Antony and Brutus Speech Analysis Essay Example

In the play “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare the main character, Julius Caesar, was murdered. At his funeral two speeches were given; one by a noble and one conspirator of the assassination named Brutus, and one by a noble and loyal friend of Caesar named Mark Antony. Brutus gives his speech at the funeral in to convince the Roman citizens that he is still honorable and that he killed Caesar for the good of Rome. Brutus allows Mark Antony to give a speech as well in order to further help his case, but Antony has other plans. Antony had his own plan to turn the citizens of Rome against the conspirators because he saw the conspirators as they were: murderers. Brutus and Antony both used pathos, ethos, logos, and repetition to make their speeches more effective and convincing. 

In both Brutus’s speech and Antony’s speech, we see the appeal to emotions. One of Brutus’s main points was the appeal to patriotism and freedom which connects to pathos. He uses this appeal to get sympathy from the citizens of Rome and make his defense seem more convincing. He states in his speech, “Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? Who is here so vile that will not love his country? (III, ii, 32-35)” While this appeal to patriotism did work for a short time it was later overshadowed by Antony’s appeals. Antony was a close and loyal friend, so his use of pathos was true and genuine. Antony states in his speech, “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: Ambition should be made of sterner stuff. (III, ii, 100-101)” This example showed the people of Rome that Caesar was a good leader to them and cared for them deeply. This use of pathos in Antony’s speech sank deeper in the citizens of Rome and helped convince them that Caesar needs to be avenged.

Additionally, both speeches also use their credibility in order to persuade their audience. One main reason that Antony’s speech was more convincing was because he relied on pathos rather than ethos, unlike Brutus. Brutus states in his speech, “Believe me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour. (III, ii, 15-17)” Brutus’s reputation led the citizens of Rome to believe him because he was the “noble Brutus” but his use of ethos in his speech was not a strong enough argument because he gave no actual proof that Caesar needed to be assassinated. Because of his lack of proof, Brutus’s honor could easily be discredited by Mark Antony. Mark Antony’s credibility came from his loyal friendship with Caesar and his nobility. Antony states in his speech, “Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me. (III, ii, 93-94)” Antony did not rely on ethos in his speech but the citizens knew him as a loyal and noble man. 

In addition, both speakers used logic to persuade the citizens that they were being truthful. Brutus used the logic that he needed to kill Caesar in order to save Rome and its freedom. He explains in his speech, “If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen? (III, ii, 21-26)” He did this to show the citizens that he used reason to decide that in order to keep Rome safe Caesar had to die. Antony used logic to disprove Brutus’s accusation that Julius Caesar was ambitious. He stated in his speech, “He hath brought many captives home to Rome Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? (III, ii, 97-99)” Antony uses many examples such as this in order to prove that Brutus was wrong, and that Caesar was good.

Finally, a key appeal both Antony and Brutus used was repetition or staying on the message. Brutus repeats the word “honour” to emphasize that he is honorable and everything that he did was for the good of Rome. Contrastingly, Antony repeated the word honorable to make it have less value. He uses the phrase, “Brutus is an honorable man” each time he disproved Brutus’s allegations. He did that to show that Brutus was in fact not an honorable man, but instead a murderer. Antony also repeats the word “ambitious” in order to contradict what Brutus said. This use of repetition helped the citizens of Rome see that what Brutus said was wrong and that Caesar was the real honorable man.

In Antony’s speech and Brutus’s speech, we see many appeals they use to persuade the audience that they are both honorable and truthful. They both used many appeals including pathos, ethos, logos, and repetition in their speeches. The major difference between the two was that Brutus appealed more to his own credibility while Antony appealed more to the emotions of the citizens. Both speeches had an impact on the citizens, but Antony’s speech was the best executed one. His use of appeals made his speech more effective and convincing than Brutus’s speech.