Antony's Speech

Throughout your life you will almost always use persuasion to make someone think or do something differently. People use all different kinds of techniques to try and persuade your train of thoughts into something they want. In the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, you see a few different uses of these techniques in play at many different times.

Particularly in Antony’s speech to the Romans. During Antony’s, he uses emotional appeal twice, loaded words and logical appeal to persuade his audience into his beliefs about the conspirators. The first technique Antony uses in his speech is treating the people as equal. He does this when speaking to them in iambic-pentameter and assuming they all understand what he is saying. In line 75 Antony says ” Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;” Hear he uses ten syllables, which is iambic-pentameter.

Since he is using this, he is talking to the people like they are more then commoners. This was contrasted with Brutus. In his approach, he spoke to them as if they were stupid. So as you can see, Antony used a more affective method of persuasion then Brutus. Second, Antony uses loaded words to sway the people into his ideologies of thinking that Caesar was good. The words that he uses in persuading the people to take his side are found in lines 84 and 85.

Antony says “(For Brutus is an honorable man, So are they all, all honorable men),” He also says in lines 95 and 96, ” Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And yet Brutus is an honorable man.” He repeats these lines often throughout his speech. Antony uses words like honorable and ambitious. This can be seen as a momentum that pushes his argument. So as you can see, by the use of loaded words, Antony catches the attention of the of his audience and persuades them in a great manor. Next, Antony uses physical evidence as another emotional appeal to encourage the people to turn on the conspirators.

He does this in wanting the people of Rome to see Caesars body. In line 160 it says ” Then make a ring about the corpse of Caesar.” This action would be the driving force in manipulating the peoples minds based on their very own emotions. Seeing is believing. In using emotional appeal he turned the people against Brutus and his crew. Fourth, he uses a logical appeal to send the people of Rome over the top.

This was the final driving force after using all of the emotional appeals to drag them in the will pushed them over the edge to kill the conspirators. On lines 243 and 244 part of the will is read and states “To every Roman citizen he gives, To every several man, seventy-five drachmas.” This clearly shows to them Caesar was a good man and really did want the best for his people, therefore they had the right to want to go kill Brutus, Cassius and others. To conclude, through Antony’s use of certain techniques, it convinced the people of Rome to believe that the conspirators were evil and to rid them. Antony starts the speech off by speaking to the people as equal which catches their attention. Then he uses to sway the people into his beliefs.

Next he uses the physical evidence of Caesars body to make the people feel as if they were Caesar. To end the speech he shows the Romans Caesars will to send them over the top. Antony uses a lot of different techniques to bring to people into his beliefs but uses a lot of emotional appeal in his speech. I think that without this his speech would not have been as successful as it was. Like Antony, we will always use the art of persuasion, considering we are human beings.

So remember, the next time your trying to persuade someone else’ thinking into what you believe you might want to take into account the techniques Antony used because it could make a whole world of a difference.