Speech Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
Emotional Speech Analysis William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” is a
well-written stage play. Shakespeare included many good speeches in his plays; one of
the best was the one delivered by Antony. Antony’s speech came very shortly after Julius
Caesar’s death, and the city was in much chaos. The crowd had just heard Brutus’s
speech. Brutus was one of the murderers of Caesar. Antony was trying to raise the crowd
to mutiny.
His speech appealed to ones emotions and used many rhetorical devices. Antony
uses repetition to appeal to a common folk’s emotions. He repeats the words “Brutus is
an honorable man”. The statement, however, was really being said with a sarcastic tone.
Brutus is really not an honorable man. This restatement is emphasizing the importance of
the sarcasm. The word honorable becomes a bad word by the end of his speech. This
played directly on the emotion of patriotism and not to appear stupid. Another use of
repetition and rhythm would be him describing Caesar as ambitious. He also turns the
mean of ambitious around. In this case, however, he turns it from bad to good. Antony
says that he does not wish to disgrace Brutus’ honorable name. “ But Brutus says he is
ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man” (insert line #'s ). This quote proves how
Antony kept mentioning about Brutus and the Concpirators. Although he mentions that
Brutus is an honorable man, he means the opposite. Antony wants mutiny against the
Conspirators. He wants revenge. Antony’s technique of repetition proves originalnality.
This appealed to the emotion of appearing not foolish. This is a good emotion to
appeal to, because one wants to always feel smart and educated and have an opinion on
something. Antony also used rhetorical questions. The most prominent question was
whether the people thought Caesar was truly ambitious. He was not expecting a reply
when he would ask whether Caesar was ambitious. The emotion of appearing not to be
foolish would probably best go along with this statement and rhetorical device. The
people would probably just nod and agree, without thinking twice. Antony’s speech was
filled with rhetorical devices affecting the emotions of one. His speech was directed to
the common people of the city. His speech swayed the entire crowd from siding with
Brutus to side with him. Antony made use of mentioning that Caesar was not ambitious
for three reasons: he refused the crown three times, he did not pocket the money, rather,
he put it in the treasury, and he wept for the poor.
Caesar presently had. Brutus is a supporter of the republic government. Brutus says, " We
Brutus was a man loyal to his country. He was very modest and did what he though was right. Although he can be swayed by other people, like the planted letters, he still thinks and acts on his own.
Was Julius Caesar truly ambitious? For if he wasn?t, then Brutus betrayed a man he loved in vain. He held that he was saving Rome form a tyrant when he plunged the knife into Caesar?s back, literally.
After the murderous confrontation, it was not too late to prevent the anger of Caesar’s allies and the citizens or, even, to avoid future civil war. But it was here that Brutus made his second and third mistakes. Marcus Brutus rose before the Roman populace and attempted to offer a justification of Caesar’s murder. His flawed judgment came when he deemed Antony trustworthy and allowed him to speak at Caesar’s funeral. Brutus naively let Antony draw the mob in his favor. No one could dare refute Antony’s impassioned pleas in behalf of Caesar.
Marcus Brutus was born from the blood of a long line of valiant and noble men. Many noble men at the time of Brutus merely did what they had to do to be the mediocre senator, rich man, or another various profession to keep the flow of everyday life going unobstructed. They were nails holding a sinking ship together but ignored the fact because they would rather protect their reputation than raise their heads. Brutus rose above the rest and d...
were all the wrong moves. Brutus refused to admit that he was wrong or listen to other
Antony mentions about the battles Caesar had won that gave more wealth to the country, “he hath brought many captives home to Rome whose ransoms did the general coffers fill”. Further, he also reminds the people when he offered Caesar a crown, but Caesar rejected it in his statement, “You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, which he thrice refuse: was this ambition?” Lastly, he tells the people about Caesar’s affection to the poor, “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept”. Unlike Mark Antony, Brutus does not provide any evidence to prove his point that Caesar was ambitious. This information illustrates how logic reasons alter the people’s opinions. Thus, since Antony provide more evidences to support his opinion, people sided him instead of
Brutus was a devious man, even though what he thought he was doing was right. Brutus told his fellow conspirators to kill Caesar “boldly, but not angerly.”(3.1.256-257) Brutus was one of Caesars right hand men, and yet Brutus kills his own friend. When Antony asks to speak at Caesars funeral, Cassius says no, but Brutus tell him that Antony will speak, but only what Brutus tells him to say. Brutus also embraces the fact that he just killed his friend, and also tells the senators who had just witnessed it to not be afraid, but to stay because ambition has paid its debt.
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).
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.
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.
...s statement was made by Antony, in reference to Caesar, after the conspirators murdered him. The interesting idea behind this statement is that Antony’s opinion is later altered into believing that Brutus is the noblest Roman, instead of Caesar. It took the valiant sacrifice of Brutus’ life, which was made in attempt to save Rome, to persuade Antony, but it was then that he understood why Brutus murdered Caesar. Antony’s revulsion toward Brutus was simply blinded by anger and remorse for his dead friend, Caesar, for him to realize that what Brutus was doing was actually best for Rome.
Greed, ambition, and the possibility of self-gain are always constant in their efforts to influence people’s actions. In Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus, a venerable politician, becomes a victim of the perpetual conflict between power-hungry politicians and ignorant commoners. He is a man of honor and good intentions who sacrifices his own happiness for the benefit of others. Unfortunately, his honor is strung into a fine balance between oblivion and belief and it is ultimately the cause of his downfall. His apparent obliviousness leads him to his grave as his merciful sparing of Mark Antony’s life, much like Julius Caesar’s ghost, comes back to haunt him. Overall, Brutus is an honest, sincere man who holds the lives of others in high regard while he himself acts as a servant to Rome.
not what you do; do not consent...” Had Brutus been more aware of what was really
Brutus is primarily motivated by his utilitarian ideals, causing him to have a weak, uncertain approach relative to Antony. Antony’s counter-conspiracy is driven by his emotional attachment to Caesar and desire to avenge him, giving him a powerful, instinctual base to operate from. As Brutus is considering an assassination of Caesar, he states, “It must be by his death; and for my part,/ I know no personal cause to spurn at him,/ But for the general” (Shakespeare II.i.10-12). By considering the absence of personal incentives for the planned attack on Caesar, Brutus reveals fickleness in his motives by giving himself a second option. He is inspired to participate in the conspiracy by his utilitarian ideals, while concurrently, he doubts himself by considering his lack of personal conflict with Caesar. This weakness is further exposed following the planning of Caesar’s as...