Who is lying and who is telling the truth? In the debate between Mark Antony and Marcus Brutus, about the death of Julius Caesar, the romans had a difficult time choosing which side to believe. Even though Brutus was able to convince them ethically Antony was the better logical and emotional speaker. In his speech to the Romans, Brutus makes Caesar look like a terrible person and an even worse ruler. Brutus appeals to the Romans’ Ethical thinking when he says “who,though he had no hand in his death, shall receive benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth as which of you shall not?,”. Basically, Brutus is saying even if you didn't help kill Caesar you will be getting good out of it. In order to get them to believe that murdering him
differently, with the Senate killing themselves instead of Caesar, he would have gone on to rule the Roman people. Perhaps with the Senate gone, he would have accepted the crown and ruled as a King, completely ridding Rome of democracy. Another instance of denial comes from Brutus. He convinced himself that killing Caesar was for the good of Rome and was therefore able to justify the murder. With this method of denial, Brutus was certain he could “be robbed of emotion by disguising it as reasons of state (Holland 341). Caesar is equally as guilty of denying things right in front of him as he denies the evils to come upon him when he accepts Decius’ interpretation of Calphurnia’s dream. After Decius has given a differing interpretation, Caesar praises him by saying, “And this way have you well expounded it /...How foolish do your fears seem now, Calphurnia! /I am ashamed I did yield to them” (2.2.91, 105-06). Caesar also seems to be in utter denial of Cassius’ hatred towards him (Blumenfeld 73). While it is clear Caesar
In Brutus’ speech he uses many kinds of rhetorical strategies to convince the audience of Rome he did it for them. One of the types of rhetorical strategies he uses is ethos. Brutus states that if Caesar was still alive, they would have lost their freedom. Brutus states, “believe me for mine honor, have respect for my honor, that you may believe” then after he admits that he was one of the killers and the did it for Rome and the citizens. He also talks about how Caesar was becoming a king like figure and how he killed Caesar for Rome and if his death is needed he to is willing to die for Rome.Another strategie Brutus uses is pathos to touch the angry emotion of the citizen by stating, ¨Mark Antony,who thought he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefits”and “a place in the commonwealth; as which you shall not.”
Brutus was trying to use ethos, the appeal to expertise, by saying he was an honorable man and he knows what is best for Rome. Brutus's speech failed to convince the people that what the conspirators did to Caesar was a good deed mainly because he failed to use pathos during his
Marcus Brutus was a reputable man to the people of Rome and to his friend Caesar. Brutus had good intentions for Rome’s people, which is why he did not think Caesar would be a good leader. Although Caesar was in shock to see Brutus included in the men that stabbed him, Brutus only did it for the good of the people. Brutus reveals his nobility to his people when he says in Act 3, scene 2, “…If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more”(126). Brutus’s statement explains that he had all the respect for Caesar as anyone else, but the love for his people and home was much more prized. He killed Caesar out of fear of what may happen to the beloved people of Rome. This proves that Brutus’s intentions were just as honorable as the man he was. In addition to both characters being honorable, their actions got the best of them and may have changed them for the worst.
Brutus is truly “an honorable man.” He was initially resistant to Cassius’ suggestion to betray Caesar. Also, Brutus says, “not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.”(3.2.22) This proves that he only does what he feels is necessary to protect the Rome. In act 4, Brutus sees the ghost of Caesar, and this tells us that he is regretting his actions. He never felt right about killing Caesar afterwards. In fact, when he realized that he was wrong, he used the knife that he stabbed Caesar to take his own
The conspirators are all in agreement when it comes to the death of Caesar, although when Cassius brings up killing Antony, Brutus interferes, exclaiming,“Let’s be sacrificers, but not butchers” (2.1.166). Brutus is quick to show he is willing to be ruthless, but not cruel. Brutus is willing to put his reputation on the line to kill Caesar, though he does not want to be cruel with his actions and take another life that he believes is unable to function without Caesar. Brutus is a Roman hero, for he is a ruthless, yet uncruel leader for
He said, “not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more,” as well as “I know no personal cause to spurn at him, But for the general.” Although, Brutus thinks he’s doing good for the sake of Rome, his acts out of his own opinion. It was Cassius who persuaded Brutus into killing him and he sent letters to Brutus posing as a citizen concerned about Caesar's power. This pushes Brutus to his final decision of killing Caesar. Brutus also perceived Caesar as ambitious, someone who would abuse his power as king.
