Brutus tries to point out the good points in Caesar by saying “as he was fortunate, I rejoice him; As he was valiant, I honour him” this is explaining how he respected Caesar as a person, and he says how Caesars
Personal attributes were very nice.
However the last part shows how Caesar changed due to his power; “but, as he was ambitious, I slew him.” This shows how Brutus had to control this bad attribute before it ruined the empire. The crowd have become very swayed to Brutus from those few lines. Brutus shows how persuasive and manipulating he can be.
Brutus then addresses the crowd by asking for a reply, he says in this extract;
“Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any, speak, for whom I have offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak for whom I have offended. Who is here so vile that would not love his country? If any, speak for whom I have offended.”
This extract contains lots of rhetorical questions and uses repetition which makes the extract very effective and powerful this is the final push to persuade the crowd and it contains a variety of persuasive techniques.
The crowd are taken aback by the speech and, therefore have nothing to object to. This shows the instability of the crowd as they have been easily swayed from their thoughts. The crowd then begin to accept Brutus’ speech and hail him
To sum up, Brutus’ speech was relatively safe, he aimed to keep the crowd on his side and it was successful. His reason was very valid and the crowd show lots of sympathy for him. Mark-Anthony now has a lot of pressure as he has to try and sway the crowd back to their original ideas.
In between the two speeches, the plebeian crowd show their thoughts of Caesar by saying “This Caesar was a tyrant.” The word tyrant is associated as somebody who neglects the one-man ruling system and uses his power in a bad way. The crowd also show favouritism towards Brutus as they say “let him be Caesar!” this quote also shows the stupidity of the crowd as Brutus assassinated Caesar because of the leadership.
Anthony begins his speech very similar to Brutus’ by saying “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” this also mocks Brutus as Anthony believes this was a way to win them over and that he does not mean it.
Anthony then clarifies “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” this explains that he is aiming to keep the peace and not show his emotion.
Anthony continues to use irony as he says “The noble Brutus hath told you Caesar was ambitious;” this phrase explains that Anthony thinks Brutus is contradicting himself and he makes the crowd think Brutus’ only reason to kill Caesar was his honour. He repeats this several times to emphasize the irony and sarcasm towards Brutus. This technique is repetition, it shows that Anthony has very good persuasive skills.
Anthony’s emotions start to show when he says “He was my friend, faithful and just to me,” this also contradicts what he earlier said about trying not to show his emotion. This shocks the audience as it feels like he couldn’t help to show these feelings.
During the speech Anthony includes lots of Rhetorical questions such as “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?” This is a technique which is very good at persuading crowds as it manipulates the audience to believe that he is right.
Anthony then explains how Caesar was definitely not ambitious when he says “I thrice presented him with a kingly crown, which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?” at the end of this extract, Anthony delivers an ironic rhetorical question which is very effective and he is showing off his speech techniques.
Anthony then pauses his speech for a brief moment, this lets Anthony hear what the crowd think so far and it lets him compose himself for his next speech. However Anthony says he needed to pause because he was overflowed with emotion, this is very clever as it leads the crowd to believe Anthony is extremely distraught.
Meanwhile, the crowd have been swayed yet again as they show sympathy for Anthony who they believe was overcome with mourning. The plebeians show their insecurity once again by totally agreeing with Anthony; “There’s not a nobler man in Rome than Anthony.” shows how the crowd have been swayed in the space of a few minutes.
When Anthony returns, he speaks in prose this technique creates rhythm and effect. Next, Anthony says
“O masters, if I were disposed to stir
Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
I should do Brutus wrong and Cassius wrong,
Who (you all know) are honourable men”
These lines are very ironic because he teases the audience at how he could turn them wild with rage, yet he claims he can’t defend Caesar as the conspirators would be unfavoured and at the end he turns the whole extract into irony, mocking Brutus’ and Cassius’ dignity and ‘honour’ again.
Anthony then reveals Caesars will; “I found this in his closet, ‘tis is will.” This anticipates the crowd as they are intrigued at what Caesar thinks about his inheritance. He then uses emotive language to persuade the crowd even more as he suspends reading the will, he says “And they (the commons) would go and kiss dead Caesar’s wounds And dip their napkins in his sacred blood, Yea, beg a hair of him for memory” this employs that if the people read Caesar’s will, they would treat him as a god which explains why Antony is building the suspense.
Whilst delaying the will for suspense, Antony delivers a dramatic anecdote as he relates back to the day when Caesar was assassinated. He descends to the plebeians and explains what happened when conspirators stabbed Caesar. Antony shows what happened in Caesar’s point of view, and uses the tear marks in the mantle to show how vicious these conspirators where. Antony is using the affection and pity the crowd had towards Caesar to sway them towards Antony. The anecdote horrifies the crowd and fills them with rage, as Antony had planned to do.
Antony then assures the plebeians that he is not trying to aggravate things and that it is his fault, this ensures that the crowd believe he is merciful. The last word in Antony’s speech is “mutiny” this word means to overthrow the leader, Anthony uses it as a demand, despite saying he is not trying to cause bother. It shows that Antony secretly wanted the plebeians infuriated after all.
To sum up the two speeches, Brutus used tripling, flattering, rhetorical questions and many more. He uses flattery in his speech “Romans Countrymen and Lovers.” This makes the crowd feel important and deeply cared for. He also adds rhetorical questions in the text saying “Than that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen?” this manipulates the crowd to think that Caesar would have kept the plebeians slaves.
Whereas, Antony uses a lot more persuasive techniques like emotive language, verbal irony, anecdotes, rhetorical questions, tripling and repetition.
Although Brutus’ speech was very successful as it had a variation of techniques, I personally believe Antony’s speech was more effective as he delivered it a lot clearer with more skill and technique than Brutus. Antony based his speech on the pity which the crowd still had for Caesar, and he emphasized this to sway the minds of the plebeian crowd.
