Rome holds of
his name, wherein
obscurely Caesar’s ambition
shall be glanced
at. And after
this let Caesar
seat him sure,
for we will
shake him, or
worse days indure.
Act 1, Scene 2, Line 304.
He is basically saying that if he doesn’t kill Caesar, Rome will be ruined.
He sends Brutus a letter, containing his points for creating the conspirity. These points make Brutus realise that Caesar is getting dangerously powerful, so he decides to join.
As soon as he joins, he takes it over and tells the other conspirators what to do. He makes some stupid mistakes including not making the others swear their allegiance to the conspiracy, not killing Mark Antony and finally, letting Mark Antony speak at the funeral. This shows us that he can be slightly dense. Of course, over time Caesar gets suspicious about what’s going on, and Desius’s reinterpretation of Calpurnias dream adds to this.
To kill Caesar, the conspirators had to get very close to him. They had no other way of killing him except to stab him. To do this they beg for him to let Publius Cimber to have freedom, they surround him and when they are all around him, they make their move and stab him to death.
As I said earlier, there where two speeches made at the funeral, which I will now study, I will begin with Brutus’ speech.
When Brutus steps up to the pulpit, he has a difficult job of reassuring the crowd that he and the other conspirators killed Caesar for the good of Rome.
As the crowd is very fickle, he manages to so this with some simple emotional trickery and reasoning:
Then follow me,
and give me
audience, friends.
Act 3, Scene 2, Page 91, Line 2.
He addresses the crowd as if they where his friends, even though they are partially scared of him. In no time at all, the crowd is on his side and listening to every word he speaks. After the first few lines of his reasoning, the citizens regard him as “The Noble Brutus”. After he has done this, he begins his speech, which is written in pros. Speaking in pro’s tells us that Brutus has not really thought about his speech and he is underestimating the quality of Mark Antony’s speech.
In his speech, he implies that only intelligent, sensible people will support his reasons for killing Caesar:
Censure me in
your wisdom, and
awake your senses.
Page 93, Line 15.
Brutus implicates that only intelligent, sensible people will support his reasons.
Brutus manages to get the crowd’s symphony by saying that he loved Caesar, daring the people to find anyone who loved Caesar more. Brutus declares that he never wronged Caesar, daring the people to find anyone who loved him more. Brutus declares that he never wronged Caesar, that he cried for Caesar’s love, was happy for his greatness, honored him for his courage, but had to kill him because of Caesar’s ambition. He says that the reason for killing Caesar was his great love for Rome.
He states:
Not that I
loved Caesar less,
but that I
loved Rome more.
Page 93, Lines 19-20.
He then asks rhetorically is the people would want to live their lives as slaves under Caesar’s rule or would they prefer to live as freemen with Caesar dead. To anymore insulted by his speech he wonders if, as Romans who love their freedom, they would be offended or reject what he, Brutus, says.
He poses the question, “Who is here so base that would be a bondman?” He stresses the point, repeating the line, “If any, speak for him I offended. I pause for reply.”, allows them to respond to his rhetorical questions, giving them an even greater sense that he cares about them and their opinions. They can only respond, “None Brutus, none.” That is, none are offended, they do not disagree or argue with his words or his actions.
Mark Antonys speech focuses on Caesar’s positive traits, and cunningly disproves Brutus’ justification for killing Caesar. Again, the fickle Romans change their thoughts on Brutus. Mark Antonys speech is written in verse, showing more thought and planning then Brutus’ speech. He starts out by addressing the crowd as “friends”, like Brutus’ speech, because he wants to come to them as a friend rather than a ruler trying to gain power. He then says, “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him”, thus he can ease in praises of Caesar without the crowd stopping him.
He sounds very sincere when he says; “The noble Brutus is an honorable man.” He repeats that statement three more times becoming increasingly sarcastic, saying finally:
Yet Brutus was
ambitious, and sure
he was an
honourble man.
Page 97, Lines 90-91.
Since the people responded positively to Brutus’ speech, Antony could not insult Brutus’ honesty in a direct manner. Yet, Antony disproves Caesar’s ambition with three examples. One is when he gave the ransom of captives to public treasury and not his own, another when he cried with the poor people, and finally when he fused the kingship that Antony offered him three times. Anyone who was ambitious would never have done any such things.
Antony says:
I speak not
to disprove what
Brutus spoke.
Page 97, Line 92.
Antony is lying, as this exactly what he is doing. Antony is using a dramatic effect on the people, first by entering on the stage with the body of Caesar, and at the end stating that his heart is still with the body of Caesar, ending his speech weeping.
In justifying Caesar and disproving Brutus, the people see Antony as a potential successor to Caesar. They are swayed to him by his dramatics, his underhanded way of making a point, his repetition and compelling proof of Caesar’s concern.
As well as showing the plebeians Caesar’s body, he uses Caesars will. He plays with the crowd by telling them about it, then putting it away, and saying he shouldn’t read it. This makes the citizens want to hear it even more. Antony does this on purpose, which makes the crowd hang onto his every word.
Yet another prop he uses is Caesar’s mantle, which again he uses to stir up the crowds emotion:
And in his
mantle muffling up
his face, even
at the base
of Pompeys statue,
which all the
while ran blood,
great Caesar fell.
What a fall
was there my
Countrymen! Then
I, and you,
all of us
fell down, whilst
bloody treason flourished
over us.
Page 101, Lines 78-83.
Brutus does not use any props in his speech, which shows us how much he underestimates Mark Antony. Instead, he overuses emotional blackmail to win over the crowd.
Throughout his speech, Mark Antony pauses. He does this to show the crowd how much he has been hurt by Caesars death (showing emotional grief) and to give the crowd time to absorb the important points he has made. Again, this shows us that he has thought deeply on how to win over the crowd. What really Mark Antonys speech so great is that when he started the crowd was almost totally against him, and had no interest in listening to him. The only reason they listen to him is because Brutus told them to do so. He has managed to win over the crowd from almost impossible odds, which shows that he knows the Roman Citizens better than Brutus does.
In conclusion, it is clear that both speeches try to appeal to the people, and both use repetition, but Brutus takes a defensive approach, leaving the people to their own conclusions. However, Antony takes a prosecuting approach against Brutus because he backs up statements, while Brutus leaves his statements more open-ended.
I prefer Mark Antony’s speech more as the people seem to find it easier to accept him. He is an emotional and sincere speaker, rather than Brutus who appears more arrogant and forceful.
