Brutus And Antony Speech Analysis

In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, characters Brutus and Antony both make speeches at at Caesar's funeral that display a great deal of meaning. Mark Antony, a dear friend of the recently-deceased Caesar, and Brutus – once a friend of Caesar, later his assassin – are diametrically opposed at the outset of these occurrences. Brutus gives Antony the opportunity to make a speech at the funeral, however, we find him under some rather serpentine conditions. Fearing rejection from the Roman population for his actions, Brutus intimidates Antony, telling him that he may not pointing his finger at the conspirators, that he must not speak ill of Caesar, and to give his speech at the same pulpit. On the other hand, Brutus sets himself up to be able to say whatever he wants, so that the cause of the conspirators may be bolstered by the people.

Brutus conducts his highly rational speech with intensely formal rhetoric, beginning with the famous “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” line, and calling upon the audience to “awake” their “senses”, so that they may believe him. The central point of his argument is Caesar’s selfishness, or
For example, by praising Caesar’s good deeds, juxtaposing them against Brutus’s accusations of “ambition” and then praising Brutus’s clearly erroneous judgment, Antony is able to praise Caesar while shaming Brutus. We, the audience, are confronted with Brutus’s point: how could Caesar be ambitions when he several times refused the crown? But it is the format that wins us to Antony’s speech. It is highly emotional and evocative of his character. “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar.” “Here is himself, marr’d, as you see, with traitor.” In the production, Antony will almost always break down and cry, occasionally showing off the bloody cloak of Caesar. He wins the audience with raw, irrational