Mark Antony's Persuasion

When I, look at these two speeches there really is no contest. Mark Antony really just takes the cake with his beautiful speech. To be fair Mark Antony had a huge advantage over Brutus in the fact that he got to speak last, so his words were the last the crowds got to hear, but that is not suppose to discredit Mark Antony. He still delivered an Amazing speech and what was overall just better than Brutus’s. This was just a big mistake on Brutus’s part he never should have let Mark Antony speak after his best friend was just killed. There was just simply too much motivation for him compared to a vulnerable Brutus. The first way we are going to look at Mark Antony's speech is through pathos which is an appeal to emotions. This was one of the biggest home-hitters for this speech and most likely why he won the crowd. “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept”. In that line alone he has already beaten Brutus. Mark Antony is sad and is pouring his heart out, but at the same time is winning the crowd over with sad imagery. This quote shows that Caesar cared he might not have been the best leader but he cared for his people and that is what a sad Mark Antony is trying to get across here. The next
thing Mark Antony uses is Ethos. Ethos is an appeal to ethics and morals. “But yesterday the word of Caesar might have stood against the world. Now he lies there, And none so poor to do him reverence”. This line hurt Mark Antony you can clearly just imagine how much pain he is going through and no one even cares about Caesar. It is a tragic thing he is the only one who is mourning the death of his best friend. The final thing Mark Antony uses is Logos which is an appeal to the audiences reasoning and logic.
Mark Antony at this point had already persuaded them emotionally, but he needed them to actually think about it as well so it would not be just purely emotions that won the crowd over. “For Brutus as you know, was caesar's angel. Judge, O you gods how dearly Caesar loved him! This was the most unkindest cut of all, For when the noble Caesar saw him stab, Ingratitude, more strong than traitors arms, Quite vanquished him”. This is it, this is what brings this whole thing to a shocking close. He makes the crowd think. Why would caesar's right hand man just stab him like that. They were brothers and for him to just stab him for the “good of Rome” the crowd was not buying
it. It didn't matter that Brutus had the whole thing planned out because in the end it did not matter. Mark Antony's real emotions and love for Caesar beat Brutus’s evil scheme. It is quite tragic caesar gets betrayed by his best friend and Brutus’s reasoning for it was just way off. How can you love Rome and kill your best friend, when he loves Rome to. This was not the end of the speech and Mark Antony's final point, but this was the turning point. He ended it off with telling the crowd caesar's will which was that he was giving Rome to the people which made them so angry they wanted Brutus’s head on a spike.