The most important and critical single moment of the tragedy of Julius Caesar doesn’t occur while the namesake is alive or even during his murder, it is the funeral speeches given by the opposing sided after the conspirators follow through with their plan. Once the head of state is dead, there is a power struggle in Rome. There are many characters involved in this struggle but there are two clear cut sides, those who supported Caesar and want revenge, led by Caesar’s right hand man Mark Antony, and those who wanted Caesar to be assassinated and want new leadership, led by the noble Brutus. Ultimately, Mark Antony was able to win the support of the public. This is no coincidence and no matter of chance, Antony was by far the superior speaker
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The speech given by Brutus lacked emotion almost entirely. His speech was given in a manor of which to say that his was the correct side and the crowd was expected to accept it as such. Since his oration was as firm as it was the crowd had no real emotional attachment to it and wasn’t able to invest their feelings into his side. Mark Antony, however, choose to make his speech emotionally charged and the driving force behind his entire eulogy. Pathos is the force that gives Mark Antony’s speech its power and it is illustrated best when he has to stop his speech to “cry” over Caesar’s body. Shakespeare purposefully included lines here such as “Poor soul! His eyes are red as fire with weeping.” (Act 3 Scene 2) to show how the crowd reacted to his emotion. When Antony stops to “cry” the first signs of the plebeians changing their mind is also shown. The pathos appeal driving home the points of his opening statement are what really start to get the crowd thinking and what pulls them more and more away from Brutus’s …show more content…
Brutus tells the crowd that Caesar’s death was necessary because of how ambitious he was and because of his lust for power. This is the only reason given by Brutus for his assassination. One thing that Brutus did stress, however, was that the murder was for the good of Rome and without it, the population would “die a bondman” because of the ambition of Caesar. Antony is quick to refute Brutus’s argument. It is logos that helps Antony win this section of the argument. He starts by reminding the crowd how “honorable” all of the conspirators are and then, he also reminds them of how Caesar refused the crown to become king. “You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?” (Act 3 Scene 2) Not only does he here refute Brutus, but he makes the crowd think about what he has said by asking them a question. He provides more reason before he pauses to “cry” over the body of Caesar. The points he has raised about how it was impossible for Caesar to be ambitious in a way which merited murder planted the seeds of uncertainty about what Brutus said in the crowd and the perfectly timed paused allowed those seeds to sprout by allowing the crowd to mull over these thoughts with each other. To drive his side home, Antony read the will of Caesar. Whether or not it was made up by Antony or not, he read to the population of Rome that “under Caesar’s seal
The speech given by Brutus lacked emotion almost entirely. His speech was given in a manor of which to say that his was the correct side and the crowd was expected to accept it as such. Since his oration was as firm as it was the crowd had no real emotional attachment to it and wasn’t able to invest their feelings into his side. Mark Antony, however, choose to make his speech emotionally charged and the driving force behind his entire eulogy. Pathos is the force that gives Mark Antony’s speech its power and it is illustrated best when he has to stop his speech to “cry” over Caesar’s body. Shakespeare purposefully included lines here such as “Poor soul! His eyes are red as fire with weeping.” (Act 3 Scene 2) to show how the crowd reacted to his emotion. When Antony stops to “cry” the first signs of the plebeians changing their mind is also shown. The pathos appeal driving home the points of his opening statement are what really start to get the crowd thinking and what pulls them more and more away from Brutus’s …show more content…
Brutus tells the crowd that Caesar’s death was necessary because of how ambitious he was and because of his lust for power. This is the only reason given by Brutus for his assassination. One thing that Brutus did stress, however, was that the murder was for the good of Rome and without it, the population would “die a bondman” because of the ambition of Caesar. Antony is quick to refute Brutus’s argument. It is logos that helps Antony win this section of the argument. He starts by reminding the crowd how “honorable” all of the conspirators are and then, he also reminds them of how Caesar refused the crown to become king. “You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?” (Act 3 Scene 2) Not only does he here refute Brutus, but he makes the crowd think about what he has said by asking them a question. He provides more reason before he pauses to “cry” over the body of Caesar. The points he has raised about how it was impossible for Caesar to be ambitious in a way which merited murder planted the seeds of uncertainty about what Brutus said in the crowd and the perfectly timed paused allowed those seeds to sprout by allowing the crowd to mull over these thoughts with each other. To drive his side home, Antony read the will of Caesar. Whether or not it was made up by Antony or not, he read to the population of Rome that “under Caesar’s seal