Why is Anthony more successful than Brutus in winning over the crowd at Caesars Funeral?

Brutus in his speech tries to explain by giving reasons as to why he and the conspirators murdered Caesar. Brutus explains that he only killed Caesar because he did it for the good of Rome ‘not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more’. He also says that he was ambitious and that because of this ambition he had to kill Caesar. He also says that ‘who is here so rude that would not be a Roman?’ by saying this he give pressure to the people that if you are a Roman then you will all agree with me and what I am saying. In Anthony’s speech he explains to the people that once you read his will then everyone ‘would go and kiss dead Caesars wound and dip their napkins in his sacred blood’ by saying this he makes the will look really important to the crowd and the will has everything to do with them. The reason why Anthony is more successful than Brutus is because he gives more to the people that Brutus. He reads out the important will and he speaks positively about Caesar and the people. Anthony does not make anyone look bad directly although he does try and indirectly speaks badly of the conspirators. ‘I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, but here I am to speak what I do know.’  Anthony lets the crowd decide between right and wrong where as Brutus puts on a lot of pressure for the crowd to support him. In the end they support Anthony because he gives more to the crowd. He   also makes the conspirators look bad but he does not directly say this. He gives examples to show that Caesar was the opposite of the negative views given by Brutus. The plebeians at the start support Brutus but while Anthony speaks they all slowly start agree with him and they then believe that Anthony is right and the conspirators that killed Caesar are bad and did it for their own selfish needs. He explains to the crowd that what the conspirators have done is that they have slain a noble man who had done everything for the good of Rome and its people. They have killed a noble man who will never be born again in this world. Such men like him only come once, ‘here was a Caesar! When comes such another?’ when he says this he now has the full support of the people. Anthony also does not try and make himself look good by saying what he says to the public ‘I am no orator, as Brutus is, but as you know me all a plain blunt man that love my friend.’ This sends out a message to the people that Anthony is saying all of this as a friend to Caesar and nothing else. But at the beginning of his speech Anthony first says that he is here to bury his friend and not praise him. This is very important because if the people start to think that he is praising him then they will think that he is only doing that because he is a good friend and they would not believe all the other things he says later on. Anthony speaks about Caesar and then whatever Brutus has said in his speech about Caesar, Anthony gives reason to show that it is not true. ‘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’ Anthony at the end says that last bit about Brutus so to the crowd it does not look like he speaking bad of Brutus but the crowd can then make the decision themselves about what Anthony has said over Brutus, if it is true. With this we get the plebeians speaking positively about Anthony and that what he says is true and that he speaks from his own heart because his best friend has been killed by people who were also close to him and Caesar, ‘poor soul, his eyes are red as fire with weeping, there is not a nobler man in Rome than Anthony.’ The plebeians meaning of this is that now that Caesar is gone the only man left who is noble is Anthony and it can not be Brutus because he has degraded himself down by slaying his best friend and that it shows that he is not trustworthy. This gives Anthony more advantage that Brutus in his speech. Anthony also speaks to the crowd about taking revenge over the most precious gift you have lost but he says this indirectly which makes Brutus and the conspirators look bad in the people’s eyes, ‘look you here, here is himself, marred as you see with traitors.’ Anthony also says to the crowd that the people that have killed noble Caesar are honourable men and what grief’s they would have is not know to him that made them do what they did. This makes the conspirators look selfish who only think bout themselves and no one else.

These are all the reasons as to why Anthony’s speech in convincing the people of Rome is much better than Brutus. Anthony speaks in a clever way than Brutus and says things indirectly to the people. Anthony lets the people decide about what he has just said where as Brutus gives the public pressure that they have to believe him. Anthony makes Caesar appear noble and make the conspirators look bad in front of the people. Anthony does this very importantly by first saying what Caesar has done and then says asks the crowd and lets them think that was Caesar really like this? When they find there answer the crowd then supports Anthony with what he says rather than Brutus. In the end Anthony succeeds in winning over the crowd as they then begin to run after and burn all the traitors’ houses and processions. With this Brutus and Cassius are forced to feel Rome by the gate, thus giving Anthony a successful win over his speech. This is what Anthony wants, he wants revenge for the death of Caesar but he alone can not do much so he wins over the public and with that they rid of Brutus and the rest of the conspirators giving Anthony a clear victory in winning over the public. The mistake that Brutus had made was that he allowed Anthony to speak at the funeral but he kept his word that he did not blame the conspirators directly but instead he did it indirectly which the conspirators could do nothing to stop him as he kept his word. Anthony also sweet talks the crowd in to believing him by saying nice things about them and treating them as someone special to him, ‘good friends, sweet friends.’ By this the public is so easily persuaded and it gives him support. Anthony’s speech was much longer and more dramatic then Brutus’s speech, his speech was short and almost seemed like to the public that he does not care about what he has done and he is only giving these excuses to save him and the rest. In the end Anthony speaks so high of Caesar and to the public that he was expecting to take over rule of the entire empire. Right at the end in quiet he says, ‘now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot, take thou what course thou will.’ By saying this he means that the public can do what they want and his plans whatever they were are about to work. This then gives us the impression that Anthony planned something before the death of Caesar and by delivering that speech his plans are now about to work and it could possibly be that he wants to rule instead of Brutus and Caesar and now he is free to do so where as before he was not. This is why Anthony in the end was more successful in winning over the public than Brutus because o his precise timing of delivering his speech and the way it was delivered and how he so easily persuaded the public by saying positive things rather than negative like Brutus.