Comparison of Shakespeare's presentation of Antony and Brutus

Antony is loyal whilst Brutus doesn't keep his loyalty to Caesar. Brutus and Caesar were really good friends and so there was no reason for Brutus to go join the conspirators in killing Caesar just because he thought that might have been for the benefit of Rome. Although Cassius is the one provoking Brutus, he thinks that what Brutus is doing is not right. This opinion is made visible in Cassius's soliloquy after he persuaded Brutus to join the conspiracy and he said 'If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius, He should not humor me.' Cassius thinks that Brutus should not be so easily influenced but he is and that also suggests that he is easily manipulated. Antony on the other hand is loyal as he says to Caesar in their first conversation, 'When Caesar says, 'Do this', it shall be perform'd.' this demonstrates his complete devotion.

Brutus is a powerful character, whose decisions have value whereas Antony is not very strong without Caesar's help. When the conspirators all meet with Brutus in his home, Brutus makes the final decision two times without really taking into consideration the opinions of the rest of the conspirators and his decision did end up being final. The first was when Cassius suggested they make an oath and Brutus said 'No, not an oath!' He didn't want them to make an oath as they are all honorable men and so don't need an oath to follow through something, only the weak men need to make oaths to stay committed. The second time was when Cassius suggested they include Cicero in the conspiration and Casca, Cinna and Metellus all agree to it but then Brutus says 'O, name him not, let us not break with him, For he will never follow anything.' And so they end up leaving Cicero out. Shakespeare uses irony here as Brutus himself is the one who doesn't go along with the group and wants things to be done his way and above he is criticizing Cicero of it. Antony however doesn't hold that influence on his own. Cassius proposes that they kill Antony as well as Caesar as Antony is a good friend of Caesar but Brutus says there is no need for that as 'He can do no more than Caesar's arm When Caesar's head if off.' This just shows that Antony is powerless as he is only an arm and an arm is useless without the head. In short, the basic meaning of this sentence is that Antony cannot do very much without Caesar.

Lastly, Brutus is a rather rude character but Antony has a lot of respect for others. Brutus is rude and inconsiderate of people as when people are talking, he cuts them off half way. When Cassius was responding to what Brutus said about Antony, Brutus cut him off half way, as he didn't want Cassius to argue against him so Brutus said 'Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him.' When Cassius says that, it sounds like he is slightly arrogant. This arrogance is also seen when Brutus says 'Brutus had rather be a villager Than to repute himself a son of Rome Under these hard conditions.' This line suggests that he cannot stand being under the power of someone else and never wants to be ruled. However, Antony is rather respectful and when he addressed Caesar the first time, he said 'Caesar, my lord' even though Caesar is not king or anything yet.

After all the above comparisons made, we can conclude that Shakespeare presents the two characters as complete opposites. Brutus is conservative, disloyal, powerful and rude. Antony enjoys partying and is loyal. He is not powerful and but he is respectful. This combination of characters is interesting as they come against each other when giving a speech at Caesar's funeral and they end up attracting the audiences' attention in different ways.