Brutus And Mark Antony Speech Analysis Essay

A powerful speech that persuades the crowd is something that many of us struggle to do. In the political play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, we watch as Marcus Brutus and Mark Antony persuade the crowd to their side while giving a funeral speech and a soliloquy. We also see the persuasive techniques and fallacies that both Antony and Brutus use in their speeches. After Brutus murdered Julius Caesar alongside his friends to save Rome from an awful ruler, Antony promises to speak only positive words about Caesar and Brutus at the funeral in Act three. But when it comes time to give the funeral speeches, Brutus goes first to explain to the crowd why he did what he did, which gets the entire crowd to support him. But later on when Antony gives his speech, he betrays Brutus and gets the crowd against Brutus causing the crowd to become very violent. In both speeches as well as the soliloquy given by Brutus in Act two, Brutus and Antony get the support they need from the crowd by using many fallacies .

In the speech given by Brutus at the funeral of Caesar, Brutus used many fallacies to connect with the crowd and to get the audience on his side. The first fallacy that comes in Brutus’ speech is in the quote “had you rather Caesar were living, and / die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all / freemen?” (3.2.24-26). In this line, Brutus uses the either-or fallacy since Brutus gives the audience two extreme actions. He asks the audience whether they want Caesar to die or all the slaves in Rome to die. Since there are more alaves, Brutus is able to make the audience feel extremely guilt by saying that Caesar should live over the slaves in Rome. By saying this quote in his speech, Brutus is able to get the audience to think like him and agree with him on killing Caesar. The next fallacy that is used by Brutus is the cause-and-effect fallacy which is present in the quote

As Caesar loved me, I weep for him. As he

was fortunate, I rejoice at it. As he was valiant, I

honor him. But, as he was ambitious, I slew him.

There is tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honor

for his valor, and death for his ambition (3.2.26-30).

Brutus uses this quote to validate him killing Caesar. In every line, he mentions the effect of Caesar’s act. Brutus mentions that he killed Caesar because Caesar was ambitious . By using the cause-and-effect fallacy, it seems as if Brutus had to kill Caesar in order to contain his power. This quote gets the audience to favor Brutus even more because the audience now feels as if what Brutus did was right as Caesar got what he deserved for his actions. The last quote that Brutus used in his funeral speech to get the audience on his side was

Who is

here so base that would be a bondman? If any,

 speak, for him have I offended. Who is here so rude

that would not be a Roman? In any, speak, for him

have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not

love his country? If any, speak, for him have I

offended (3.2.30-36).

In this quote, Brutus uses repetition to get his point across to the crowd. With each time that Brutus repeated a line, the more energetic the crowd would become to say that there is no one like the person that Brutus is describing. In these lines, Brutus uses the either-or fallacy. Brutus uses characterizations that he knows the crowd would not relate themselves to in order to make the crowd feel as if they have the same mindset and opinions as Brutus. This made the audience feel connected to Brutus and think that the murder of Caesar is justified because Brutus killed Caesar for the people of Rome. Throughout all of these fallacies that Brutus used in his speech at Caesar’s funeral, the audience became more and more connected to Brutus. The more that Brutus spoke, the more the crowd loved Brutus and the more they supported Brutus. But the opinion of Brutus suddenly changed as Antony began speaking.

Even though Antony had promised to support Brutus and only talk positive things about Caesar in his funeral speech, Antony went off track and turned against Brutus. In Antony’s speech, Antony gets the crowd on his side using many fallacies as well. In Antony’s speech, the line “Brutus is an honorable man” (3.2.96) is repeated multiple times. In this quote, Antony uses ethos by crediting Brutus to be honorable. But the way that Antony uses this line, he makes the audience think about whether Brutus really is honorable. As this line is repeated multiple times through the entire speech, the audience begins to revolt and realize that Brutus is not really an honorable man. The use of a fallacy comes when Antony tells the crowd that “I am no rator, as Brutus is” (3.2.229). In this line, Antony uses the plain-folks appeal to show the crowd that he is like everyone else that is listening to the speech that he is giving. Unlike all of the normal people, Brutus is a good speaker and is able to easily convince the audience but Antony is only speaking the truth. By using the plain-folks appeal, Antony is able to get the crowd on his side since people start thinking that Antony is just like the rest of the audience. In the funeral speech, Antony also uses pathos to appeal to the emotion of the audience as a way to connect to the audience and get everyone on his side. In the line “Bear with me; My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, And I must pause till it come back to me” (3.2.115-117). In these lines, Antony begins getting emotional to show the crowd that he really does care about Caesar and is not there to become the next ruler but to show his love for Caesar. By saying that his heart is with Caesar, Antony is able to connect with the audience emotionally and get the crowd to feel his pain for the death of Caesar. By weeping at the end of the line, gets the crowd to feel pity for Antony who lost a genuine friend. As Antony continues to give his speech, people go from supporting Brutus to supporting Antony and wanting to kill everyone involved in the murder of Ceasar. The change of opinion of the audience came from the fallacies that Antony used throughout his entire speech at Caesar’s funeral speech.

Even though Brutus was able to get the support of the audience using his speech that was presented at the funeral of Caesar, Antony was able to get the crowd on his side using persuasive techniques in his speech. Antony got the support of the crowd by using emotion and using words that would allow the audience to visualize the death of Caesar. Unlike Brutus, Antony also props to get the audience to favor him. The main prop that was used in the speech given by Antony was the will that was written by Caesar. According to Antony, in the will Caesar promised to give seventy-five drachmas to every Roman citizen. By using the will as a prop, Antony was able to convince the Plebeians to leave the side of Brutus to become a part of Antony’s side. Also Antony says that in the will, Caesar has promised to make some of his private land into public gardens for the citizens of Rome to enjoy. With the help of the will, all the Plebeians began supporting Antony even though Antony technically bribed the Plebeians with money and land. In the speech given by Brutus, there was no emotion that was shown and Brutus was unable to make a connection with the Plebeians. But throughout Antony’s entire speech, Antony used lots of emotion and found ways to connect with the Plebeians even though at times it was with the help of a prop. Since Antony was able to connect with the Plebeians, all the Plebeians stopped supporting Brutus who they believed would never do the wrong thing. The persuasive techniques that were used by Antony during his funeral speech, obtained Antony the support of the Plebeians.