Soliloquy In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

After Brutus finishes his speech, Antony speaks about his opinion on the issue; unlike Brutus, Antony acts slyly and communicates a very manipulative tone to persuade the Romans to rebel. Because of Antony's use of parallelism, he creates vivid reasoning for his speech. He states, “ I come here to bury Caesar, not to praise him” (III.ii.44). By using this device, he shows the people of Rome that he isn't praising Caesar, he is putting the leader to rest. This particular line creates a very manipulative tone, because his speech is all about what great this Caesar has done and how he wants to rebel against the conspirators. Further more, Antony uses a lot of irony to slyly get his point across. One example that he uses throughout the speech is “Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is a honorable man” (III.ii.44). Because of the repitition of this ironic statement, the meaning of it changes and intensifies. At first, his tone was sincere, but as the speech progresses, you can see his sarcastic tone increases. Antony does this because he has to use this device to surpass the regulations of Brutus, as well as make the romans listen. Lastly, he uses personification to give life and further meaning to a word. Early in the speech, Antony says, “The evil

“And you shall speak/ in the same pulpit whereto I am going. / After my speech is ended” (945). This is a bad decision on his part because by allowing Antony to speak last, he has allowed Antony to use his words against him. As seen in the text, it is much easier to persuade when speaking last than when speaking first. After being chased out of Rome alongside Cassius, another misfortune is his fight with him over money problems. Brutus claims that Cassius has become greedy. He is furious that Cassius is not helping him even though they are allies. However, the money that Brutus wants is actually the money that Cassius is taking from the soldiers who buy their ranks. While he could just as easily do the same, he defines himself as too noble a person to do such a thing. “Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself/ Are much condemned to have an itching palm” (966). Cassius is offended, and tells Brutus that he should be glad that they are allies. Brutus’ enlightenment occurs around the time he commits suicide. Right before his demise, with his final dying breath, he mentions Caesar to put him at ease. “Farewell, good Strato – Caesar, now be still; / I killed thee with half so good a will” (997).

　　By keeping his listeners thoroughly engaged, Antony is able to further develop on his purpose by utilizing diverse rhetorical devices. Near the beginning, he makes effective use of parallelism to list Caesar’s selfless deeds, like “when that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept”, which gives the effect that the list is so long that Antony cannot describe it in unique detail. Additionally, his parallel repetition of “Brutus says he was ambitious and Brutus is an honorable man” serves as sarcasm. By repeating each good action with these two lines, Antony is getting the audience to contrast Caesar’s endless good deeds with Brutus’s repetitive and conflicting argument. Further on in the speech, Antony uses proslepsis somewhat obviously to reveal Caesar’s will to the people. He tells them that he found “a parchment with the seal of Caesar...tis his will”, yet quickly stops himself from telling anymore. Therefore, the audience is intrigued by the will and its mention reengages any listeners who

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.

He wishes to change Caesar’s will so the Romans will receive less than what they were promised in his funeral speech and he also doesn’t want to rule with Lepidus. Antony is manipulative. He persuades the crowd to change their opinions on Brutus in act 3 scene 2 by saying, “Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and sure he is an honorable man. I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, but here I am to speak what I do know. You all did love him once, not without cause.What cause withholds you then to mourn for him? O judgement, thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason! Bear with me; my heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, and I must pause till it come back to me.” Antony clearly states that he is not trying to disprove what Brutus said but he does in the act of his speech manipulate the minds of the Romans by asking for sympathy which he

Antony and Caesar were good friends, and when Antony learned of Caesar’s murder, he began plotting to dethrone the conspirators who had planned his death. He sent a citizen to the palace where the traitors were and told him to relay a message; “If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony may safely come to him and be resolved how Caesar hath deserved to lie in death, Mark Antony shall not love Caesar dead so well as Brutus living, but will follow the fortunes and affairs of noble Brutus through the hazards of this untrod state with all true faith.” What Antony is saying to Brutus is that if

to Caesar’s gain of power. Immediately after Cassius’s plan is executed, Brutus reads the letters, then

Antony's purpose is to get the crowd to turn against Brutus and the conspirators and rebel. Antony, unlike Brutus, adresses the crowd as friends and uses pathos to appeal to the crowd's emotions because people tend to be moved more by emotions than by

1. When Caesar says that Cassius thinks too much, I agree. Cassius tends to look into the details and over think simple situations. He becomes very meticulous about how the group of the conspirators is organized. Also, while Cassius is the one who originally comes up with the idea of the conspiracy and that he wants Brutus to be in charge, he thinks through the plan, yet does not want to take responsibility. Cassius just about argues with himself, due to too many thoughts running through his mind. He thinks about so vile a thing as Caesar! But, O grief, where hast thou led me? I perhaps speak this before a willing bondman. Then I know my answer must be made. But I am armed and dangers to me

First he questions the romans by saying “You all did love him once, not without cause. What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?” (III.ii.111-112) they used to love and praise him but now for some reason have betrayed him. It questions the audience and makes them think of their actions and if they have any meaning or are logical. Next he brings up that “...thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse. Was this Ambitious?” (III.ii.105-106). This argues the point the conspirators made, which was that Caesar was too ambitious. If Caesar was too ambitious why would he turn down the crown three times. He even asks the audience if Caesar’s actions were ambitious. This is the logical approach Antony used to defend Caesar. Next he attacks brutus in an indirect way when he says “For Brutus, as you Know, was Caesar’s angel. Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him! This was the most unkindest cut of all” (III.ii.198-200). By saying how much Caesar loves Brutus it undermines Brutus by making him look cold and harsh. Why would you want to be led by someone who betrays their best friend? Again we see a masterful usage of rhetorical devices and his persuasive argument taking over the

In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, speakers Antony, Brutus, and Cassius try to persuade an audience using rhetorical techniques and appeals. Brutus and Antony are good speakers, since they completely swayed their audience and used correct appeals, but they didn’t need to put in much effort. Cassius is the most skillful speaker because he focuses on emotional appeals knowing he cannot outsmart Brutus in logic. Cassius makes Brutus feel inferior to Caesar while aiming to gain his trust and get him onto his side. Cassius’s purpose is to get Brutus to join the conspiracy that was created to kill Caesar. Brutus is very educated, logical, and takes great pride in his honor. Also, he’s close to Caesar, which makes him a great figure to have on

Cassius and Brutus’ interactions in the early parts of the play solidify Cassius’ role as a foil, and also accentuate some

In the play Julius Caesar, written by Shakespeare, we are presented with two characters, Brutus, a noble congressman of the Roman republic, and Antony, a loyal lieutenant to Caesar. Brutus, who is manipulated by Cassius to kill Caesar, is led to believe that Caesar was ambitious and was seeking to destroy the Roman republic as well as becoming a tyrannical king. Brutus, being the patriotic congressman all of Rome knows him as, agrees for the good of Rome, to join the radical conspirators and help kill Caesar. Despite his solid reputation and strong ethos, Brutus’s weak pathos and logos doom his speech for failure once Antony gets up to speak.

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.

Cassius, Brutus, and Antony use rhetoric successfully in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, albeit each differently and for different causes. Each of these men uses his skills in rhetoric to convince each other and at some points the entire population of Rome to follow his beliefs. However, each of these men has different motivations to do so, as well as different characteristics and general worldviews.