Over time, people seen as powerful men have been given authority based on the words and actions they offer to their followers. In William Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar,” the character Caesar is a powerful leader of Rome. His growing power and dramatic increase in authority strike fear into his government's senators, causing them to plot his removal. His old friend Brutus is manipulated to believe that Caesar's sudden rise to power is of crucial importance to Rome, leading Brutus to betray him followed by his death. Soon after Caesar's death, senators Mark Antony and Brutus spoke about Caesar's dramatic death using persuasive speeches to gain public trust and confidence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Although Brutus and Antony both performed effective persuasive speeches, Antony's use of repetition, rhetorical questions, and loaded words made his speech more powerful. Both Brutus and Antony used repetition in their speeches to move their audiences. Both Brutus and Antony refer to Brutus as an honorable man. In his speech, Antony calls Brutus an honorable man after reminding the audience of what he did to Caesar. An example of this would be when Antony says, “He was my friend, faithful and just to me, but Brutus says he was ambitious” (Julius Caesar. 3.2.10). By saying this, Antony's main goal is to point out that if Brutus was so honorable, why would he do something so dishonorable. Brutus, however, calls himself a man of honor to demonstrate his love for Rome. Brutus, says: "If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar, to him I say that Brutus's love for Caesar was not less than his own" (Julius Caesar.3.2.7-9). Brutus says this to gain empathy from the audience and acknowledge his love for Rome. Above all, Antonio used repetition in a more surprising and meaningful way. The speeches of Brutus and Antony both reflected many differences, but some of the main ones were the use of sarcasm and believability. To establish credibility for himself, Brutus tells the audience to listen to him about his intentions to kill the great Julius Caesar. Brutus, says: “Believe me for my honor, and have respect for my honor that you may believe; censure me in your wisdom and awaken your understanding, that you may judge better” (Julius Caesar.3.2.3-6). Brutus tries to connect with the audience by establishing himself as a man of honor. While Brutus used credibility to stalk the audience, Antony used sarcasm to wake them up. Throughout the speech Brutus refers to Caesar as an ambitious man, claiming that his pride was greater than his love for Rome. Antony counters Brutus' statement by mentioning times when Caesar denied the crown three times, something an ambitious man would never do. Antony says: “You all saw that on the luperical I presented him three times with a royal crown, which he refused three times; Was this the ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious” (Julius Caesar.3.2.23-26). This statement brings an awareness that shifts the audience's attention to Antonio. In short, Antony's use of sarcasm was more helpful in proving his point than Brutus was in establishing credibility. Brutus and Antony both gave impressive messages that appealed to the people of Rome. Two main reasons why Antony gave the best speech ever was because, although he and Brutus were on opposite sides of this feud, it respected his perspective and appealed to the values and opinions of the audience. A way he respects.
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