Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Brutus and antony's speech
Brutus and antony's speech
Brutus and antony's speech
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Brutus and antony's speech
In this speech, the crowd's initial feelings consisted of mourning and solemnnity. Brutus' speech put a note of finality on the controversy of Caesar's murder, allowing his audience to let go and not pursue the conspirators against Julius Caesar. After Brutus' speech at Caesar's classic funeral, Marc Antony makes a vigorous speech. Where Brutus used no passion, Mark Antony exploited it at every possibility. The crowd's feelings are changed greatly because of Antony's moving speech. Antony employs diction and repetition tactfully to implore the audience to Brutus' dark agenda. Rhetorical questions are another powerful tool used by Brutus to strain the wrong that has occurred in Rome and its necessary correction, using their ethics.
Since this is not a written expression to the people and a speech directly to the people, Antony also uses alliteration heavily.
Brutus' tone in his speech addressing Caesar's passing to the public is described as rational; Antony recognizes this weakness and uses the powerful leverage of passion to sway the audience in his favor. The first way he does this is by employing powerful diction and repetition. There is contrasting diction in the passage to make Antony's points shine through: "evil", "good"; "ambitious", "grievous"; "love", "mourn". The opening line is a now classic and powerful employment of diction: "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears". This one line commands the attention of the audience immediately. Later in the text, after the first few lines, the words Brutus and Caesar are never in a same line. This use of "he" when Antony speaks about Brutus' comments about Caesar creates great distance between Brutus and Caesar and immediately gives Brutus' argument a much ...
... middle of paper ...
...ind of the crowd and reverse their initial feelings towards Caesar. One is alliteration, which captures the listener's ears immediately, and creates harsher comparison, while speaking of the personal subject of values of the Roman citizens. Another tool are the rhetorical questions posed to the audience by Antony. He demands that they think of their personal connection to Caesar and their values; he indirectly states that they must take action to this murdering of their leader through these questions. Repetition is used throughout to embolden the points of Brutus' original speech. Parts of the speech are also made more important by their repetition, including some values of the Romans once again. Finally, diction is a critical part of the argument Antony proposes. His different use of words creates contrast and highlights his core points.
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
Mark Antony’s speech, whose aim is to counter Brutus’ speech, enlightens the crowd on the unjust murder of Caesar. Though he never directly communicates to the crowd of his feeling towards the conspirators, Antony was able to effectively convey to the crowd, through the use of verbal irony and other stylistic devices/techniques in his speech, his true views of the assassination. Moreover, Antony was able to shrewdly emphasize his belief of the undeserved assassination of Caesar through the wide use of epiphoral and anaphoral structure in his speech. Antony emphasizes the wrongdoings of Brutus and Cassius through the ingenious use of the epistrophe along with verbal irony as he notes that “I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong” (III, ii, 125). Moreover, he stresses the importance of punishi...
Brutus used logos and rhetorical questions as a rhetorical technique in his speech at Caesar’s funeral to persuade and inform the audience about why his death was necessary. However, Antony used more pathos and repetition in his speech. This allowed him to connect with the audience on an emotional level, which was more persuading than Brutus’s method.
He uses a range of rhetorical devices to manipulate the crowd. Both characters make very powerful speeches that will eventually determine who rules Rome. Both characters begin their speeches with a list of three. This rhetorical device creates a powerful and intense atmosphere: “Romans, countrymen, and lovers” – Brutus “Friends, Romans, countrymen” – Marc Antony Brutus puts “Romans” and “countrymen” at the start of his list of three. This shows us that Brutus’ number one priority is Rome and his country, and not the people.
Brutus starts off by saying he was Caesar’s friend, and he loved him, but because Caesar was “ambitious” he had to “slew” him. Brutus knew that everyone in town thought he was an honorable man and he used that to establish his credibility, unlike Antony, who was thought to be a play boy, not serious about anything. He had to work harder to gain the crowd’s attention. The first sentence out of his mouth was that he was here to “bury Caesar, not to praise him” which is a great way to start since most of the people didn’t like Caesar at the time and didn’t want to listen to some silly friend of Caesar’s say wonderful things about him. Antony also mentioned many times that their hero Brutus is an “honorable“ man.
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 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.
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 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....
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
Mark Antony also includes a hyperbole in his speech to show how saddened the death of caesar made him and to make the audience feel sad. At the end of the speech Antony says to the audience “My heart
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
Antony uses tautology in his speech in addition to many other rhetorical devices. Tautology is the repetition of an idea in two, nearly synonymous, words or phrases. “The evil that men do lives after them/The good is oft interred with their bones” (III.ii.74-75) is an example of this device. Antony is...
& 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.