brutus says," Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor that you may believe." (III:2:14he-15). By using repetition, the people can easily remember that speech, and that is the kind of speech that they like. In Antony's speech he says," Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man." ( III:2:84-85). Antony uses Brutus's statues sarcastically as a way to show them that he is not a politician trying to manipulate them into believe something that is not true, but one of the people like they are. Antony also proves his point when he reminds them about the time Caesar refused the crown three times in front of them.
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.
Leaders during times of great unrest would give their people hope through well written, poetic speeches. Those who were truly gifted with amazing speaking skills could turn entire groups against their enemies. Mark Antony in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by Shakespeare is a wonderful example of someone who is not only a gifted speaker but is also a very poetic speaker. The best example of Mark Antony’s skills is during his monolog at Caesar’s funeral. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, Mark Antony used to structure, diction, figurative language, and imagery to sway the crowd to believe that Julius Caesar was innocent.
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.
For example, when he addresses the crowd in his funeral speech, Brutus states, “Believe me/for mine honor and have respect to mine honor/that you may believe” (3.2.15-17). Brutus appeals to ethos and establishes his credibility by repeating “honor”. The public now believes that he does indeed have “honor”. He also convinces the public that he is trustworthy by appealing to ethos. Similarly after Brutus’ death Antony states, “This was the noblest Roman…/All of the conspirators, save only he/did that they did in envy of great Caesar” (5.5.74-76). Antony is the enemy of Brutus and yet he still refers to Brutus as the “noblest Roman”, which verifies that Brutus is actually honorable. Antony is stating that while all the other senators kill Caesar out of “envy”, Brutus’ intentions to kill Caesar was for the good of Rome and its citizens. This reveals that Brutus has no other hidden agenda for wanting to execute Caesar, and therefore Brutus has the most purest intentions out of all the other conspirators. This confirms that he is the most noble Roman because he is not thinking about what he wants. Instead, he is thinking about the people and how they would feel if Caesar becomes a dictator. Brutus possesses nobility and honor. Those two qualities are vital to being an effective leader because the people can then
In William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, two speeches are given to the people of Rome about Caesar's death. In Act 3, Scene 2 of this play Brutus and Antony both try to sway the minds of the Romans toward their views. Brutus tried to make the people believe he killed Caesar for a noble cause. Antony tried to persuade the people that the conspirators committed an act of brutality toward Caesar and were traitors. The effectiveness and ineffectiveness of both Antony's and Brutus's speech to the people are conveyed through tone and rhetorical devices.
Antony asks rhetorical questions and lets the audience answer for themselves. Brutus uses ethos by stating that he a noble man and that is why the people should believe him but infact Antony questions his nobility by saying what Brutus said,” Brutus is an honourable man”(III.ii.79). In a way, Antony states what Brutus states to convince the audience by using examples that Brutus is wrong. Antony himself knows what kind of man Brutus is but lets the people figure it out on their own. In addition, Brutus uses logos by expressing that fact that Caesar died because of his ambition. This argument is severely under supported because his reasons are invalid and simply observations. Antony uses “did this in Caesar seem ambitious” to question Brutus’ argument (III.ii.82). Antony gives examples backing his argument like when Caesar refused the crown thrice to prove his humbleness. The way Antony convinces the people to rebel is by using pathos. He brings the audience in by stepping down to their level and showing them the body of Caesar. While Antony talks at Caesar's funeral, he pauses because” heart us in the coffin there with Caesar “(III.ii.98). When Antony becomes emotional, he reminds the audience about what injust event happened to the much loved
Physical evidence is very powerful as it is undeniable, but this will be especially influential in supporting his argument because the audience is aroused with zealous feelings for their fallen ruler. Because Antony ingeniously uses a plethora of logical, emotional, and credible arguments, he outshines Brutus’s speech, which lacks 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 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.
