Brutus is a man of thoughts and words rather than action. This is why is spent such a long, restless night thinking about the conspirators' request before joining their cause. He considers every angle before moving forward.
This is what he means in the above quote, as well. "good words" are words spoken in an attempt to find some common ground, some understanding, and perhaps even reconciliation since all of these men have been friends and defenders of Rome for many years. "Bad strokes" refers to taking up arms and swords against one another when the words fail to suffice, or when one party refuses to talk at all. They do meet and insult one another before the final battle which finds the consipirators all dead in the end. Perhaps the "bad strokes" could also mean the insults that they threw at Brutus before they began to fight one another...Brutus...
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still believes in what he has done, although he resolve is a bit shaken with the appearance of Caesar's ghost and the the ghost's prophecy of Phillippi.
So, an argument can be made for both reconciliation and for honest words instead of insults--that is the beauty of literature...as long as you can point to evidence in the text for what you think it means, it can't be completely wrong. However, there is always a "better" or "more likely" answer among the possibles.
Good Luck!
What does Brutus mean by "good words/bad strokes"? What does Antony imply with "In your bad strokes, Brutus you give good words"?
Here are the full lines.
Brutus says:
Good words are better than bad strokes, Octavius.
Antony says:
In your bad strokes, Brutus, you give good words. Witness the hole you made in Caesar’s heart, Crying “Long live, hail, Caesar!”
Cassius replies:
Antony, The posture of your blows are yet unknown. But for your words, they rob the Hybla bees And leave them honeyless.
This is one of the great debates on rhetoric: what has more power, words or sword blows? Should a political leader engage in debate or let action speak intent? As a side note, the U.S. is facing this dilemma in the Iran situation. The Republicans want action (sword blows), while the Democrats want debate (good words). Brutus says that good words win out, even though he has used sword blows previously. Antony calls Brutus and Cassius "flatterers"; he says that Brutus's "good words" have been received as good by the listener(s) of Rome, but they have caused as much pain as sword blows (the assassination of Caesar), since Brutus lied when he told Caesar he hailed him as king. Obviously, Brutus was instrumental in the murder and seems a hypocrite to Antony. Cassius says Antony's words are like a bee's drone. He believes he is all talk.
This debate presents a triangle of argument, even though Antony is against Brutus and Cassius in the action of the play. Brutus is skillful at words and blows. Antony is skillful at words only. Cassius is skillful at blows only. Brutus, therefore, is the most politically adept and the most hypocritical.