Give an analysis of the funeral orations in Act III of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare.

Act III, Scene ii, in Julius Caesar
by William Shakespeare includes the funeral speeches by Brutus and Antony.  There have
been conditions established in which Antony has to follow during his speech honoring
Caesar. 

These are the
provisions:

• Brutus will speak
  first.


• Antony will speak in the same place as
  Brutus.


• Antony will not blame the conspirators but only
  say the good about Caesar. 


• Tell the people that he is
  doing it with the permission of the
  conspirators.

Brutus begins his
oration. 

Since Brutus is a stoic, his primary appeal is
logos explaining why Caesar had to die; furthermore, he depends on his ethics or
character to win over the audience. He does use some pathos to indicate that he loved
Caesar as a friend; however, his logic exceeds his emotional
appeal.

This is his
contention:

Brutus loved Rome more than he
loved Caesar.

His supporting
points

If Caesar lived, the Roman people would
have become slaves.

Choose: Caesar alive and Romans slaves
or Caesar dead and Romans free.

• Caesar’s
  love-Brutus weeps


• Caesar’s bravery-Brutus honors
  him.


• Caesar’s good luck-Brutus applauds
  him.


• Caesar’s ambition-Brutus killed
  him.

One of the rhetorical devices
that Brutus uses is repetition.  He says the same thing but either reverses the order or
uses slightly different words.

Have I offended
any person? Freeman/Roman

Caesar was killed for his
offenses.  Brutus would expect the same punishment.  

If
the Romans require death from Brutus, he will use the same dagger that he used to kill
Caesar.

Antony will follow the provisos of the
conspirators.  

Rhetorical devices used by
Antony

Repetition, humility,
grief, shock, sarcasm, pathos, ethos,
logos

Antony calls to the crowd as though he is
their equal:  Friends, Romans, Country men

Throughout his
speech, Antony will use the words of Brutus to reinforce his points: ambition,
ambitious, noble, honorable, honor. He initially uses them just as he
promised Brutus that he would.  As the speech progresses, his tone becomes more and more
sarcastic toward the assassins.

Antony states his purpose:
He is there to bury Caesar.  He is not
going to bring up all of the good things that Caesar did. Of course, he then
proceeds to list the good things that Caesar had done for
Rome.

• Brought captives which made ransoms and
  money for Rome


• Caesar cried for the
  poor.


• Caesar refused the crown three
  times.

He asks the audience two
questions:

• Does this sound like Caesar was
  ambitious?


• Why do the Romans not mourn Caesar that they
  loved only yesterday?

Antony appears overcome
with grief and pauses.  This is a ploy to allow the mob time to think about
what Antony has said so far.

He describes his
purported feelings about the
assassins. 

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Good friends, let me not stir you
up

To such a sudden flood of
mutiny

They that have done this deed are
honorable.

Antony
brings out Caesar’s will to tease the crowd.  Then he puts it away for the
present.

He describes the conspirators
taking souvenirs from the body of Caesar: they took his blood and hair for
memorabilia and to leave their children.

Antony
uses the body of Caesar to point out the thirty five stab wounds that were
made. He lists all of the conspirators and ascribes a wound to each
one.

Finally, the crowd makes Antony read the
will which provides money and recreational areas for the Roman
Citizens. 

The Crowd is now hysterical. Now a mob---they
leave to cremate Caesar and to kill the conspirators.