Comparison of the Speeches made by Brutus and Antony in the Marketplace
Comparison of the Speeches made by Brutus and Antony in the Marketplace
After the death of Caesar by the hands of Brutus and the other conspirators, the people of Rome (who I will refer to as the Plebeians) cry out to Brutus in the market place to satisfy them, which means that they want a reason for why Brutus and the conspirators killed Caesar. It is important that the speeches take place in the market place, because this is where the 'people of Rome' (the Plebeians) are comfortable are live. It shows the importance of the two-speech maker's (Brutus and Antony) requirement for an audience.
Brutus tells them that they will receive an explanation and he phrases his words very carefully:
"Then follow me and give me an audience, friends"
Notice how Brutus refers to the Plebeians as his friends (a tactic also demonstrated by Antony), which shows how Brutus needs to show the Plebeians that he is not against them and wants to be their companion, while reminding them of their consciousness as citizens of Rome.
This interests the Plebeians as they want to hear Brutus' reason for killing Caesar, and so they listen with intense curiosity.
I think that both Brutus and Antony both had a difficult entrance as they made their way to the platform from where they began their speeches. Brutus had to answer the crowds angry cries for killing Caesar, and Antony had to walk in through the crowd with Caesar's body. Because Brutus had made the Plebeians realize that Caesar was a 'tyrant', this made Caesar immediately unpopular, and I think that this would reflect in the original stage performance of Julius Caesar (and possibly even the actual occurrence after Caesar's death), by the crowd either booing or somehow showing their dislike of Caesar's body as it entered the market place with Antony. The only way that Antony was silenced was via the Plebeians themselves, who told each other to silence, as they were told by Brutus (whom they had just accepted) to stay and listen to what Antony had to say to remember Caesar by.
Antony then starts his first speech with the famous words:
"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!"
This shows us how Antony is trying to address the entire crowd before him, giving the speech a more personal feeling to it, which tries to appeal to the plebeian's emotions, instead of their intellect. Antony repeatedly tries to win over the Plebeians because he knows that they are the most important people in Rome. The Plebeians are the majority and they are the ones who are ruled or governed. But if they didn't exist, then the city of Rome would cease to exist, as it would not be able to function (because it is based on a democracy). Antony demonstrates this in a later speech, when he addresses the Plebeians as
"O masters"
This shows how Antony recognizes that the Plebeians are actually the masters of Rome, as they make up the majority of it's population.
What both Brutus and Antony realize is that they must win over the Plebeians to become a leader; otherwise they will have no part in the future leadership.
Therefore the beginning of both Brutus' and Antonys' speeches are important, because it starts of the speech in a positive form, setting a good basis for the remainder of the speech.
Both characters use different tactics to convince the Plebeians that they should support their views. For example, during Brutus' speech, Brutus says that he killed Caesar because he loved Rome more than Caesar (not that he did not love Caesar at all) and he says that he killed Caesar because of his ambition:
"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."
The same message, that Brutus killed Caesar because of his ambition can also be seen in the following line:
"There is tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honour for his valour, and death foe his ambition"
This quotation also shows the simplicity in Brutus' speech, as he relies on simple, but bold statements to sway the crowd, instead of complicated speeches. Brutus also doesn't feel the need to provide evidence during his speech. He is convinced that he will easily win over the Plebeians (and he was correct in this respect), and that he would soon have complete power over Rome. Alas, he was wrong. Another thing, which I think, shows the Simplicity in Brutus' speech is the layout. If you look at it, it does not follow the pattern that Shakespeare usually writes in. Instead of there being ten syllables per line, there are fifteen syllables per line. I think that Shakespeare was trying to show how that Brutus's speech was more simplistic than Antony' and did not follow the normal pattern in which Shakespeare wrote in, whereas Antony' speech did, showing that Antony' speech was clever and organized.
