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Power Of Words In Julius Caesar

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Robin Sharma once said, “Words can inspire. And words can destroy. Choose yours well.” The power and strength of words is easily underestimated, but can be seen in William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” through the characters, Brutus and Mark Antony. These men use their speech to persuade the audience to follow their personal beliefs. Both individuals use different tactics to appeal to the readers such as through emotion or logic. The power and effectiveness of words is displayed in George W. Bush’s, “A Great People Has Been Moved to Defend a Great Nation". His puissant speech, similar to the speeches of Mark Antony and Brutus, is used to coerce the audience. These speeches, given prior to a tragedy, are used to motivate their vulnerable audience …show more content…

At Julius Caesar’s funeral, Antony questions the credibility of the conspirators and along with that, he expresses his love and admiration for Caesar. He then goes on to say,” he was my friend, faithful and just to me, but Brutus says he was ambitious, And Brutus is an honorable man”(Act 3, Sc.1, Ln.13-15). In this statement it is prevalent that from the beginning Antony’s motivation is to persuade the crowd to bring justice to Caesar’s murder and preserve the greatness of Rome. Then, Antony questions the judgement of the commoners as they had loved and respected Caesar and when his death came, they turned their backs on him. “What cause withholds you, then, to mourn for him?- O judgement, thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason!--Bear with me; my heart is in the coffin there with Caesar.”(Act 3, Sc.1, Ln. 27-29). As a result of Antony’s speech, the crowd attending that initially sided with Brutus changed their point of view after realizing the admiration they had for Caesar. This inevitably leads to a rebellion that Antony thinks will turn into a Civil

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