Chaos And Disorder In The Tragedy Of Julius Caesar

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In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar is murdered by a group of conspirators under Brutus’ direction wishing to rid Rome of Caesar’s power. At his funeral, Brutus provides Mark Antony, an ally to Caesar, a chance to speak under certain terms: he cannot arouse chaos in the crowd by putting fault on Brutus and the conspirators for the murder of Julius Caesar, and he may only speak well of Caesar. Antony’s speech, however, does stir chaos and disorder in the fluctuating crowd, what he originally intended to do, and they do turn against Brutus. Antony uses appealing language, influential gestures, and significant props to sway the defensive crowd to uprising and rebellion. Antony’s tribute to Caesar immediately …show more content…

He pauses while speaking of Rome’s love for Caesar to give himself time to reflect on his own feelings of sorrow and loss for Caesar: “Bear with me;/ My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,/ And I must pause till it come back to me” (913). So overcome with grief, Antony cries during this moment, showing his immense distress to the crowd: “Poor soul, his eyes are red as fire with weeping” (914). Antony and Caesar become sympathetic figures to the crowd, which begins to fin reason in Antony’s sayings. They begin to mock the conspirators, calling them traitors, villains, and murderers. Antony tells them to form a ring around Caesar’s body to read his will: “Shall I descend? And will you give me leave?” (916). Antony descends from the pulpit into the crowd, showing the bond the crowd has formed with Antony. Influenced by Antony’s continuing speech, the crowds respect for Antony soars and opinions on Caesar’s death begin to change: “Methinks there is much reason in his sayings./ If thou consider rightly of the matter,/ Caesar has had great wrong” (913). The crowd considers Antony the noblest man in Rome and while he descends down to their “level”, their respect for him ascends. By Antony’s actions and gestures, the crowd has grown more respect for him with a growing hatred for the

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