Explain how as a director, you would present the speeches of Brutus and Anthony (Act III Scene II), so as to engage and influence the audience.

Authors Avatar

Explain how as a director, you would present the speeches of Brutus and Anthony (Act III Scene II), so as to engage and influence the audience

This scene is one of the highlights of the play “Julius Caesar” by Shakespeare. It follows the climax of Caesar’s death, and a great amount of tension builds up as the audience waits to find out if the conspirators, led by Brutus, succeed in their cause, or if they are punished for their crime. The main threat to the conspirators after Caesar’s death is Anthony, a very loyal friend of Caesar’s. Previously in the play, we have not heard much about Anthony, and this scene introduces Anthony’s character. As a director, I must emphasise his actions to show his personality clearly to the audience.

  The story of Julius Caesar is very well known, so to keep the audience interested in the play can be quite hard to achieve. Although the storyline cannot be changed, there are other aspects of the play which are open to interpretation, such as the personalities of the characters. Before discussing the presentation of the speeches, I must analyse the characters’ personalities.

  When considering Brutus, I first thought that having taken part in the conspiracy and killed Caesar, he would be nervous and frightened of how the citizens and Caesar’s friends might react, and would plan carefully on how to keep himself safe. His fear might also have diminished his belief in his actions. I thought this because he begins his speech to the people by defending himself and gathering people’s support—“Believe me for mine honour” and “Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less than his.”—instead of going straight to his reason for killing Caesar. Shakespeare also writes out Brutus’ speech in prose—this suggests that Brutus was trying to bring himself down to the people’s level to gain trust. Up to this point, Brutus has defended himself quite successfully, but then his naivety showed as he allowed Anthony to speak. The fact that Brutus allowed Anthony to speak but told him to not blame the conspirators—“You shall not in your funeral speech blame us,”—might show that Brutus wanted the people to know that he has nothing to hide, but I think that it is a mixture of his belief in his actions and a fear of being blamed. His idealistic belief of what is right—killing Caesar and “protecting” Rome—led to his downfall and thus makes him the tragic hero in the play.

  Anthony’s character is simpler than Brutus’. He loved Caesar dearly, hated the conspirators for what they have done, and seeks revenge. Anthony is very clever. Although his speech is full of emotion, he is still in control of himself and pauses frequently to listen to how the citizens respond. Anthony fully believes that murdering Caesar is wrong, but knows that to persecute the senate with a hundred percent honesty is not always the best solution, and lies during his speech. Brutus’ honesty (naivety) gives Anthony the advantage. After Anthony’s speech, the citizens’ would be completely persuaded and the audience should worry about Brutus’ and the other conspirators’ safety. To achieve this, Anthony’s character should be commanding, yet also able to be sentimental, to gain the citizens’ pity and support.

Join now!

  The crowd of citizens plays a very important part in this scene. Both Brutus and Anthony try to gather the support of the crowd. The crowd, however, is very simple minded and only respond strongly to statements made by the two speakers affecting them, such as Brutus’ comment on the citizens being turned into slaves by Caesar and Anthony’s comment on Caesar’s donation of seventy-five drachmas to every citizen in his will. The crowd’s response and opinion is a test of the two speakers’ rhetoric skills.

  Brutus wanted to establish a clear and convincing tone to his ...

This is a preview of the whole essay