The Power Of The Speeches In Julius Caesar, By William Shakespeare

891 words - 4 pages

In one of the most renowned plays of all time written by landmark play write William Shakespeare the two ground breaking speeches of Julius Caesar serve as a critical element to the ending. Both of these speeches given by Brutus and Mark Antony up hold perhaps the most controversial part of the play and have stayed controversial over centuries; Was Julius Caesars killing justified? The speeches though wildly different have great significance in the plays ending due to the audiences differing reactions to both of them. The audiences varying emotions dictate the rest of the play and how it concludes. The first paragraph will examine Brutus's speech and the effect on the crowd, the second paragraph will be examining Antony's speech and the effect on the audience and the third will be comparing and contrasting these speeches and how they lead the tragic conclusion of this play.
To begin, Brutus takes the stand at the funeral, Brutus is trying to convince the crowds that the conspirators' were only doing what's best for Rome. Brutus believes that the logic behind his reason for killing Caesar will convince the crowd that the death of, as Brutus would say, "the ambitious" Caesar was necessary for the wellbeing of Rome. What Brutus doesn't understand are these citizens are deeply hurt that their beloved Caesar is dead but Brutus puts these emotions aside and he uses pure logic. Since Brutus is a stoic, he doesn't show emotions and he believes that pure logic will sway the crowd in the favor of the conspirators', plus these people look up to Brutus as a creditable learned, and honorable man. Brutus's logic seems to be working in his favor when by the time the speech is over the citizens are saying "Live, Brutus! Live, live!" (Act 3, Scene 2, Line 47), "Caesar's better parts shall be crown'd in Brutus." (Act 3, Scene 2, Line 50) he believes all will be well and turns the time over to Antony to have the funeral service for Caesar. When Antony takes the stand with each word he says the love for Brutus and the conspirators' slowly dissolves.
Next, was Mark Antony's speech, Mary Antony was Caesar's friend, and loyal servant he loved Caesar quite dearly. He took the death of Caesar the hardest. Caesar was his best friend and he wanted revenge. Since Antony loved Caesar he understood the public's pain over the assassination of Caesar since he too felt overwhelming grieve this was reflected in his speech. Antony promising not to talk bad about the conspirators' starts by saying all the honorable...

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