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Julius Caesar
Devastation rose upon the citizens of Rome as word spread about the death of their leader, Julius Caesar. Julius was stabbed and assassinated by many senators that believed the rights of their people were being restricted. Brutus was a good friend of Julius that played a part in his murder and is now at his funeral, speaking to the citizens hoping to make peace and to regain their trust. Mark Antony is a close friend of Caesar who took no part in the assassination. Antony is giving a verbally ironic speech in order to convince the citizens that Brutus, is not an “honourable man”, he should not be their leader, and he should be punished for what he has done. Antony’s speech won the audience over because his furtive method of degrading
The book Julius Caesar is full of happiness, conspiracy, power, and betrayal. The people of Rome deeply loved julius Caesar and wished to make him their king. A group of senators however were not so fond of this idea and formed a conspiracy. The leader of this group was a man by the name of Cassius. In order to make sure that his scheme of killing Caesar would work and would look honorable he had to convince a senator by the name of Brutus to help. After being convinced that they had to kill Caesar to protect Rome from a tyrant Brutus joined the conspiracy and soon became the principal conspirator.On the day in which Caesar was to be crowned king he was on the way to the senate when he was stabbed by all the conspirators panic ensued and to convince Rome of their honorable intentions Brutus gave a funeral speech. Mark Antony, a very close friend of Caesar, gave his speech after Brutus had given his. Mark Antony’s speech is more persuasive to the Roman people because of his outstanding use of pathos, sarcasm, and logos.
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.
Character Analysis Antony- What Cassius says about Antony: "You know not what…that which he will utter?" Pg. 582 lines 233-236. This shows that the conspirators are afraid of what Antony will say in his oration to the mob. Cassius is trying to make Brutus see what Antony is really up to, but Brutus is too caught up in honor to notice. What Antony does: He speaks to the crowd making them feel sorry for him, ashamed of themselves, and hate the conspirators. He causes them to go into an angry rage in scene 3. What Antony feels: "O pardon me thou…gentle with these butchers." Pg. 582 lines 254-236. Antony has made a deal with the conspirators that have killed his best friend. This quote is after the conspirators have left, and he is talking to the corpse of Caesar. He spills his true intentions and gives word of his counter conspiracy. He feels that even though the men are honorable, that they have butchered a man that could have been reasoned with and brought out of what it was he did wrong. What Antony says: "Let each man render me his bloody hand…My credit now stands on such slippery ground that one of two bad ways you must conceit me…." Pg. 580 lines 184-194 He leads the conspirators on to trust him, when in fact, he wants to be able to speak to the mob. He uses a vicious pun so that he knows what he is talking about, but the conspirators think that he is simply talking about the blood on the ground being slippery. Caesar- What Caesar says: "Et tù Brute? Then fall Caesar!" Pg. 577 line 77 Caesar is shocked that Brutus, his most loyal friend would do this. His mask comes off at this point and shows his personal face. Throughout the play, he has put himself as an arrogant official, and only when he is around his friends does he show his true identity. This is so important because marks the point when Caesar’s spirit enters Antony’s revenge. The play comes to its climax in this line. What Caesar does: Caesar refuses to let Publius Cimber back into Rome. He, in a way, kills himself by the way he responds. He puts himself up as a god-like man and almost says he is in control of his own destiny. This gives the conspirators final reason to kill him, and they do.
Greed, ambition, and the possibility of self-gain are always constant in their efforts to influence people’s actions. In Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus, a venerable politician, becomes a victim of the perpetual conflict between power-hungry politicians and ignorant commoners. He is a man of honor and good intentions who sacrifices his own happiness for the benefit of others. Unfortunately, his honor is strung into a fine balance between oblivion and belief and it is ultimately the cause of his downfall. His apparent obliviousness leads him to his grave as his merciful sparing of Mark Antony’s life, much like Julius Caesar’s ghost, comes back to haunt him. Overall, Brutus is an honest, sincere man who holds the lives of others in high regard while he himself acts as a servant to Rome.
In this speech, the crowd's initial feelings consisted of mourning and solemnnity. Brutus' speech put a note of finality on the controversy of Caesar's murder, allowing his audience to let go and not pursue the conspirators against Julius Caesar. After Brutus' speech at Caesar's classic funeral, Marc Antony makes a vigorous speech. Where Brutus used no passion, Mark Antony exploited it at every possibility. The crowd's feelings are changed greatly because of Antony's moving speech. Antony employs diction and repetition tactfully to implore the audience to Brutus' dark agenda. Rhetorical questions are another powerful tool used by Brutus to strain the wrong that has occurred in Rome and its necessary correction, using their ethics.
In front of the people of Rome at Caesar’s funeral whilst giving his speech, Antony makes up Brutus to up to be this honorable and noble man, nonetheless Brutus is one of the conspirators who ended Caesar’s life. Caesar has been slain by, Trebonius, Cinna, Cassius, Brutus, Ligarius, Decius, Metellus and Casca. All because most had felt that he was too ambitious for their liking, Cassius has manipulated each one of them into committing the crime alongside him. Once Caesar is killed, Brutus delivers his speech, saying, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more”(lll.ii.20). Basically just trying to justify the reason he helped to kill one of the most loved Romans in all of Rome. Antony then comes out and begins his speech at Caesar’s
In William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, two speeches are given to the people of Rome about Caesar's death. In Act 3, Scene 2 of this play Brutus and Antony both try to sway the minds of the Romans toward their views. Brutus tried to make the people believe he killed Caesar for a noble cause. Antony tried to persuade the people that the conspirators committed an act of brutality toward Caesar and were traitors. The effectiveness and ineffectiveness of both Antony's and Brutus's speech to the people are conveyed through tone and rhetorical devices.
“Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare is the story of the assassination of Julius Caesar. Two speeches were made after his death, one being by Mark Antony. He uses many rhetorical devices in this speech to counter the previous speech and persuade the crowd that the conspirators who killed Caesar were wrong. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion and these many devices strengthen this by making points and highlighting flaws. Antony uses many rhetorical devices, all of which are used to persuade the crowd that the conspirators are wrong and Caesar did not need to be killed.
A notable trait of his is that he is rhetoric which gives him the benefit of becoming an extraordinary politician. Though the speech he gave, as mentioned before, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” (3.2.82), unleashes hidden traits of Antony, it also unleashes the hidden potential of him being an exemplar fit as Rome’s leader. This speech helps persuade the Conspirators to go against Brutus for the assassination of Caesar. This scene highlights how strong Antony’s rhetoric skill is. When Antony stands over Caesar’s body, he predicts that a civil war will break loose within Rome. After gaining a gargantuan amount of motivation from Caesar’s death, Antony says “Over thy wounds now do I prophesy (which like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips to beg the voices and utterances of my tongue) A curse shall light upon the limbs of men; Domestic fury and fierce civil strife. Shall cumber all the parts of Italy; blood and destruction shall be so in use and dreadful objects so familiar shall but smile when they behold their infants quarter with the hands of war, all pity choked with custom of fell deeds; and Caesar’s spirit ranging for revenge with Ate by his side come hot from hell, shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice Cry “Havoc!” and slip the dogs of war, that this foul deed shall smell above the earth with Carrion men, groaning for their burial” (3.1.285-301). With Antony’s hypothesis on civil war, it turns out go become a reality, in which results in Antony’s
Antony uses this opportunity to question Brutus’s honor. Antony says, “Show you Caesar’s wounds, poor poor dumb mouths, / And bid them speak for me” (III.ii.236-238). Brutus claims to be an honorable man, but the wounds of Caesar speak far louder than Brutus; the simple fact remains that murder is not honorable. Brutus is enveloped in this society of honor in death and detaches from the simple truths visible to the audience. This truth angers the crowd and sets them on a hunt to kill the conspirators.
Antony tells the people of Rome that they should not turn a blind eye to the actions of Brutus and his accomplices, he tells them that they should remember Caesar for the great leader and war hero that he was. In Antony’s speech he uses Repetition, Pathos, and Ethos to turn the crowd on Brutus and his accomplices without them even
Brutus tells the plebeians that he wants to allow Antony to host a little ceremony in Caesar’s name. After Brutus and the conspirators leave, Antony start turning the crowd to his side. Antony then starts to badmouth the conspirators. Antony preaches, “See what a rent the envious Casca made; / Through the well- beloved Brutus stabbed, / And as he plucked his cursed steel away, / Mark how the blood of Caesar followed it…” Antony preachers about how ‘beloved Brutus” back stabbed and killed his “dearly loved friend” Caesar. Antony also calls the conspirators traitors, “The dint of pity; these are gracious drops. / Kind souls, what weep you when you but behold / Our Caesar’s vesture wounded? Look here, / Here himself, marred as you see with traitors.” Antony is trying to convince the plebeians of the treachery that the conspirators committed. It seemed like the plebeians agreed because they cheered, “Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay! / Let not a traitor live!” The plebeians are now content on avenging Caesar to Antony’s plans. The conspirators leave Rome because of the new turn of events. A war is to break out leaving in it a trail of death for the conspirators, including Brutus, who Antony actually wanted to
In these passages, Antony speaks at Caesar’s funeral and professes he is not there to applaud Caesar’s life. However, Antony is clever; he preaches to the crowd the good that Caesar did, and the sympathy Caesar had for his people. Further, he admits that Brutus is a righteous and just man. And if Brutus says Caesar was ambitious, he is telling the truth. Antony then cries over Caesar’s coffin and claims his heart is in there with him. Then the plebeians begin to understand Antony’s speech and join him. This is where the sympathy for Brutus is broken. Antony moves the hearts of others that Caesar loved Rome and wanted only the best for Rome. Now, the townspeople have opened their eyes and see the good Caesar had and have joined Antony’s side to avenge Caesar. However, Brutus still does not know if his wrong and continues to fight for his cause. Lastly, the readers have seen Antony’s side and one can theorize that some have now joined Antony based on his speech and reverse
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 ... ...
A later example occurs during the funeral oration by Mark Antony. Brutus logically gives his reasons that necessitated Caesar’s death. He informs them that he acted out of love of Rome and his desire to prevent tyrants from controlling her. The citizens embrace his words with cheers and understanding. However, their mood alters when Antony offers his interpretation of the situation. He passionately described the deeds Caesar performed in behalf of the citizens of Rome, which clearly contradict the opinion of the conspirators that Caesar was too ambitious. Antony carefully uses irony in referring to Cassius and Brutus as honorable men; the strategy wins over the citizens and they listen with growing anger to his words. He leads the citizens to the body and begins to show the brutal results of the murder while simultaneously influencing them to believe that the conspirators are murderers and traitors. Ultimately, Antony reads Caesar’s will, which leaves his parks, private estates, and newly planted gardens to the citizens of Rome.