Butus And Antony's Speech: Battle Of The Speeches

Battle of the Speeches According to John Morley, “Three things matter in a speech - who says it, how he says it, and what he says, and of the three, the latter matters the least.” John understancds that how the speaker presents himself and his ideas can change the side of the crowd, more than any word they could have said. When Brutus and Antony give their funeral speeches in Julius Caesar it is a critical moment for each. Both need to sway the crowd to agree with their perspective. While Brutus addresses the crowd with logic and reason, Antony uses emotion. The use of rhetorical questions, parallel structure, and repetition by Brutus and Antony throughout their speeches changes the views of the crowd and what they should believe. While …show more content…
Antony uses parallel structure to show how close he was to Caesar. “Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral. He was my friend, faithful, and just to me….”(III,ii,81-82). Antony is showing the people that he loved Caesar, a claim that supports everything he is about to say. Antony loves Caesar, and is willing to do anything to avenge his death. Antony makes the people remember all that Caesar has done for them, and slowly manipulates them with his words. “You are not wood, you are not stones, but men”(III,ii,139). Again Antony uses parallel structure to sway the crowd. He tells them that he can’t read the will because they are men and would become enraged, then tells them that they are his heirs. Antony understands that in order to go up against the conspirators, he needs the people and can only get them, by manipulating their emotions to discredit Brutus. Brutus utilizes parallel structure in his speech as well. “Good countrymen, let me depart alone, And, for my sake, stay here with Antony. Do grace to Caesar’s corpse, and grace his speech…”(III,ii,50-52). Here Brutus is convincing the people to listen to Antony talk about Caesar for his funeral. This is a costly mistake because Brutus just convinced the crowd that his actions were justified and that he killed Caesar for the greater good. The people now dislike Caesar and are …show more content…
Brutus respected Caesar and repeatedly says how he loved Caesar and how great he was. He has to use this repetition because the crowd is still unsure of Brutus. “...say that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less than his”(III,ii,18). He goes on to say yet again how much he loved Caesar. “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more”(III,I,20). Brutus has to go slow with explaining the reasoning, because the people are angry and confused at why this hero they all love, killed the great Caesar. Antony’s use of repetition is along the same lines as Brutus’ but he is directing his compliments at Brutus. “(For Brutus is an honorable man; So are they all, all honorable men)”(III,ii,79-80). He ends most of his statements with calling Brutus honorable and good. “But Brutus says he was ambitious, And Brutus is an honorable man”(III,ii,83-84). Antony has to slowly plant doubt and anxiety that perhaps Brutus was wrong; that although he is a good and honorable man, Brutus could have just murdered another good man, who was only doing good for Rome. Antony uses his words to manipulate the people’s minds much better than Brutus did. The people know that Antony was Caesar’s good friend and the good things he is saying about Caesar are credible. Since Antony is changing the crowd’s perspective about who Caesar was, his continuous good remarks about Brutus keep them from getting angry and