Right before the play starts, Julius Caesar has just returned to Rome after a victory over
Spain. The whole first part of the play is mostly about how Caesar could accept the crown and become king, which would ruin everything Rome has become. So, in order to stop that from potentially happening, Cassius convinces Caesar's very good friend, Brutus, to helphim and a bunch of other men kill Caesar. Then, Brutus makes this big speech after just murdering Caesar about how the murder was justified and his reasons for it. Carrying out Caesar’s lifeless body is
Mark Antony, who also gives a speech, contradicting Brutus's speech about the justification. In
Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony delivers a stronger and more persuasive funeral oration
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who is here so rude that would not be Roman... who is here so vile that will not love his country...”, in order to justify his actions and not get into trouble with the people of Rome. He says this in order to play at the people’s love and honor for the country, making them feel bad if they don’t agree with his justifications because then they wouldn’t be “Roman”. This could be persuasive, but I don’t think it’s a very strong ethical reason. Mark Antony’s speech, on the other hand, isn’t about justifying his reason for not agreeing with Brutus, but about what’s right. Antony says “when the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept...did this in Caesar seem ambitious... I thrice presented him a kingly crown, which he did thrice refuse; was this ambition... I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong, who, you all know are honorable men: I will not do them wrong; I rather choose to wrong myself and you, than I will wrong such honorable men...”. His speech is to show that Caesar was indeed not going to take the crown, yet Brutus and Cassius kept insisting that he would, which was their whole justification on the murder, and they are honorable. His use of ethos was very