Firstly, Antony says a general statement that, “the evil that men do lives after them” (III.ii.74), when in fact he is subtly and sneeringly referring to the conspirators actions. The Roman commoners don’t realize that this general statement is swaying them, but the rest of Antony’s speech further convinces them of the evil the conspirators have done. Later, Antony talks about Brutus says that “sure, [he] is an honourable man” (III.ii.98), emphasis on the sure. Because he uses a scornful tone while sarcastically saying this statement, he is really beginning to show the audience his true feelings on the situation. Knowing that even Antony bitterly disagrees with the choices of the conspirators, it further persuades the common people of Rome to turn against Brutus and the rest of Caesar’s murderers. These occasions show Antony’s sour tone, especially towards the conspirators, and Antony’s tone also riles up the Roman citizens. His tone helps to exasperate the commoners with Caesar’s murder, and therefore assists Antony in achieving his purpose to manipulate the audience to turn against
Brutus was one of many Romans with noble bloodlines. Although Brutus was noble, he never used it to get ahead. There are many times when Brutus could have used the fact that he is truly noble but he didn’t. Many people argue that a noble man wouldn’t have killed Caesar. In some ways that is true, but Brutus’ case was different. A noble man would only for the good of others and that is what Brutus did. He killed Caesar because 7he was afraid of how powerful he could become. Even then he had a hard time doing it, and that is what separates Brutus from the other conspirators. Every other conspirator had little or no reason to kill Caesar. Brutus was willing to do anything for Rome. During his speech about Caesar’s murder Brutus stated “I have the same dagger for myself when it shall please my country to need my death” (III.ii.45-46). This shows how Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (III.ii.20-22). He was too passionate about his country to let Caesar turn it into a dictatorship. Mark Antony and Octavius recognized that Brutus was the one noble roman. In his final speech mark Antony said “This was the noblest roman of them all. / All the conspirators save only he/ Did that they did i...
Through the whole of his spectacular speech, Mark Antony influences the crowd using his distinct diction. He is able to inculcate a fired up anti-Caesar mass of people, and he makes the populace believe that Julius Caesar’s death was a true tragedy. Antony gracefully applies his proficiency with ‘logos’ and ‘pathos’ to his speech and is able to adroitly gain followers. His strong reasoning and explanations allow the Romans to buy what he has to say. Antony’s ability to speak in a roundabout way is a key constituent of his speech. Withal, he is extremely humble and the way he plays down his prowess is impressive. Mark Antony puts all the parts of his remarkable rhetoric together, and the result is a speech for the ages.
Brutus repeatedly says, “If any, speak, for him have I offended,” (III.ii.25). Brutus’ tactic is to try to force someone, or dare them, to disagree with him, which no one ends up doing. Brutus tries to make people fear him, which works for a brief period of time. Mark Antony, on the other hand, goes on the attack, rather than the defense, by repeatedly saying, “Yet Brutus said he was ambitious; And… he is an honourable man.” (III.ii.89-90). By going on the offensive side, Mark Antony uses the repetition of this extreme usage of irony and sarcasm to make the audience understand that all of this is Brutus’ fault and that he should be punished for his crimes, no matter his intentions. Both groups use similar rhetorical strategies to prove that Caesar should or should not be dead for what he has done, with differing results. Brutus and Mark Antony also use emotional appeals to persuade their audience that they are correct in the matter of the death of their esteemed
The speech made by Marcus Antonius, called Antony, in Act Three, Scene Two of Julius Caesar shows that despite being considered a sportsman above all else, he is highly skilled with the art of oratory as well. In the play by William Shakespeare, this speech is made at the funeral of Caesar after he is killed by Brutus and the other conspirators. Brutus claimed earlier, in his own funeral speech, that the killing of Caesar was justified. He felt that Caesar was a threat, and too ambitious to be allowed as ruler. Much of this sentiment, however, was developed by the treacherous Cassius. Antony, on the other hand, felt that the conspirators were traitors to Rome and should be dealt with. This speech used a variety of methods to gradually bring the crowd to his side, yet maintain his side of the deal with Brutus. This deal was that he, “shall not in your funeral speech blame us...” (3.1.245) for the death of Caesar. Antony holds his end of the deal for the majority of the speech, yet by doing so convinces the crowd of Brutus' and the others' disloyalty. In many ways, this speech can be seen as the ultimate rhetoric, and it includes all three of Aristotle's methods of persuasion. This are the appeal to credibility, called ethos, the appeal to emotions, called pathos, and the appeal to logic, called logos. All three of these devices are used to great effect during the speech of Marcus Antonius.