Although Brutus says he killed Caesar for the good of Rome, it would be interesting to have known what would have happened if Brutus was made Caesar's successor, and Antony had never made the Plebeians turn back to following Caesar. I say this because it seems as if Brutus sees himself as something more than a man. Throughout Caesar' dialogue, Caesar preferred not to say 'I' and instead referred to himself as 'Caesar'. During Brutus' speech, Brutus does exactly the same; he refers to himself with his own name:
"...If then that friend demand why Brutus rose ...
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Although Brutus says he killed Caesar for the good of Rome, it would be interesting to have known what would have happened if Brutus was made Caesar's successor, and Antony had never made the Plebeians turn back to following Caesar. I say this because it seems as if Brutus sees himself as something more than a man. Throughout Caesar' dialogue, Caesar preferred not to say 'I' and instead referred to himself as 'Caesar'. During Brutus' speech, Brutus does exactly the same; he refers to himself with his own name:
"...If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar"
There is also another reference:
"...to him I say that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his."
This gives the reader an insight into the way that Brutus sees himself, possibly as the next Caesar. But this is ironic, as earlier in the play, Brutus condemned Caesar for his self-inflated use of his own name. It is furthermore interesting when the Plebeians say:
"Let him be Caesar."
"Caesar's better parts
Shall be crowned in Brutus"
This suggests that the Plebeians did in fact like some qualities of Caesar. They understand Brutus' reckoning and accept what has happened, but appear to have not completely forgotten about Caesar's capabilities and successes (which Antony will later pick up and expand upon to sway the Plebeians back to his side and the side of Caesar). For this reason, Brutus should realize that his speech has not completely worked, as there are still people who like Caesar (or parts of his qualities) and so he should stay and see what affects Antony would have on the crowd by talking about Caesar.
Also during the speech, Brutus calls himself an honourable man and lets the Plebeians judge the validity of his claims. That is, he will allow the truth to speak for itself. This encourages the crowd to believe him, as an honourable man:
"Believe me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour that you may believe. Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses that you may the better judge"
This also helps flatter the audience, which helps to win them over.
Brutus then cleverly asks a rhetorical question to the crowd (a question with no real answer), which would silence anyone who is thinking about criticizing his actions:
"Who here is so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak, for him have I offended"
This question (and ones similar to it in the previous lines) put the crowd into an uncomfortable position. Brutus has just indirectly insulted anyone that opposes his decision to kill Caesar, and if anyone were to shout out and oppose what Brutus has just said, then they will be 'vile', or 'not a Roman' or 'base'. Even if the whole crowd disagreed with Brutus' actions, they could not protest because they do not fit the category, which Brutus has classed the people who would protest!
The crowd would also be scared to protest, because they do not know what their fellow Plebeians feel. If one man protested and everyone else did not, then that man would probably get shunned or beaten up, because no one else would be agreeing with him (this is a kind of mob influence that would probably have been apparent at the time). So no one in the crowd would say anything because they didn't know whether they were the only ones to have negative emotions towards the Brutus' actions. Because of this cleverly planned rhetorical question, the Plebeians then praise Brutus for killing Brutus, and see him as their successor to Caesar:
"Bring him with triumph home unto his house"
"Give him a statue with his ancestors"
These lines show how the Plebeians were easily swayed onto Brutus' side, by using a rhetorical question that tricked the people of Rome into following Brutus.
Now that the Plebeians were following Brutus, Antony knew that he had to have a clever approach to the situation, to successfully sway the Plebeians back to the side of Caesar, and himself. But to actually be able to say his speech, he had to make sure that Brutus was not listening (because then Brutus would realize what Antony was trying to do).
When the conspirators were planning the death of Caesar, they discussed whether they should kill Antony. They knew that Antony was a loyal servant of Caesar and that he probably would not like the idea of Caesar being murdered. Cassius seemed to realize that Antony would oppose the conspirators, Brutus does not think that Antony would oppose them, because he thinks that Antony would realize that they are killing Caesar for the good of Rome. Cassius' warning to Brutus is much like the soothsayer' warning to Caesar, or Artemidorus' warning to Caesar in the way that the person whom is warned (Caesar and Brutus) do not think that the warnings are relevant and ignore the person who is warning them.
