William Jennings Bryan once said, “Eloquent speech is not from lip to ear, but rather from heart to heart.” All memorable leaders, past and present, have used their passion and emotion to gather and rally up a dedicated following. When writing a speech words, can be, and often are, mindlessly thrown together to create a short-lived facade; however, the audience must be baited and reeled in through analogous thoughts and feelings in order to create a lasting impression. Although Brutus and Antony both persuaded the plebeians in their favor, Antony came out the clear victor which can be credited to how he used his understanding of the public to his advantage.
Often times what happens in a speech is that it is too thought out and planned that …show more content…
Antony took note of these fundamentals and smoothly incorporated them into his oration. At the end of Brutus’ speech, Antony gracefully walked out with Caesar’s dead body in hand to stir up some remorse right off the bat; he begins his speech by saying, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;” (3.2.73). In contrast to Brutus, Antony greeted the public by addressing friends first and Romans second; he stressed the importance of valuing friends above all else, but still honored Rome, and wanted to make sure the plebeians knew where he stood when it came to loyalty. Antony uses repetition calling Brutus a honorable man; he says, “But Brutus says he was ambitious; / And Brutus is an honorable man” (3.2.86-87). His sarcasm gets the audience riled up and ready to get revenge for their fallen ruler. In addition, Antony takes a break during his speech and says, “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, / And I must pause till it come back to me” (3.2.106-107). He wants the audience to take a moment to really understand everything he said. This break shows the grief he is experiencing to the plebeians and makes them feel bad for him. In the next portion of his speech Antony brings out some “props”. In particular, he pulls out Caesar’s will, teases the crowd with it, and says that he should not read it because it would make the crowd angry and upset. However, the reader knows that Antony has every intention of reading it and that is why he brought it with him. Finally, he reads the will and makes Caesar appear to be a generous man by granting every citizen seventy-five drachmas and land from his gardens. Afterwards, Antony holds up Caesar’s cloak and describes the thirty-two stab wounds to the plebeians to make it known that he was brutally attacked with force and anger, his death was not peaceful. Given these points, Antony spoke with concern and sorrow during his speech which allowed him to
Often times what happens in a speech is that it is too thought out and planned that …show more content…
Antony took note of these fundamentals and smoothly incorporated them into his oration. At the end of Brutus’ speech, Antony gracefully walked out with Caesar’s dead body in hand to stir up some remorse right off the bat; he begins his speech by saying, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;” (3.2.73). In contrast to Brutus, Antony greeted the public by addressing friends first and Romans second; he stressed the importance of valuing friends above all else, but still honored Rome, and wanted to make sure the plebeians knew where he stood when it came to loyalty. Antony uses repetition calling Brutus a honorable man; he says, “But Brutus says he was ambitious; / And Brutus is an honorable man” (3.2.86-87). His sarcasm gets the audience riled up and ready to get revenge for their fallen ruler. In addition, Antony takes a break during his speech and says, “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, / And I must pause till it come back to me” (3.2.106-107). He wants the audience to take a moment to really understand everything he said. This break shows the grief he is experiencing to the plebeians and makes them feel bad for him. In the next portion of his speech Antony brings out some “props”. In particular, he pulls out Caesar’s will, teases the crowd with it, and says that he should not read it because it would make the crowd angry and upset. However, the reader knows that Antony has every intention of reading it and that is why he brought it with him. Finally, he reads the will and makes Caesar appear to be a generous man by granting every citizen seventy-five drachmas and land from his gardens. Afterwards, Antony holds up Caesar’s cloak and describes the thirty-two stab wounds to the plebeians to make it known that he was brutally attacked with force and anger, his death was not peaceful. Given these points, Antony spoke with concern and sorrow during his speech which allowed him to