The Power of the Speeches in Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare

In one of the most renowned plays of all time written by landmark play write William Shakespeare the two ground breaking speeches of Julius Caesar serve as a critical element to the ending. Both of these speeches given by Brutus and Mark Antony up hold perhaps the most controversial part of the play and have stayed controversial over centuries; Was Julius Caesars killing justified? The speeches though wildly different have great significance in the plays ending due to the audiences differing reactions to both of them. The audiences varying emotions dictate the rest of the play and how it concludes. The first paragraph will examine Brutus's speech and the effect on the crowd, the second paragraph will be examining Antony's speech and the effect on the audience and the third will be comparing and contrasting these speeches and how they lead the tragic conclusion of this play.

To begin, Brutus takes the stand at the funeral, Brutus is trying to convince the crowds that the conspirators' were only doing what's best for Rome. Brutus believes that the logic behind his reason for killing Caesar will convince the crowd that the death of, as Brutus would say, "the ambitious" Caesar was necessary for the wellbeing of Rome. What Brutus doesn't understand are these citizens are deeply hurt that their beloved Caesar is dead but Brutus puts these emotions aside and he uses pure logic. Since Brutus is a stoic, he doesn't show emotions and he believes that pure logic will sway the crowd in the favor of the conspirators', plus these people look up to Brutus as a creditable learned, and honorable man. Brutus's logic seems to be working in his favor when by the time the speech is over the citizens are saying "Live, Brutus...

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...efined the tragic conclusion they ended just like the speeches Antony was the winner using his emotions, his rage, his anger, his sorrow, and Brutus died because he only used his logic and his stubbornness, but just like when Brutus was speaking he was still an honorable man when he died just like when he lived he was indeed an " honorable man." (Act 2, Scene 2, Line 81-82). The first paragraph examined Brutus's speech and the effect on the crowd, the second paragraph examined Antony's speech and the effect on the audience and the third compared and contrasted these speeches and this paragraph explained how these brilliant speeches lead the tragic conclusion of this play.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. "The Death and Life of Julius Caesar." www.shakespeare.mit.edu. N.P., n.d. Web. 22 Feb 2016. ;.