Soothsayer to Caesar: "Beware the Ides of March"
Caesar: "He is a dreamer, let us leave him. Pass"
Cassius to Brutus: "Let Antony and Caesar fall together"
Brutus: "...for Mark Antony, think not of him, for he can do no more than Caesar's arm when Caesar's head is off"
I think that this was Brutus' largest mistake: trusting Antony and allowing him to make a speech at Caesar' funeral, when Brutus (or no other conspirator) was not present.
In Antony' speeches, Antony did not try to act as a ruler talking to the people (as Brutus seemed to do) but he seemed to talk to the people as though he was one of them. The Plebeians knew that Antony was not a high ruler, and Antony made himself out to be of the local senators who listened to the people and truly respected the people.
Antony uses repetition to get his message across the Plebeians. He seems to use Brutus' own ammunition against Brutus in order to sway the views of the people. He does this by referring to Brutus' use of 'honour'. As I said earlier, Brutus called himself an honourable man, which at the time served him well as it helped sway the Plebeians onto his side. But Antony cleverly reminds the crowd of Caesars good qualities, and then tells them that these qualities can not be, because Brutus said that Caesar was ambitious, and that Brutus is an honourable man:
"When the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept;
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff;
Yet Brutus Says he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honourable man."
In some ways, this quotation has a sense of irony to it, as Antony says that ambition should be made out of sterner stuff, yet Brutus said that Caesar was over ambitious. Antony is actually putting Caesar down here, as he is saying that if Caesar was ambitious, he was not that good at it and he did not show it that well. But this also helps Caesar' and Antony' cause and shows the Plebeians that Brutus' accusations against Caesar were false.
Antony says that Brutus was an honourable man three times in the same speech, using the phrase in an increasingly sarcastic manner. Because the Plebeians responded positively to Brutus' speech, Antony could not insult Brutus' honesty in a direct manner. Antony then goes on to say:
"I speak not to disapprove what Brutus spoke"
But that is exactly what he does. Antony becomes increasingly sarcastic in his use of repetition and later openly objects to the conspirators actions. I think that this quotation was used by Antony to influence that crowd's opinion of Brutus' speech. If Antony says that he does not speak to disapprove Brutus, then it is obvious that he has, in some way. This means that the crowd now knows about the criticism, and would probably start to get angry about it. But just in case there were any people in the crowd who still followed Brutus, they would not be offended, because Antony has just said that he is not insulting Brutus or the conspirators. Antony uses other clever techniques that help win over the Plebeians. He knows that hardly any of the Plebeians will be very well educated, so instead of appealing to their intellect, he decides to appeal to the one thing that he could be sure that they did have, emotion. He decides that he should try and be passionate, and make the Plebeians morn the death of Caesar (after all, it was a funeral!). Antony does this through several different ways. At the end of his first speech, Antony says:
"O judgement, thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason! Bear with me,
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me."
This would have been acted out on stage by a tearful Antony, who would be trying to continue his speech and not start crying out loud. This make the Plebeians feel sorry for Antony and it reminds them about Caesar and his good qualities. The affect of Antony crying also seems to dampen the mood in the crowd, so the whole crowd would probably be standing in silence, thinking about the decision that they have just made to follow Brutus. This would also allow Antony to pause and access the mood of the audience, gather his thoughts, and decide whether to pursue his strategy.
Antony also plays with the crowd' emotion when he mentions that he has found Caesars' will. If it is the real will of Caesar or not will never be known. I say this because the contents of the will seem to help Antony too greatly and too conveniently for it to be real.
But Antony mentions the will to the Plebeians, and then tells them that they must not hear its contents:
"You are not wood, you are not stones, but men,
And, being men, hearing the will of Caesar,
It will inflame you, it will make you mad"
Of course, this simply makes the Plebeians even more curious and they beg for Antony to read them the will. This is another incentive for them to join Antony' side. Antony knows that by teasing the Plebeians with the will, will make them even more interested in it, so by not allowing them for them to hear its contents will cause them to do things which they may not usually do (its like being told to taste something, and then not being allowed to swallow it! Or to look at something, but not be allowed to touch it). If Antony says that the contents of the will would anger the Plebeians, then the Plebeians have already got a negative image of the things said in the will. This is a way to indirectly intimidate the views of the people. Antony is putting in images into their minds, and they (even though they do not know the contents of the will) would then act negatively towards the contents of the will, not necessarily because the contents are negative, but because they already have decided in their mind that the contents of the will are negative.
