How Is Diction Used In Julius Caesar Funeral Speech

According to picturequotes.com, “Words are powerful. They can create or they can destroy. So choose your words wisely.” In Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, conspirators slay Julius Caesar, resulting in anarchy in Rome. Some agree with the death, while others oppose the sudden and violent death of Caesar. Unlike Antony, Brutus uses emotion rather than fact to sway the Roman people that Caesars death is justified. Although Brutus puts rules in place so he can not talk disrespectfully of the conspiracy, Antony, Caesar‘s closest friend, uses his slyness and manipulation in his funeral speech to persuade the Romans. Although both characters use analogies, parallelism, loaded words and hyperboles, their speeches convey very different

            Despite these drastic differences, the two orations are similar in a way essential to their effectiveness.  Brutus and Antony demand audience participation by asking questions and making comments they know will spark fire in the hearts of the Roman people.  After providing his explanation for the extermination of a dangerously ambitious tyrant, Brutus questions the people as to whether or not he has offended anyone or if anyone disagrees with his ideals.  He is such an authority figure, though, and he knows no one will stand up to him because the people find safety within the mass.  He dares anyone to defy him, "...I pause for a / reply" (Act III, scene ii, lines 34-5).  The people reply, "None, Brutus, none!" (Act III, scene ii, line 36).  Once he knows he has won the people, Brutus states that he has the same death for himself (the same death as Caesar) when it will benefit Rome.  To this, the people reply with shouts of

Brutus's speech was ineffective in giving them reasons for Caesar's ambition. This gave Antony a large gap to turn the people against Brutus. Brutus told the people to believe him for his honor , and to respect him for his honor, so that they may believe. He is telling them to believe him for his honor and not for the reasons he gives. Brutus repeated many times that Caesar was ambitious but never once said how or why. This left the people with a question in their mind.

In the Tragedy Of Julius Caesar, Brutus and Anthony both presented a speech to the citizens of Rome. Brutus argued why his actions to kill Julius were acceptable while Antony contradicted Brutus’s views, arguing why Caesar should not have been murdered. Both speakers used ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade the people of Rome. Brutus’s speech was mainly based on logic, while Antony’s speech took more of an emotional approach . Overall, Antony had a sophistic style, he was much more artful and cunning than Brutus. He reeled in the crowd like a fish and captured them with his compelling diction.

Brutus’s main goal in his speech was to justify his action of killing Caesar in hope that the citizens would be in agreement with him and understand that he had Rome’s best interests at heart. Brutus attempts to persuade the people through ethos, pathos, and logos. He mainly uses ethos. He continuously says that he is an honorable man who loved Caesar but loved his country more. He uses an example of ethos when he says, “Hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honour, and have respect for mine honour, that you may believe.” In this quote, he uses restatement to show his credibility as an honorable man. Because he approached the people in this way, they think, “Why would an honorable man, such

By contrast Antony from Julius caesar heavily relies upon the power of language and its ability to exploit the human flaw that is emotion, and by doing so manipulate ones perception through a emotionally (pathos) driven argument. Antony has a greater understanding of the people and knows that they are passionate people who will be swayed by such talk. Also Antony unlike Brutus uses iambic pentameter this shows that he has a higher authority which would make the audience listen more carefully. After each argument Antony produces in Caesar’s defense, he uses irony through the lines “But Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man”. This line is repeated a number of times creating an anaphora. As well as slowly dismantling Brutus’

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,

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

Brutus used repetition the most to influence the crowd. He states about Caesar’s “tears, love, and ambition.” Brutus also asked the audience rhetorical questions that they could not answer, and he would take their silence as if they were agreeing when in reality they were probably too scared to answer. Antony also used repetition to sway the crowd. He often pointed out that “Brutus was an honorable man” and he said it with more and more sarcasm each time. Antony also took advantage of the crowd and used reverse psychology on them. He used Caesar’s will as a tool to accomplish this. He told the crowd about Caesar’s will, telling them that they would think twice if they heard what was in the will, but he doesn’t read it to them. That made them beg for him to read it to them. Not only does this get them to do what he wants, it also give the crowd a false sense of authority over Antony. Also, he asks the crowd if he can come down and join them, saying they give him permission, again giving them that sense of authority. Antony, in addition to the will, used Caesar’s body as a prop in his speech. He created a sympathetic attitude towards Caesar. The other pathos appeal Antony used was the contrast that he showed between the beginning and end of his speech. He opened, saying he was only to “bury Caesar, not to praise him” yet towards the end he had accomplished his goal in making the crowd feel sorry for Caesar and wanting to

Brutus gave a more formal speech which appealed to reasoning. In his speech, he repeated constantly that Caesar had too much ambition. Brutus informed the crowd the main reason for killing Caesar. In ACT III, scene II, lines 20 to 21, Brutus announces, “It’s not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” This quote helped the crowd clarify another reason behind Caesar another reason behind Caesar’s death. His words also made the Romans feel cared about. Therefore, not only did Brutus defend himself, but he also showed the Romans that he is a good leader. Although Brutus had a few negative views toward Caesar, he did add some positive comments about Caesar. In Act III, scene II, line 25, Brutus said that he “honored him for being brave.” His reasoning for adding this comment was to show the crowd that he respected Caesar. Whereas Brutus’s speech appealed to reasoning, Antony’s speech appealed to emotion. Overall, Antony’s speech was sad. In Act 3, Scene 2, line 83, Antony said, “He was my friend, he was faithful.” This shows the crowd how much much Antony trusted Caesar. Throughout his speech he spoke highly of Caesar. In Act 3, scene 2, lines 86 to 87, Antony said “[Caesar] brought many captives home to Rome whose ransoms brought wealth to the city.” Antony follows that with asking, “Is that the work of an ambitious man.” Antony gave the audience a reason for being on his side. He

Brutus and Antony's speeches were both very different. Brutus tried to get the people to understand that Caesar was corrupt and wasn't the right leader so they would forgive him for killing Caesar, while Antony grieved and began a mutiny against Brutus and the other killers. They both did show their affection towards Caesar and what a great friend he was to them.

In the tragic play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, the ruler of Rome, Julius Caesar, is stabbed to death by some of his so-called friends. Brutus, one of Caesar's best friends, is approached by some of the other senators to join the conspiracy to kill Caesar. Brutus weighs his options and decides to join the conspirators for the good of Rome. At Caesars's funeral, Brutus gives a speech to convince the citizens that the conspirators were right to kill Caesar. In contrast, Antony gives a speech to convince the Romans that there was no real reason to kill Caesar. Both characters try to persuade the audience, but they achieve different tones using literary and rhetorical devices. The tone of Brutus' speech is prideful, while the tone of Antony's speech is dramatic and inflammatory.

The speeches given by both Brutus and Mark Antony in William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar are very persuasive to the audience that they are given to, but rhetorical devices were used in different ways in order for each to have an effect on the people of Rome. In Brutus’s speech, he uses devices such as rhetorical question and antithesis to convince the Romans that he and the conpirators did a good deed by killing Caesar. In Mark Antony’s speech, he sways them to believe that Caesar did not deserve to die, and that the conpirators were the real enemies by using rhetorical devices like rhetorical question and apostrophe. Both speeches were very

The first speech we hear is that of Brutus. In his speech he aims to