Comparing the Speeches of Brutus and Antony
In Shakespeare's play ‘Julius Caesar’, Brutus and Mark Antony both talk about Julius Caesar, each using a different style and approach to sway the opinion of the crowd about Julius Caesar as a person. Brutus’ argument is from a more critical point of view, where his speech tried to sway the people by attempting to justify the conspiracy against Caesar. He states that Caesar's ambition would destroy Rome and rob the Roman citizens of their freedom. His speech ends in an ironic fashion, as he hoped that the crowd would understand that his actions were for the good of Rome. Instead, the crowd wanted to make him the leader of Rome, which he didn’t want himself to be. In Antony's speech, he focuses on Caesar's more positive qualities, slyly disproving Brutus' justification for killing Caesar. The Roman citizens waver between both men, responding emotionally, rather than intellectually, to them.
As a director, I would want this scene to be as exciting as possible for the audience, and I will do this by carrying on the momentum of the play even after Caesar’s assassination, by using the tension and the highly dramatic details of this scene. Also, I will give it a dramatic touch, by changing the tone and movement of the characters.
In Brutus’s funeral speech, there are key phrases of the speech and for maximum dramatic effect:
Brutus seeks to explain why he conspired against Caesar. In the beginning of his speech he greeted the citizens by saying "Romans, countrymen, and lovers". I would put emphasis on the “Romans” part of it, appealing to their pride as citizens of Rome, whom he later says will benefit as freeman due to Caesar's death. This shows that Brutus knows how to lure the crowd, appealing to their better judgement as Romans. He says that he is an honourable man, and tells them that he will let them judge his claims. This encourages the crowd, and also the audience of the play to believe him, as an honourable man. He says that he wants them to know the facts: "Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses that you may the better judge." This is an obvious attempt of flattery of the crowd, which will make the audience feel that Brutus is actually honourable and is telling the truth. In this, he should use hand gestures and to put emphasis on the word “Censure” and “wisdom”, to make the audience think that they are the judges of who did wrong. He gets their sympathy in the part of his speech where he says: “If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s, to him I say, that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less that his”, and this is followed by “not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more”. This should make the crowd and also the audience think that Brutus really did kill Caesar for the good of Rome, all for the freedom of the Roman citizens. After this, Brutus says: “As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him; but as he was ambitious, I slew him”. This passage is a good summary of his message to the crowd and audience, and he uses it to justify his assassination of Caesar, but also praising him, to show the audience that he showed no hatred towards Caesar, and he had no choice in the killing. He then asks a rhetorical question: would 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? He asks the question, "Who is here so base that would be a bondman?" He adds emphasis to the point, saying, "If any, speak, for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.” This allows them to respond to his rhetorical questions, giving them an even greater sense that he cares about them and their opinions. They respond, " None, Brutus, none." This will again persuade the audience to agree with Brutus’.
