Speech and the future

[ExtremelyExtremeExtremist]

In act 3 scene 2, after Caesar was assassinated, Brutus gave a speech to citizens the conspirators killed Caesar for Rome. After that, Antony gave a speech based on his idea and showed Caesar¡¯s dead body to citizens. Then the citizens were shocked and rebelled against the conspirators.

Here¡¯s my question: Do you think the future would¡¯ve changed if Antony gave his speech first before Brutus will speak?

I think that citizens still would rebel against the conspirators because their loss of leader will give them a strong shock. If Brutus came next and justifies the assassination, that would¡¯ve cause more anger toward them because based on citizens¡¯ view, Brutus¡¯s speech looks like an excuse.

For example, the leader of a poor country who improved your nation drastically (but strictly controlled citizens to work harder) was assassinated by political bodies of other party. News announces the death of the leader, which angers the citizens. Meanwhile, the other party justified their action for the freedom of citizens. Would you still say that the assassination was right (choose between economy and freedom)?

[woori]

I agree with you. Because I thought Antony is good at act, so he knows how to tell to people better than Brutus. But it's just my guessing. XP

[misatonakano]

I agree.I think Brutus's speech like an excuse and Antony's sppch has more persuasion than Brutus.

[james]

I wouldnt say that the assacination was a right thing to do. I kind of liked caesar as a leader, although he was very arrogant and cocky..i really think of him as a smart guy and a careful guy, because you know the part where caesar thinks cassius was the dangerous one and it turned out to be he really was a bad guy. Anyways.. Im just saying that Brutus shouldve talked to caesar as a best friend and its just a lame excuse that he killed caesar for the good of rome.

[bilal15]

brutus is seriously has mental problems who does that, he got easily tricked and he decides to kill ceasar over rome i mean man talk to him first and then decide what is wrong and what is right!!!!!!!!

[lukejoo1092]

I disagree. I think that if Antony went first and Brutus went next, the people would've believed in Brutus and accused Antony. Remember, Roman citizens are fickle people who are so easily persuaded. It wouldn't take much to change their minds in no matter what. And Brutus is a smart guy so he would've known the right words to say in order to make Antony look like a criminal.

[linnie]

I think we already talked about it in the class... Is it because you were in my group? I feel like we talked about it before...Anyway I and Stephen both thought that it was actually nice idea to talk about different possibilities like domino effect. I am pretty sure people know domino effect by now. It is when something changes or doesn't work out, the future is changing as well because of one single thing. It is similar to butterfly effect.

Anyway, I think future might have changed. For example, if Mark Antony gave speech before than Brutus, I think people would have supported Brutus at last. We learned that public was very fickle, like us. So, I think if Brutus gave his speech at last, people would be easily swayed and forgotten all the speech given by Mark Antony like how they forgot Brutus's speech. But this is kind of contradictory if you are a fate believer. Because you can't change the future. But this question is kind of leading us to answer it by changing the future, which is impossible for some of us. I think they would answer that since future can't be changed, people would have still supported Mark Antony rather than Brutus.

[|Ruchira|]

Hi

[JustinK.]

wait... if antony gave his speech before brutus, then brutus and the other conspirators would've killed antony afterwards and convince the commoners easily later. It's the same idea, the commoners got easily persuaded by antony after brutus's speech, so persuasion is not a problem.

[brandonina]

I think if Antony gave the speech first and Brutus next, the citizens would've changed their minds to whatever Brutus say. But I believe the flow of the story would be very bizarre since Brutus would've killed Antony after realizing that Antony has already betrayed him, which I agree with Justin to this point. If you imagine it, it's quite funny how story would end up. It makes Antony really stupid.

[sergeyfen]

I dont think anything would have changed citizens opinions. Strongest point that Antony has made is talking and reading about the letter. Letter completely settled citizens minds on choosing the sides. Brutus shouldnt have killed Caesar, no matter how arrogant he was Caesar had qualities of leader, commander,etc.

[jisu25]

I think that the future might have changed into onw that Brutus would come to power and that Rome would last for a longer time. Or maybe it would have turned into a ealier civil war and it might have still destroyed Rome.

[james]

I definitely think that Antony giving a speech first would've totally changed the future differently. Because, you know how commoners are just sooooooooooo easily persuaded. Even though the most noble man of Rome, Brutus, gave a speech, they were convinced right away after Antony gave a speech. So.. in this case, I really think the order matters and think that the future would've changed entirely because of that.

[elisalee]

Although citizens were very easily persuaded, I still think that nothing is going to change, because conspirators did something wrong. Citizens were persuaded by Antony, because they thought that he was right. Therefore, the story would not change very much.

[esther]

If Antony gave his speech first, then I think the citizens would listen to Brutus and follow what Brutus said. Because the citizens change their minds so easily, I think they would be persuaded if Brutus says that he killed Caesar for Rome.