Assessing Mark Antony's Speech to the Crowd in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar The first half of the play has built up to the assassination of Caesar by the conspirators led by Brutus. At the beginning of the play, when the citizens of Rome love Caesar he is giving a speech to the Romans and everything seems fine but in the background in the out courts the plays audience witness Cassius’ attempts to begin to get Brutus on the side of the conspirators who want to assassinate Caesar. Whilst talking to Cassius, Brutus accidentally says aloud “If it aught toward the general good, Set honour in one eye and death I’ th’ other, will look good on both indifferently”. This is all the encouragement that Cassius needs and carries on flattering Brutus to make him a conspirator too. And so Brutus spends months despairing whether or not to join the conspirators, which leads up to his soliloquy in the middle of his orchard on the morning of the ides of march the day that a soothsayer has warned Caesar about. Brutus is in the orchard because he cannot sleep and takes the time out to think over his options with regards to the assassination of Caesar, his servant gives Brutus a letter of petition from the people of Rome saying that they want rid of Caesar, we hear his choice in his soliloquy, “It must be by his death” conceding that Caesar's death is for the good of Rome and that it is best that he join the conspirators also. The rest of the conspirators turn up at Brutus’ trying to get his decision, Brutus signifies his allegiance with the men with a handshake with all of them. Brutus then becomes the head leader of the conspirators where ... ... middle of paper ... ...rything appears to be going his way when he is told that Brutus and Cassius had been run out of Rome he says it is to do with how “I have moved the crowd”. The effect that Antony has had on the crowd is that a mob kills Cinna the poet just for having the same name as a conspirator. Antony seizes power at the first opportunity he gets, he tells Octavius that they should get rid of Lepidus and make the three way split they had planned a two way split this shows how very ambitious Antony is. At the end of the play Antony finds the body of Brutus on the battle field, he stands over it and claims that Brutus was “the noblest roman of them all” this shows his true respect for Brutus and admitting all along he knew Brutus did what was right for Rome in his heart and shows how devious and manipulative Antony was to the crowd.
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.
entering Brutus had said to himself that Caesar must die. Brutus is also a very smart
...d how fickle the crowd was, he made sure that they were really listening to him and really going to be his followers. Two times Antony called the people back from running away in anger and said another thing to deepen the seed he had planted in them.
In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Mark Antony—a loyal friend to Julius Caesar, the former emperor of Rome—gives a speech to the Roman commoners in order to persuade them to turn against Brutus, for Brutus and the conspirators had slain Caesar. Antony’s uses rough and sharp diction, a scornful tone, and honest anecdotes in order to achieve his purpose of manipulating the common people to take his side.
Leaders during times of great unrest would give their people hope through well written, poetic speeches. Those who were truly gifted with amazing speaking skills could turn entire groups against their enemies. Mark Antony in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by Shakespeare is a wonderful example of someone who is not only a gifted speaker but is also a very poetic speaker. The best example of Mark Antony’s skills is during his monolog at Caesar’s funeral. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, Mark Antony used to structure, diction, figurative language, and imagery to sway the crowd to believe that Julius Caesar was innocent.
This was said by Brutus after Cassius told him how Caesar had become a towering figure over Rome and how Caesar controls Rome. Notice the good in Brutus, and the extremes he will go to in order to protect democracy in Rome even if it means killing the one he loves, Caesar. Brutus possesses one of the most tragic flaws. He is too nice of a person and therefore he gets taken advantage of. He lets Cassius persuade him into killing Caesar for the good of Rome.
It shows us that he is honourable and patriotic. Whereas, Marc Antony starts his list of three with “Friends”. This is bringing himself down to the plebeian level and he makes the crowd feel as though he is their friend even though they are separated by status and rank. This language technique is commonly know as phatic language. It is very appealing for the plebeians to hear this.
Brutus was to trying to convince the Romans that Caesar's assassination was justified. He claimed that he and the conspirators did what they did for the love of Rome. Brutus declared, "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more."(Act 3, scene 2, lines 20-21). He truly believed what he did was the right thing, and that if he didn't do it, Rome would have fallen. I found, and possibly others, found mistakes in Brutus' speech. First, he disperses half of the audience: "Those that will hear me spea...
the last thing that they heard, and in the end he did win the battle!
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.
Antony’s goal was to persuade the crowd of plebeians that the conspirators acted impetuously and Caesar did not need to be killed. He uses many rhetorical devices to strengthen his speech and gain the support of the crowd. From rhetorical questions to the use of pathos, Antony masters the art of persuasion. His speech moves the crowd from believing Brutus’ reasoning for killing Caesar, to understanding that Caesar did not have to die.
In William Shakespeare play Julius Caesar, Caesar is assassinated, and the city of Rome becomes enraged, demanding the death of the conspirators that murdered him. Brutus, one of the main assassins, talks to the mob and persuades them to understand that they are at an advantage without Caesar, the tyrant, as the dictator of Rome. He then leaves Mark Antony, who has meticulous orders to not try to pin the murder on the conspirators’ selfishness, but can speak numerous praises about his superior. Mark Antony then speaks to the persuaded crowd about Caesar’s endeavors and the benefits that Caesar gave to the kingdom, giving everything that was necessary and more. Mark Antony’s speech riles the citizens of Rome to mutiny without actually revealing his personal intentions of wishing to do so. In William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, Mark Antony’s speech is more persuasive that Brutus’ speech
Act 3 Scene 2 of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Act 3 Scene 2 is most definitely a pivotal episode in the play. In this essay, I will be explaining why that is the case. In the previous Scene, Act 3 Scene 1, Caesar refuses to read the Soothsayer's warning. He mocks the soothsayer by saying, "the ides of March is coming.
In the play made by William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Many of the characters stride for the title of ruler of Rome. After the murder of the previous leader, Julius Caesar. His apprentice (Marc Antony) and his Best-friend turned conspirator (Brutus), speak to the public from an attempt to win their favor. Brutus speaks about why it was needed to kill Caesar. However, Antony speaks to them on how the conspirators, like Brutus, are deadly and wrong. Assuming that these speeches were the final words of these characters before a new election Antony should be given the crown.
Before the audience meets Antony, Shakespeare presents us with two soldiers discussing Antony’s current debauched life. This is dramatically effective staging because they are acting as a Greek chorus; relaying to the audience the general feeling in Rome and making us privy to feelings of irritation that Antony is unaware of. Philo tells us scathingly that “this dotage of our general’s/O’erflows the measure.” The use of the word “general” in the first line immediately tells us that Antony is a man of great rank. Quickly following this, he tells us that Antony “glowed like plated Mars” on the battlefield. This immediately raises his status to that of a god of war. This allows the audience to recognise Antony as a man who has gone into decline; he was not always a pleasure seeking man. Rank and stature are important aspects of the tragic hero; Aristotle believed that a tragic hero has to be a man of noble stature because it will emphasise the extent of his downfall, making it much more tragic.