In William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, the second scene of the third act opens with the Plebeians demanding that “We will be satisfied! We will be satisfied!” (III.ii.1). This statement shows how anxious and forceful the citizens of Rome are. They came to get answers from the Senate and they would not leave unsatisfied. The people come to get an answer as to the death of Julius Caesar, but in the process the words of Antony will easily change their opinions and desires when he addresses them. Preceding the words of Antony, Brutus comes to pay his respects to the man he killed, all the while working on damage control. He addresses the plebeians with honorable titles such as, “Romans, countrymen, and lovers,” (III.ii.14). He goes on to say
Marc Antony’s eulogy wins the heart of his fellow Romans by undermining and destroying the conspiracy. The conspirators claim that it was necessary for the good of the republic to murder Caesar and convince the crowds of Romans to believe so. After he wins over the crowd, Brutus, a conspirator, allows Marc Antony to speak considering him as no threat to the conspiracy. However, Brutus is proven wrong when Antony’s oration manipulates the crowd into a mob thirsty for the blood of the conspirators. Marc Antony’s eulogy is more compelling to the crowd with his use of rhetorical appeals, ethos, pathos, and logos, compared to Brutus in the tragedy, Julius 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.”
All throughout Rome, Brutus is known as being nobleman, yet, in his funeral speech to Caesar, he purposely talks in prose, a way of speaking or writing that is not formal. Brutus’ ethos of nobility is so strong that patricians, noblemen, and plebeians, commoners, directly address Brutus as “the noble Brutus” (III.ii.11) Being as noble as he his, the commoners have a difficult time relating to him; yes, they may respect him, but believing or being convincing in what he says is more difficult for Brutus than Antony. In contrast, Antony can relate to the commoners and is not seen to have an overruling ethos; so, this is why Antony ultimately has a more persuasive speech. At the beginning of his speech, he is presented as not being at all against the conspirators, the group Brutus was apart of. He repeatedly kept reassuring the crowd that the conspirators were "all honorable men" (III.ii.81). By reassuring that the conspirators are honorable, the commoners believe in Antony's statement, which increases his authority power. Noticing that his authority is becoming more powerful, Antony decides to secretly turn against the conspirators. He questions on Brutus’ statement, again, on his reasoning for killing Caesar; yes, Antony is well aware that “[Brutus] is an honorable
The citizens of Rome begin to see Brutus’s way of thinking and they understand that he really did think of the good of the people while making his decision. They also understand that Brutus was not thinking selfishly like they had assumed, but logically. This helps them to trust him more because he thought about the situation in an unbiased way. The plebeians respond to Brutus’s explanation by saying, “Live, Brutus, live, live! / Bring him with triumph home unto his house… This Caesar was tyrant. / Nay, that’s certain. / We are blessed that Rome is rid of him” (III.ii.49-50 and 75-77). The Plebeians learn that Brutus had honest intentions and they respect and praise him for it. The knowledge that Brutus was selfless enough to kill his friend in order to save them from tyranny, earns their respect. A final situation where this theme is developed is during the events surrounding the death of Brutus.
citizens of Rome. After Brutus' speech explaining that Caesar needed to be slain for the good of Rome, Antony cleverly manages to
Brutus tells them people then he had done no more to Caesar than they will do to him.
Brutus was a man of noble birth. He had multiple servants and was often referred to as “Lord”, which indicates a certain level of respect for him. He was a very highly thought of
While the group of conspirators meet up there is a discussion of whether kill Antony or not. This is what Brutus has to say, “Our course will seem too bloody Caius Cassius to cut the head off then hack the limbs, like wrath in death and envy afterwards” (II.I.169-71). This is an example of how nice Brutus is, he doesn’t want to kill because he wants to, he kills because he needs to. When Casca and Cassius are talking Casca brings up a good point. He says, “Oh, he sits high in all the people’s hearts (I.III.159-60).This quote shows that since he is popular with the people he has to be nice and honorable for people to like him. When they were at Caesar’s funeral Brutus made mistake and gave Antony permission to speak at the funeral, and this is what Antony said, “For Brutus is an honorable man; so are they all, all honorable men” (III.II.81-82). This quote show that Brutus was nice and he got manipulated as the people turned against them and their
Brutus, a conflicted senator obsessed with his civic duty, convinces the people of Rome that his motives in killing Caesar were just and noble by rhetoric. Brutus is the only conspirator to have impersonal motives in killing Caesar. In fact, his motives are trying to find the best solution for Rome, and in the end, he must make the hard choice of killing his best friend for his homeland. As early as Brutus’ conversation with Cassius in Act I, Brutus exhibits this deep love and respect for Rome and how this love is conflicting with his love for his friend, Caesar: “[P]oor Brutus, with himself at war, / Forgets the shows of love to other men” (I.ii.51-52). Brutus brings up this internal conflict again when he tells the crowds that although he did love Caesar, he loved Rome and its people more. After Brutus’ murder of Caesar, he realizes that the issue of the public opinion of Rome is of the utmost importance. Because of this love for Rome, Brutus uses rhetoric to persuade these plebeians to approve of him and his cause. When Cassius warns Brutus about “how much the people will be moved / By that which [Marc Antony] will utter[!]” (III.i.252-253), Brutus tells Cassius that letting Marc Antony speak “shall advantage us more than do us wrong” (III.i.261). In these cases, Brutus demonstrates his awareness of
There have been many famous leaders in Roman history but none could match Julius Caesar[See Figure 1]. Julius Caesar was born on July 13, 100 BC in Rome and died March 15, 44 BC in Rome. Julius Caesar is best known for his military mind and how he laid the framework for the Roman Republic. One of the quotes he is famous for is "I came, I saw, I conquered." Caesar has not just influenced Rome, he also influenced the world too. The Roman Calendar was rigged to help political purposes. Caesar devised a new Calendar called the Julian Calendar to combat that manipulation[See Figure 2]. The Calendar still has an influence in Eastern Orthodox Christian countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Greece and much more. That is only one out of many
In his soliloquy, Antony praised Caesar’s great personality but at the same time, he would keep saying positive things about Brutus. An example is when he says, “He was my friend, faithful and just to me; / But Brutus says he was ambitious, / And Brutus is an honorable man.” (3.2.85-87). The way in which he spoke and by telling the citizens the context of Caesar’s will, turned the mob against Brutus and the rest of the conspirators. The anger possessed by the countrymen can be shown when a plebeian says, “Most noble Caesar! We’ll revenge his death!” (2.2.244). This betrayal by Antony caused Brutus to break off their friendship.
The final demonstration of the theme is when Antony, a follower of Caesar, cleverly uses pleasant words against Brutus and the conspirators. In the scene where Antony speaks, Caesar is already dead and Antony could publicly speak only if he did not dirtied Brutus’s name or Caesar’s. He blatantly calls the conspirator honorable: “The noble Brutus/ Hath told you Caesar was ambitious. / If it were so, it was a grievous fault, / And grievously hath Caesar answered it. / Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest/ (For Brutus is an honorable man, / So are they all, all honorable men), / Come I to speak in Caesars’ funeral” (3.2. 912-13). The power of Antony’s speech and the manner her referred to his enemies was fabulous. He achieved the plebeians’ ultimate approval and will succeed in avenging Caesar’s death. He did so by using wise and well-chosen words.
plebeians in Act 3 Scene 2. He uses this in order to create a sense of