Mark Antony's Speech from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
Mark Antony’s funeral oration over the body of Julius Caesar in act
three, scene
two is the most important speech in the play and effects the
development of the play
as a whole in many ways. Firstly this speech falls in the play where
we have seen
Antony’s distraught reaction to the murder of Caesar and his letter
vowing allegiance
to Brutus in return for being able to live. Act three, scene one
prepares us for
Antony’s rhetoric as here he states that ‘Brutus is noble, wise,
valiant and honest’
which fits in with him repeatedly stating ‘Brutus is an honourable
man’. It becomes
evident in this scene that Antony has an ulterior motive for forming
this allegiance
and asking to do the funeral oration when he is ‘swayed from the point
by looking
down on Caesar’ and then states that ‘friends am I with you all, and
love you all’ but
still wants to know ‘why and wherein Caesar was dangerous’. Thus we
the audience
are aware that Antony is not being honest with the conspirators
especially when he
speaks in a soliloquy of the anarchy he will create when he states
‘blood and
destruction shall be so in use…that mothers shall but smile when they
behold/ Their
infants quartered with the hands of war’. This shows the extent of the
anarchy he will
unleash on Rome.
Furthermore Antony’s funeral oration is important as it follows
Brutus’s speech in
the play, where he has turned public opinion around to favour him, as
he has been
able to persuade and convince the crowds, through his rhetoric and
oratory that Caesar
...
... middle of paper ...
... pardon me, I do not mean to read,
And they would go and kiss dead Caesar`s wounds,
And dip their napkins in his sacred blood,
Yes, beg a hair of him for memory,
And, dying, mention it within their wills,
Bequesthing it as a rich legacy
Unto their issue.
Fourth Cit. We`ll hear the will: read it, Mark Antony.
Citizens. The will, the will! we will hear Caesar`s will.
Bibliography
============
Primary Resources
Stephen Green Blatt, Walter Cohen, Jean .E. Howard, Katharine Eisaman
Maus, The Norton Shakespeare, Based on the Oxford Edition, United
States of America.
Secondary Resources
===================
www.sparknotes.com
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[1] www.sparknotes.com
[2] www.sparknotes.com
[3] www.sparknotes.com
Every person has their own individual beliefs and values that they live by. There is a line that one believes they will never cross. However, people can also be easily persuaded to abandon these values if the reasoning is fair enough. This is human nature. To manipulate someone is to use or change them for a specific purpose. In Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, he illustrates how easily people can change their minds through manipulation. He conveys how people can be manipulated, how they manipulate themselves, and how they manipulate others.
In act III, scene ii, Antony proves to himself and the conspiracy, that he has the power to turn Rome against Brutus. He deceived the conspirators with his speech during Caesar’s funeral. In this speech, Antony pulls at the heartstrings of the countryman by showing emotions and turning them against their beloved leader, Brutus. The scene takes place the day of Caesar's death. Leading up to this point the people loved Brutus because, reasonably he explains of them about Caesar's death and told them it was necessary. In Antony's speech he showed signs of hatred towards Brutus and the conspirators. He thinks for himself and deceives the people, when he explains how Brutus lied to the people . The plot depends on Antony’s speech.
middle of his orchard on the morning of the ides of march the day that
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