Dynamic Characters In Antigone And Julius Caesar

Antony and Cassius, unlike Brutus, never separate their private affairs from their public actions while Brutus tries to prove himself by acting only with respect to honor and virtue, completely ignoring his personal concerns. For example, Cassius disliked the fact that Caesar became “godlike” in the eyes of the Romans, so he leads Brutus to believe that Caesar had become too powerful and must die by sending him forged letters claiming that the Roman people support the death of Caesar, ultimately converting Brutus to his cause. At last Brutus ends up murdering his good friend in an act he truly believed was honorable. Marc Antony, who also shares in Cassius’ selfish trait, persuaded the conspirators that he is on their side, therefore gaining their leniency. He proceeds to persuade the plebeians of the conspirators’ injustice and gains support of the masses.

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.

Throughout the two men’s speeches, both try to invoke emotions in the people of Rome. Brutus attempts this first and is ultimately less effective than the pathos Antony uses throughout his speech. Brutus states, “ If there’s anyone in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s, I say to him that my love for Caesar was no less than his. If, then, that friend demands to know why I rose up against Caesar, this is my answer: it’s not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” In this statement, Brutus is directing the emotion towards himself instead of the people. He isn’t allowing the people to feel for themselves; this is not an compelling way of using pathos. Antony uses a different method that creates a bigger rise out of the crowd. He does this by saying,

Brutus’s speech was all about himself, justice, high level morals, honor, and position. On the other hand, Antony was simpler and understanding to the plebeians because he knew that did not like him right now; thus, Antony gives the plebeians credit and lets them decide if they believe him or Brutus. Antony was more friendly to the plebeians he called him things “friends” to show the plebeians that he was one of them. Antony lets the plebeians know what they want to hear, uses think that the plebeians have already known, for example, when Antony had offered Caesar a crown and he did take it. Antony lets the plebeian know that Caesar was not ambitious by giving them the example of the so called crown he had offered Caesar. He also tells lets them know that if Caesar were ambitious, why would he have brought wealth, and enslaved people to help with the economy in Rome? Antony also talks about how everyone loved Caesar, this is a faulty assumption, for the fact that not everyone loved Caesar. Antony lead the plebeian to think that Caesar really care for them, when Antony take this will that was supposedly of Caesar. He

The plebeians loved Caesar before his murder and praised Brutus after it. Antony was trying to remind the citizens about the great accomplishments Caesar had done for Rome before he passed because the citizens turned on him. In (III,II,CI) Antony cries "What causes withholds you then to mourn for him?" The citizens seemed to forget how generous Caesar was and stopped praising him. Brutus's use of pathos was more of him trying to convince the citizens that Rome would go downhill if Caesar ruled. In (III,II,XXII) he says "Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?" He wanted to make himself out as a hero by saying that killing Caesar was best for the community of Rome. Antony's use of pathos was more convincing that Brutus's because it sounded more as if it was coming from the

When Antony says, “ My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, and I must pause till it comes back to me”(Shakespeare) he wants the citizens to believe that Caesar was a noble and trustworthy man. This makes the citizens question Brutus when he said, “ Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses that you may be the better judge… not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more (Shakespeare)”. Brutus underestimated how powerful of a speech that Antony was able to deliver without breaking his

During the play of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar we see Brutus conspire with other conspirators in order to assassinate Caesar. Brutus felt he was doing it for the good of Rome. Mark Antony was a friend of Caesar he was more of a party person than the others. Caesar was in a parade and a person came to him and stated "Beware the Ides of March". The person was warning him about his demise. He simply didn't care to listen and this eventually led to his assassination. After his death Brutus gave a speech to discuss why this had happened to Caesar. Brutus said the he loved Caesar but his ambitions were going to lead to a dictatorship. The people were convinced after Brutus spoke but as Mark Antony spoke things changed. He used heart wrenching pathos of carrying Caesars body and spoke as a friend of the people and how he disagreed with the conspirators plans and thoughts about the future. The two speeches both used pathos, but Brutus used ideas that appealed to the pathos of the people and Mark Antony just appealed using pathos.

