Comparing Speeches in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

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Comparing Speeches in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar In my essay I am going to compare two very important speeches in

Shakespeare's famous play 'Julius Caesar'. They are two argumentative

speeches from two parties. Antony, who is one of Caesars most beloved

and trusted friends, and Brutus and his group of Conspirators, who

assassinated Julius Caesar to claim the throne.

Both of the speeches are spoken in public at the same time and place,

giving each of their different views. They both address the public

with respect; this shows they are desperate for the public to take

their side. Brutus addresses them 'Romans, countrymen and lovers! Hear

me for my cause' this shows great respect as Brutus is by all means, a

very respectable Roman figure. This would make the audience

immediately stop and listen, as they are all curious. This shows that

Brutus has already gained the upper hand in this debate.

Brutus has a number of arguments that he wants to put across; firstly

Brutus wanted to make it clear that his love for Caesar was no less

than Antony's, 'that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his'.

Brutus is telling the public that although he murdered Caesar, he

loved him practically as much as his own family. I feel that he is

only saying this to boost his next argument, which was his loyalty to

Rome. 'Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more', this

was a simple sentence that made him come across as doing the right

thing in killing Caesar, not doing it for himself, but for Rome. The

public may start feeling slightly different after hearing Brutus's

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