Brutus and Antony's speeches.

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Brutus and Antony’s speeches

Throughout this section of the play both Brutus and Antony make very significant speeches, which will either make them be loved or hated by the Plebeians. Obviously they need to win the crowd over and turn them against the opposition.

        The crowd at this point before any speeches have been made are very confused; news of their leader being killed by Brutus is filtering through the crowd. Then Brutus wants to make an announcement. They need some reassurance, as of that point they have no leader. So when Brutus starts his speech it doesn’t take a lot to sway the crowd to believe him that what he did was the right thing to do. For example he tells them ‘Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.’ He’s saying that he did love Caesar but was prepared to kill his best friend who he loved, for the sake of Rome. He’s telling the crowd that Rome will be a better place without Caesar. The crowd must now be thinking that what Brutus did was the right thing because why would he kill his best friend who he loved so much if it wasn’t going to be the right thing to do for Rome. Another example of this is when Brutus says ‘had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men.’ He’s suggesting that if Caesar remained the leader then the plebeians would become slaves but now that Brutus has killed him they will remain free men. When the crowd hear this they start agreeing with Brutus they know he is a intelligent man and by all the things he has told them he must have been right to do what he done.

        Everything Brutus says is said for one reason; to make him look like the good guy. He tells the crowd ‘I slew my best lover for the good Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death.’ Again he is bringing up the point of how he killed his best friend for the good of Rome, he is also saying that he is prepared to take his own life if it would be the right thing for Rome. This sounds like a very honourable thing to do and again is proving how much he loves Rome persuading the crowd even more. He wants to be thought of as a honourable man he says ‘believe me for mine honour, have respect to mine honour’ he is telling the crowd that he is an honourable man so they should therefore believe him and show respect towards him. Before Caesar death Brutus was known as an honourable man and Brutus wants to remind the crowd of that.

        In a way Brutus makes the crowd feel sorry for him by telling them how much he loved Caesar but was forced to kill him he says ‘as Caesar loved me, I weep for him…there is tears, for his love, joy, for his fortune; honour, for his valour; and death, for his ambition.’ He is telling the crowd how he wept for Caesar he is also here giving a bit of an explanation to why Caesar would end up being bad for Rome he says there is death for his ambition, he is saying that he was over ambitious. He is trying to get sympathy from the crowd and trying to give an explanation to the crowd.

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        Throughout his speech Brutus uses lots of Rhetorical questions for instance ‘who is here so vile, that will not love his country?’ no one could say ‘me’ as this means two things that you are vile and that you don’t love your country which both might be untrue. So if you don’t agree with Brutus killing Caesar you couldn’t say anything because of the way he asks the question. Brutus knows this he is so confident that no one will say anything he says ‘ I pause for a reply’ and of course there is none.

        Brutus is quite intelligent ...

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