Brutus’ main reason for killing Caesar was for the safety of Rome and the people. For example, in III.ii.21-24 Brutus says, “Not that i loved Caesar less, but that i loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” Brutus killed Caesar to protect the people and would rather
Brutus said that he killed Caesar for his ambition, and he was trying to protect the people. Brutus had to choose between his friendship with Caesar and his public responsibility to protect the Roman Republic. In certain situations, one persons life may have to be sacrificed to save the majority. “Some historians think that the death of Hitler in 1939 could have saved millions of people, including most of the Jews of Europe, from death” (Thompson). Nobody knows what type of things Caesar would have done in power and that is why Brutus had to stop him before it was too
Brutus has a noble reputation throughout Rome, as it was Brutus’s ancestor who vanquished tyranny in Rome. Brutus is also very idealistic and he loves his honor more than he fears death. So, Brutus gives the speech as a satisfactory explanation for Caesar’s death and he completely expects the crowd to support and agree with his reasoning, as he knows that his credibility and good reputation will help him persuade the audience. In his speech, Brutus even uses the logical fallacy either/or, a fallacy that presents two situations when in reality there are more, by asking the crowd if they would rather that Caesar were dead and they live free or that Caesar were alive, and they all die slaves. Brutus mostly uses the Aristotelian appeal of logos, or logic to persuade the audience. However, Brutus’s argument is vague, as he does not qualify the word ‘ambition’ and this gives Antony a chance to contradict some of Brutus’s statements and prove him wrong. The crowd approves Brutus’s speech, and cheers for him wildly. Brutus is not surprised by this reaction, as he knows that it is easy for him to persuade the audience because of his credibility. After his speech, Brutus introduces the crowd to Antony, and then he leaves. Brutus is confident that the crowd will believe him, and he is also the one who gave Antony the permission to speak at the funeral, and so he is sure that Antony will not contradict
He states that Brutus is just as noble and worthy as Caesar. (Act 1, scene ii). He says that Brutus cannot see what everyone else does and recognize his worthiness. Cassius and the other senators do not want Caesar to be king because they would lose all their power. Cassius is slowly luring Brutus in to do his dirty work. He builds Brutus’s confidence up to make him thing that killing Caesar is the right thing to do. Cassius is basically playing with Brutus’s head because he knows Brutus will listen. So, Brutus joins the conspirators in killing Caesar. Cassius tells Brutus that it is for the good of Rome, and that he is saving them from a dictatorship. Cassius is going for Brutus’s weakest point, his care and concern for Rome. He knows that if Brutus believes the people distrust Caesar, then he will be convinced that Caesar must be thwarted. Brutus knew that if Caesar was crowned, he would never have a chance, and he was power hungry. This is what ultimately leads to the tragedy of Julius Caesar. After Brutus kills Caesar off, he starts to feel guilty for killing his friend, thus creating an internal conflict. Brutus was so confident that the plan would go exactly as planned that he fell apart when they encountered problems. If Brutus and the other conspirators had taken more time to think things through, they probably would have been more prepared for the situation that was handed to them.
A simple lie is how people gain trust. It started with Antony sending his servant in the room the conspirators were in. He told his servant to shower Brutus with compliments, and how Antony also believed Caesar couldn’t be a great leader as Brutus. This makes Brutus open up the idea of trusting Antony. Therefore in Act II, Brutus decided to kill Caesar because the letters (that he thought was written by the people of Rome) had negative comments toward Caesar. Brutus didn’t take the time to examine the letter, to see whether it was real or fake. So when Antony complimented Brutus and bagged on Caesar, Brutus believed that Antony actually honors Brutus. By putting up an act, Antony got most of the conspirators to trust him, beside Cassius. But
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare contains many important themes to the development of the plot; however, none are as important as the theme of deception. Shakespeare used deception to keep the plot rolling and to acknowledge the key moments in the play. By reading the play, it can be clearly seen that the people of Ancient Rome were easily swayed by deception. One of the main examples of deception in the play was Marc Antony’s funeral dirge. Another example of deception was when Decius assured Julius Caesar that nothing would happen to him at the senate. Lastly, the deceptive acts of persuasion committed by Cassius to convince Brutus to join the conspiracy.
When the conspirators were discussing plan on how they should preceed on killing Caesar , Brutus made it very apparent on how the killing should go, stating “Let’s kill him boldly but not wrathfully. / Let’s carve him as a dish fit for gods, / Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds.” This meant that Brutus loved Caesar enough to respect his remains and not have the murder perceived as gruesome but as essential for Rome to remain free, peaceful and have liberty. Brutus wanted his body to be in such pristine condition that it would be fit for the gods. He was keeping in mind that he was not killing Caesar out of his personal strife, but for greater well-being of Rome. This way of thinking would affect the murder from being seen as savage to humane, only doing what was necessary to kill him. However this would mind-set would change if Brutus hated Caesar. Brutus would not care to respect a body of a man he hated, he would want to kill him wrathfully, and try to cause the most pain he possibly could.
The speeches presented by Brutus and Mark Antony are meant to persuade the people of Rome to conform with their point of observation in regaurds to Caesar's death. Both speaches given use rhetorical divices in an attempt to appeal to the people of Rome. The purpose of Brutus' speech is to justify his reasons for killing Caesar. Brutus uses pathos when appealing to the people's love for Rome and convinces them using logos that Ceasar's death was for the better of Rome.