Antony's Ethos In Julius Caesar

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In Julius Caesar after Caesar is killed by the conspirators, there is a gathering. During this gathering, Brutus and Mark Antony both give speeches on behalf of their belief of whether Caesar should have been killed or not. Based on the arguments presented by Brutus and Mark Antony, it is clear that Antony’s speech was more convincing.
Though Antony did have a better speech overall, Brutus’ ethos argument was stronger. At the beginning of his speech he states, “Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor that you shall believe me” (II:ii:14). This gets the people feeling as though Brutus is honorable and trustable. Antony on the other hand is not as noble as Brutus is. He says “I am no orator as Brutus is” (III:ii:210). This shows that Antony is not necessarily more noble in status than Brutus, but by demeaning himself, he also draws a sense of empathy from the crowd.
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Brutus states “I weep for him…I rejoice at it…I honor him” (III:ii:21). These statements were based on facts that Brutus gave in his speech about Caesar’s life. Antony’s speech however was moving and went into great detail about how he felt for his lost friend. Near the end of his speech he says “It will enflame you, it will make you mad” (II:ii:143) when speaking on the will of the now deceased Caesar. This makes the people feel as though they should be enraged by the assassination. Also, Antony states “And they would go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds and dip their napkins in his sacred blood, Yea, beg a hair of him for memory, And, dying, mention it within their wills, bequeathing it as a rich legacy unto their issue” (iii:ii:131-136) This drives the people to feel an emotion of gratitude towards Caesar. Antony’s speech rouses way more emotion than Brutus’s ever could. Another component to this is the sheer length of the two speeches, as Brutus’s was much shorter than his

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