Mark Antony appeals to the Romans' sense of ethos to establish himself in their eyes as a noble man, and to surreptitiously separate the conspirators' from their lofty reputations. Specifically, Antony mentions that he has the power to "do Brutus wrong and Cassius wrong, who, you know, are honourable men", but he "will

229-231). He states that he is just like the commonfolk and he is just a normal plebeian who loves Caesar. By stating this, Antony announces himself to be apart of the vulgus. When Antony says he is not an orator, he hopes to gain moral support by being apart of the commoners. All of this goes to the theme of loyalty since Antony’s main goal is to vindicate the death of Caesar by inspiring the plebeians to retaliate against the

Brutus feels guilty for what he has done to Caesar. Because of this, Brutus is able to make a good use of pathos. However, Antony feels strongly about Caesar's death as well. From his point of view, the conspirators are brutal killers. They both have really good reasons behind their words in both of their speeches. After looking over both men's speeches, it is clear that Antony's speech is the overall better one because it is the one the plebeians go on to believe.

Antony’s speech is full of emotion as Antony explains how Brutus says “Caesar was ambitious...Brutus is an honourable man” (III: ii: 101-102). Antony uses pathos as Brutus and the conspirators are the only people that thought Caesar was ambitious. Irony is shown as Brutus is called honorable, yet Antony was using it as a way of mocking him and later showing how Caesar didn’t deserve to die. Antony talks about how Brutus was “Caesar’s angel,” and how much “Caesar loved Brutus:” (III: ii: 183-184). Antony explains this part in pathos as Caesar loved Brutus, yet Brutus betrayed him and killed him. Antony also used logos to show how Caesar didn’t hate others, and how everyone was loved by Caesar. To show how much Caesar loved Rome, Antony explains how Caesar “left the walks, private arbours, and new planted orchards,” to give back to the people that showed appreciation and respect (III: ii: 248-250). Antony uses pathos to convince the plebeians that Caesar tried to make Rome better and brought many achievements to the people. Logos is also shown as Antony explained all the good fortune Caesar left for Rome, and how Caesar will never be forgotten. Mark Antony persuades the Plebeians to show how Caesar did everything to help Rome’s people yet, they conspired against

Brutus tells the people that allowing Caesar to rule and fulfill his ambition would mean the end of democracy and freedom in Rome, alluding to the fact that Caesar’s motivation may have been faulty. Antony tells the Plebeians that they should not disapprove of Brutus and his actions, however they still should remember Caesar for the great leader and war hero that he was.

Antony’s manipulation of the plebeians makes him stronger but it also makes Brutus, who had just as much of a chance as Antony did at latching them onto his army, weaker. Brutus’ speech is rather weak because he doesn’t go that extra mile when trying to engrave his points in the plebeian’s brain. His speech is very basic, and because the plebeians are so easy to sway, he is able to initially grab hold of their minds. After this, Antony comes up and uses many tactics for a more effective process of manipulation. First, he shoots down any positive points that Brutus made by counteracting them, and although Brutus went first, he could have tried to cover himself better, for he had to have some kind of idea where Antony would be coming from. For example, Antony mocks Brutus by saying “But Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man,” (Act III Scene II 95-96) and this, as well as his points counteracting Caesar’s ambitiousness, voids out Brutus’ idea of the common good in the plebeians’ minds. Antony also uses visualization as a tactic when he picks up Caesar’s mantle to show just how violent Caesar’s murder was, which again reiterates the fact that it couldn’t have been done completely for the common

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

In Antony and Cleopatra, West and East collide, but it does not in spite of Caesar’s conquest over the land of Egypt, defeat it. Cleopatra’s suicide implies that a touch of the East’s character, the freedoms and fervour that are not signified in the play’s notion of the West, cannot be listed by Caesar’s victory. The play proposes that the East will survive on as a perceptible and invincible counterpart to the West, bound as inseparably and everlastingly as Antony and Cleopatra are in their mausoleum. As the play develops, Antony continues to occupy contradictory characteristics that play out the struggle between motive and feeling.