The Tragedy of Julius Caesar No matter what the circumstances, people always look for someone to blame. Caesar’s murder results in the plebeians needing to blame someone for what happened. Despite Brutus’s honor and respect among the Romans, Antony gave the more convincing speech at Caesar’s funeral by having an emotional impact on the Romans, therefore proving to them that the conspirators committed an injustice to Rome.
Brutus first speaks at Caesar’s funeral with the goal of justifying his actions to the plebeians. Out of the three rhetorical appeals Brutus uses Logos the least. Throughout most of his speech he avoids explaining why he participated in murdering Caesar. He keeps on telling the Plebeians that eventually he will tell them, but he never truly tells them why he did. Ultimately Brutus does give some reasoning; he tells the plebeians that Caesar’s ambition became too great and that they all would have ended up as slaves. “Who is here so base that would be a bondman?” (III.2.33-34). In Brutus’s eyes Caesar did not love all the people of Rome and would have turned against them. Logos turns out as a disadvantage for Brutus which Antony easily points out when he speaks. For Ethos, Brutus reminds the plebeians of his honor and status in Rome. Ironically, he emphasizes the importance of the closeness of him and Caesar. Ethos gives credibility to Brutus; he uses it as an expo so the plebeians think that they can trust him. Finally Brutus really hits the plebeians hard with pathos. Brutus truly does have good intentions and he tells the plebeians that. “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (III.2.25-26). By using a line like this, the plebeians become more likely to believe that it really did hurt him to kill Caesar but he did it for the good of Rome. Although he truly loved Caesar, he put the plebeians first. Even though the Romans first believe that Brutus truly did what he did for Rome, his lack of Logos ends up hurting him when Antony speaks. Giving Antony the opportunity to speak last promotes allegiance to him because his speech would be fresh in the Romans mind and he can easily say whatever he wants. Brutus and Antony differ in how they use Ethos. While Brutus speaks about his honor, Antony simply speaks in blank verse. Honorable nobles speak in blank verse so by speaking in blank verse, Antony establishes an authority aura to the plebeians. With pathos Antony kicks it off with bringing Caesar’s body onto the stage. He brings the Roman’s dead leader onto the stage, stab wounds …show more content…
Brutus’ speech creates an understanding from the plebeians of the moral obligation of Caesar’s death. After hearing Antony’s speech the romans experiences a lot of anger and decide to burn down the houses of all the conspirators and kill them. “We will be revenged” (III.3.198). The anger inside of the plebeians proves to create irrational thoughts which results in them killing an innocent man who just happens to have the same name as one of the conspirators. In addition to that they also go to destroy the conspirators’ houses. Antony’s speech ultimately leads to a battle between him and the conspirators. Brutus has good intentions, but nevertheless he makes a lot of bad decisions which eventually leads to his
Brutus first speaks at Caesar’s funeral with the goal of justifying his actions to the plebeians. Out of the three rhetorical appeals Brutus uses Logos the least. Throughout most of his speech he avoids explaining why he participated in murdering Caesar. He keeps on telling the Plebeians that eventually he will tell them, but he never truly tells them why he did. Ultimately Brutus does give some reasoning; he tells the plebeians that Caesar’s ambition became too great and that they all would have ended up as slaves. “Who is here so base that would be a bondman?” (III.2.33-34). In Brutus’s eyes Caesar did not love all the people of Rome and would have turned against them. Logos turns out as a disadvantage for Brutus which Antony easily points out when he speaks. For Ethos, Brutus reminds the plebeians of his honor and status in Rome. Ironically, he emphasizes the importance of the closeness of him and Caesar. Ethos gives credibility to Brutus; he uses it as an expo so the plebeians think that they can trust him. Finally Brutus really hits the plebeians hard with pathos. Brutus truly does have good intentions and he tells the plebeians that. “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (III.2.25-26). By using a line like this, the plebeians become more likely to believe that it really did hurt him to kill Caesar but he did it for the good of Rome. Although he truly loved Caesar, he put the plebeians first. Even though the Romans first believe that Brutus truly did what he did for Rome, his lack of Logos ends up hurting him when Antony speaks. Giving Antony the opportunity to speak last promotes allegiance to him because his speech would be fresh in the Romans mind and he can easily say whatever he wants. Brutus and Antony differ in how they use Ethos. While Brutus speaks about his honor, Antony simply speaks in blank verse. Honorable nobles speak in blank verse so by speaking in blank verse, Antony establishes an authority aura to the plebeians. With pathos Antony kicks it off with bringing Caesar’s body onto the stage. He brings the Roman’s dead leader onto the stage, stab wounds …show more content…
Brutus’ speech creates an understanding from the plebeians of the moral obligation of Caesar’s death. After hearing Antony’s speech the romans experiences a lot of anger and decide to burn down the houses of all the conspirators and kill them. “We will be revenged” (III.3.198). The anger inside of the plebeians proves to create irrational thoughts which results in them killing an innocent man who just happens to have the same name as one of the conspirators. In addition to that they also go to destroy the conspirators’ houses. Antony’s speech ultimately leads to a battle between him and the conspirators. Brutus has good intentions, but nevertheless he makes a lot of bad decisions which eventually leads to his