With the tragic fall of a leader, a persuasive speaker will emerge to oppose the injustices. The speaker will cleverly sway the people’s minds so that they demand an explanation of the action committed by those responsible. In Julius Caesar, Marc Antony’s speech at Caesar’s funeral emphasizes Caesar’s achievements as a glorious leader and his true motives toward the people of Rome in order to discredit Brutus and the conspirators for their noble deeds.
By addressing the crowd with respect and exposing his relationship with Caesar, Antony garners the crowd’s attention so he can then start on his strategic plan to logically manipulate the crowd into changing their minds of who the antagonist really is. At the start of his speech, Antony …show more content…
This counter argument against Brutus’s ideas opposes the negative qualities that he gave to the crowd and replaces them, showing how Caesar truly was. As for Caesar, he being faithful and just to the people around him indicates that he was trustworthy and not ambitious. Giving his own personal views of Caesar to the crowd, Antony manages to logically convince the crowd in second guessing the idea of why Caesar was killed if supposedly he wasn’t zealous. Subconsciously implanting the idea that Caesar really was trustworthy to all those around him is necessary in order for Antony to incriminate Brutus and the conspirators. To fully convince the crowd that Caesar was not ambitious, Antony states that Caesar had been “…thrice presented…a kingly crown… [but]… he thrice refused…” it (III.ii.24-25). The inductive reasoning that Antony stated provides evidence against Brutus’s lies of Caesar being a threat. Brutus had claimed that Caesar was planning on becoming a dictator so that he could destroy Rome’s democracy. The fact that Antony reveals to the crowd that Caesar refused the crown not just once, but three times, reassures and convinces the crowd completely that