Rhetorical Analysis Of Mark Antony

In Mark Antony’s iconic “Friends, romans, countrymen…” speech he attempts to persuade the riled up crowd, totally in support of Brutus, to turn against Brutus. A skilled speaker, he carefully develops his speech in a way that turns the crowd against Brutus. With the added advantage of a crowd of simple-minded plebeians, and having the last word, he successfully accomplishes this goal.

Mark Antony begins his speech by deceiving and assuring the crowd he is not here to sway them; saying he is merely here to give a eulogy, for “the good (of a man) is oft’ interred with their bones.” Mark Antony, being the skilled orator that he is, sets the table for dissent. He hits upon the notes of ambition and honorable in a way that soon calls both terms

into question. He continues to prove that Brutus’s assessment of Caesar as “ambitious” is not necessarily true. Every time he lists another instance where Brutus was anything but ambitious, he refers to Brutus as “honorable” despite his opinion and the sarcasm builds up.

With Antony’s successful deception and the carefully placed sarcasm, Antony tones things down a bit by bringing in some emotion.

He begins to emotionally appeal to the crowd, weeping and stating “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, and I must pause till it come back to me.” With this first part of his speech, Antony has successfully set the table for dissent. The sarcasm has built up and Brutus’s “honor” has been placed in question. All of his remarks feature powerful emotional appeals to the crowd, and his rhetoric question "You all did love him once, not without cause. What cause withholds you, then, to mourn for him?" has the crowd interested, willing to listen, and slightly

swayed.

With the crowds consent, Antony resumes. He once again, this time more explicitly, assures the crowd he is not here to stir them, stating, “I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong. Who, you all know, are honorable men.” This time, though, the sarcasm and rhetoric in his statement is obvious. He continues to tell the crowd that he has with the will of Caesar, that he had found. When stating, “go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds.” He hints to the crowd that Caesar possessed something that would make them want to do so. With this he elevates the crowds excitement, and the crowd begins excitedly as Antony to read the will. Strategically, he then refuses to read the will. Implying it is not appropriate to read the will and stating “It will inflame you, it will make you mad. Tis good you know not that you are his heirs;
For, if you should, O, what would come of it!”

Utilizing sarcasm, rhetoric, and emotion Antony has built the crowd’s excitement and even anger up dramatically.

With his strategic refusal, the crowd literally demands that Antony read the will. Still, Antony shows some doubt in reading the will, for if he caves so easily right now it will expose his true motives. With a mix of sarcasm and caution, he asks the crowd if they are really willing to stay and once again states, “I fear I wrong the honorable men. Whose daggers have stabbed Caesar; I do fear it.” With this Antony has practically succeeded. The crowd begins to mock Brutus and the conspirators, calling them murderers and traitors, and demands Antony read the will. Still with a slight tone of caution, Antony once again reaffirms the crowd desire for him to read the will and finally obliges to do

so.

With the crowds consent, support, and attention; Antony steps down and begins speaking. Now that he knows he has swayed the crowd he brings on his first true verbal attack against the conspirators. He says how Caesar trusted and loved them (especially Brutus), stating, “For when the noble Caesar saw him stab, Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms. Quite vanquish'd him: then burst his mighty heart.” With this very emotional and powerful speech, he strikes the crowd with a powerful emotional appeal. The crowd at this point is enraged, vowing to avenge the blood of Caesar. Antony again reaffirms he is not here to stir them, but he knows well he has succeeded. The stage has been sent, and the people are furious. The conspirator’s victory was quite short lived.

In summation, Antony’s speech and its development were very strategic and skillful. Having the advantage of being and excellent orator and having the last word he was able to create an amazing final speech. Blending rhetoric, sarcasm, deceptiveness, and strong notes of emotion, he created a speech that was powerful and persuasive. The skillful progression of his speech was also an important factor in persuading the crowd. In the end, he created much chaos, and successfully turned the crowd against the conspirators, bringing their short reign to a crashing end.