Julius Caesar funeral speeches

Brutus speaks before the citizens of Rome. He explains why Caesar had to be slain for the good of Rome. Antony's speech is to make them question whether Brutus was right. He repeats himself a lot, saying that Brutus is an honorable man. This may seem that he is praising him a lot, but actually, by repeating it, he is taking the meaning out of it. So when the plebians first here him say it, they agree with him that Brutus is honorable, but after the last time he says it (which is a lot of times) they almost get sick of him saying that and start to disagree with the fact that Brutus is honorable, and therefore turning on Brutus. Brutus tries to make the fact that Caesar is dead a good thing, whereas Antony gradually builds his speech up, and makes it seem like a tragedy. He starts this off by coming up to do his speech with the coffin next to him, instantly making the plebians feel sad. He excuses himself saying he is too emotional, and pretends to cry, and this makes the plebians want to cry, so now they don't like the fact that Caesar is dead. He then finds Caesar's will in his pocket, and pretends he didn't know it was there. The plebians shout for him to read it out, but he insists not. This just makes them want it to be read out even more. The will is almost a prop for Antony's speech, making it more effective, but Brutus had no such prop, making his speech less effective. Antony then agrees to read the will, and to make it even more effective; he makes them stand around the open coffin. This is like another prop for the speech, and when the plebians see the body, it makes them more emotional and makes them hate Brutus even more. Before he reads it, he builds it up. He tells them to prepare to cry, even though some already are. He trails where the blood was, describing his death. This makes the plebians really emotional, and makes them want to kill Brutus. They all shout to kill Brutus, but Antony stops them and tells them to stay. This part of the speech is very clever by Antony, as it turns them on Brutus, and makes them love him. Overall his speech is a lot more effective than Brutus'. Brutus' was effective at the time, but it didn't have a cutting edge to it. The fact that Antony went last also didn't help, because now the plebians will only remember his, and forget about Brutus'.

A director would tell Brutus to play the role as if Brutus were very confident. This is because he thinks he has gotten away with it, and that he has won the plebians over. He also has no idea that Antony will make such a good speech after him, he thinks that it will be a speech that will praise Brutus. The director would tell the actor to play Brutus as though he knows he's finished the job, and that he has succeeded. The actor would have to make Brutus look powerful, and make him speak in a loud, booming voice to try and get his point to the plebians, and to make his speech sound more convincing. His loud voice would try and stamp down his authority. The role of Antony would be played with a persuading voice, and an argumentative attitude, that makes you listen. The actor would be told to appear concerned and obviously sad, because Antony is trying to show the plebians he is sad about Caesar's death. Brutus would have to appear persuasive, because he is really trying to get the plebians to agree with him. Antony, at the end of his speech, would be told to speak in a soft, soothing voice, that gets louder when he speaks of the tragedy. This would show how he was trying to get his message across to the plebians. As Brutus is leaving, he would be told to keep his head up high, to look confident and pleased with his speech. When Antony walks up to do his though, he would be told to keep his head down and with a depressing face, to show how moved he is by the death, and to make an impact straight away on the plebians. During the speech, Brutus would be told to seem powerful, and have a loud demanding voice challenging the plebians. He would be told to wave his arms around to add to affect. He would point his finger at the crowd to show how he is challenging the plebians, and questioning them. Antony would be told to be a less dramatic. He would speak in a softer voice, and to seem sad at Caesar's death. He would be told to keep his down at times to show his sadness, and other times to look up or at the back of the room, to show he is thinking about Caesar and almost daydreaming and speaking to himself.

Sam Fiske 10Gr English Coursework