In Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, Brutus has a part in the assassination of Julius Caesar which has given him more power to be a Senator of Rome. In Brutus’ speech, he convinces citizens that he had every reason to kill Caesar because he was too ambitious and had plans to turn the citizens into slaves for Rome. Marc Antony, another senator of Rome, responds to Brutus’ speech at Caesar’s funeral. Antony had no part in the assassination and he was Caesar’s friend. He tries convincing the audience that Caesar was not ambitious in a bad way and he did not have any negative plans for Rome.
Bold. Loyal. Heroic. Because, Julius Caesar had evil intentions for his country of Rome, Brutus kills his best friend for the sake of his country. Even at Julius Caesar’s funeral, he shows respect to him, but shows the citizens his actions were for their own safety.
Tone can be defined as the attitude that a speaker or writer conveys toward his or her subject. The tones of Brutus and Antony’s funeral speeches in the play Julius Caesar are strikingly different. Both Brutus and Antony speak to the Roman people at the funeral of Julius Caesar. Brutus quickly convinces the people to see the death of Caesar in a positive light; therefore, claiming it was to protect Rome from the ambition of Caesar. Antony being very loyal to Caesar is hurt by the assassination and vows to avenge Caesar.
Brutus may have thought that killing a potentially tyrannical dictator could have been a good thing for Rome. However, in this thinking process, Brutus should have come to the conclusion that killing a king would lead to an all-out war, which it did. Soon after Caesar’s assassination, a friend of Caesar, Antony, and a relative of Caesar, Octavius, joined forces to wage war against Brutus and Cassius. Octavius was furious at the death of his kin. He said the following during the
The underlying premise of the play is that one’s own ambition can end up destroying him/her and creating unintended chaos. The play begins with Julius Caesar returning from a victory over Pompey to a cheering crowd of Romans. He is an ambitious leader who wants Rome to prosper and looks out for his countrymen over himself, though he has his own, darker, flaws. This selflessness is explicitly demonstrated by him saying “What touches us shall be last served” (III.I.9) when he is told to deal with a letter because it most directly related to him. His goal is to further Rome and gain the approval of his people, which he does very well.
An exceptional public speaker uses linguistic devices to enhance their speeches. William Shakespeare made sure to include that in his play, Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar is a play about a man that is killed by the people he trusted. Brutus, one of the conspirators, gives a speech to justify his actions, and Antony, Caesar’s close friend gives a speech to get revenge. The speeches that they gave determined who Rome supported, which lead to the death of one of them.