Brutus vs Antony

By Braden Peirce

Upon the death of Julius Caesar in the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, two
of Caesars good friends, Brutus and Antony, spoke at his funeral, both trying to sway the
citizens of Rome to support either the murderers of Caesar, in Brutuss case, or to destroy the
assassins, as in Antonys case. Both men used many rhetorical appeals, but Antony was more
effective in the long run, persuading the citizens to riot against the conspirators. A few ways
Antony accomplished this goal was by praising Caesar, but then telling the crowd what Brutus
thought about it, and talking about what Caesar has accomplished and what he wouldve
accomplished if he wasnt killed.
During his speech, Antony used some of the acts of Caesar to praise him, but he then
shut it down with the phrase Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable
man (Shakespeare, 86-87). By using this phrase, he directs the blame to Brutus using ethos.
An example of how he does this was about the feast of Lupercal, You all did see that on the
Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And, sure, he is an honourable man (Shakespeare, 95-99).
In this example, Antony retells the story of how Caesar didnt take the crown, a sign of humility,
not ambition, but then recalls the words of Brutus accusing Caesar of being ambitious.
At another point, Antony points out how Caesar has done plenty for the people, and has
planned to do more, only to be stopped by Brutus and crew. Near the end, Antony reads
Caesars will, which read: To every Roman citizen he gives, To every several man, seventy-five
drachmas. (Shakespeare, 242-243) Later, Antony reveals that Caesar has also left His private
arbours and new-planted orchards, on this side Tiber; he hath left them you. (Shakespeare,
249-250) Antony told the crowd that since Caesar left them a fortune, Caesar must be a
generous man, not ambitious, like Brutus claimed. This was very effective use of logos.
One weakness of Antonys speech was that he relied too much on an easily persuaded
audience that only needs promises of riches and they now prepare to destroy Brutus. For
example, Antony repeatedly uses the same evidence, but just reworded, and the crowd buys
into it anyway regardless of the repetitiveness. Antony makes up for this by using several
different points, and each repetition is reused with new points of evidence.
Brutus convinced the crowd that what he did was the honourable thing, and won the
crowd over easily. But as soon as he left Antony alone with the citizens, Antony used Brutuss
own words about Caesar being ambitious, and in turn turned the tide on top of Brutus and
convinced them to kill Brutus and crew. Antony also used ethos and logos effectively to
convince them that Caesar was in the light after all, and that Caesars assassins were in the
wrong.