The actual content of the will also helps in securing the Plebeians fellowship of Antony. Even though they have already been 'bought' by Antony' speech, Antony reminds them that they have not listened to the contents of the will. I think that this is significant because it secures the following of Antony. Antony knows that he has already won over the people, but just to make sure that they don't go round the corner and change their minds, he reads them the content of Caesars will. He tells them that Caesar left them each seventy-five drachmaes (enough money to convince them to remember Caesar and follow Antony in revenging the murderers of Caesar), and also all of Caesar' walks, private arbours and new planted orchards. This 'seals the deal' and the people then follow Antony. Antony now knows how fickle the people are, as he has just swayed them himself.
Antony to crowd: "Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal: To every Roman citizen he gives, to every several men, seventy-five drachmaes."
2 Plebian: "Most noble Caesar, we'll revenge his death!"
Antony also uses emotion to manipulate the Plebeians earlier during his speeches by referring to Caesar' past. After telling the Plebeians about Caesar' will for the first time, Antony tells the Plebeians to make a ring around the corpse of Caesar. I think that Shakespeare wrote this for a significant reason, because it would mean that everyone would be treated as an equal, since everyone is the same distance apart from Caesar. Maybe Shakespeare wrote this because he wanted more equality in his time. It is also important, as it would mean that everyone would be able to see Caesar, and everyone would be able to hear what Antony had to say. Antony then tells the people that if they have tears, they should prepare to shed them (this is another example of Antony telling the Plebeians something, before it happens, so that they would expect for that thing to happen or so that they would do that thing). Antony then begins to talk about the mantle (cloak) around Caesar' body. He is relating to a simple subject that everybody in the crowd could understand and relate to, therefore, no one would feel excluded from the speech. Antony then takes the crowd back, behind the story of the mantle, when it was first worn. Conveniently it was when Caesar overcame the Nervii (a fierce tribe in Gaul who mounted a surprise ambush against Caesar, but were repulsed and slaughtered by Caesar, becoming a most brilliant military victory achievement, causing rejoicement in Rome).
This reminds the people of Caesar' victory of Rome and makes them feel disloyal. Whether or not the mantle was the one worn by Caesar when he defeated the Nervii or not is irrelevant (although it does seem a bit too convenient, and is probably a trick of Antony' to get the Plebeians to think back to cheering Caesar' brilliant victory) the mantle served Antony well and helped him to sway the Plebeians onto his side.
"I remember the first time ever Caesar put it on, 'twas on a summer's evening, in his tent, that day he overcame the Nervii. Look in this place ran Cassius' dagger through..."
Antony is very graphic as he walks the Plebeians through each separate stab wound on Caesar's mantle, but this just makes them more angry with Brutus and the conspirators, which is exactly what Antony wants.
In summary, Brutus failed to deeply move the public in his speech, unable to relate more than his view of the turmoil his fellow Romans felt. His dialog centered on politics and patriotism, touched only the surface of the public's emotions. The poet's use of prose shows Brutus as reasoning deliberate in thought and action, and strictly true to character. At a time when the public was near riot, Brutus calms them and convinces them of his love for Rome, stating bluntly that his deed came on their behalf. Brutus could not see, perhaps blinded by his nobility, that a mob once ready to start a riot still has a smoldering fuse. His leaving the scene marks the worst blunder possible because the future of Brutus still depended on the words of Antony. Brutus' failure came in not turning this scene into a debate with Antony.
Antony' speech, in verse, is one of the most passionate of all of Shakespeare's speeches, and proves so because of the absence of Brutus. With a steady, calculated use of emotion and mockery (the references to "honorable"), Antony makes perfect use of his freedom to speak by manipulating the public's emotion, and their intellect.
