In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, the story revolves around the various individuals who would vie for control of the Roman Empire. All of these individuals exhibit various attributes, values, and techniques in order to facilitate this goal, from Cassius’ intelligence, Brutus’ charm and honor, to Antony’s gift to drive a crowd. And although all three desire to become the new strongman leader of Rome, it is Antony who succeeds gaining the most control through his own specific talents, most specifically noted at Caesar’s funeral. At the funeral scene, Antony exhibits several qualities beneficial to a Roman leader, such as oratory and appeasement skills. The dialogue depicted in Act III, scene ii provides a valuable and insightful perspective on how these values were desirable for leadership in the late Roman Republic.
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.
Antony was furious at Cleopatra and wanted to kill her. When he got tricked into thinking that she had committed suicide he then decided to kill himself. This shows how much power she holds over him and how weak he truthfully is. It seems that at this point he is only acting tough because if he really did want to kill the “foul Egyptian” (211) that betrayed him he would not be upset when she died. The most pathetic part is he could not even complete the task that a warrior is supposed to do, which is kill. He could not kill himself so he asked one of the few men that he had with him to do it. Eros did not accept the request but instead stabs himself to “escape the sorrow of Antony’s death.” (223) The play made this more serious because they did not include the part where the guards come in and think that Eros just fainted. What still remained to be hilarious is Antony's death when they had to hoist him up to see Cleopatra. This shows the true death of his power and strength because he is relying on others to help him move. It also shows how much power Cleopatra has because even though she is the reason he stabbed himself he still wants to be with her in his final moments. Even when he is about to die they are making fun of him saying “how heavy weighs my lord!” when they are trying to lift him up to kiss her. This is the most awkward death I have ever heard of and the play did a wonderful job of portraying this. Almost everyone in the crowd was laughing at this unfortunate
In the famed author William Shakespeare’s playwright Julius Caesar, we are introduced to an extraordinary plot of a powerful ruler, Julius Caesar, who gained power through astonishing victories and remarkable strategies but fell victim to betrayal. The betrayal that led to his demise was led by some of the very people that surrounded him the most, even some people that he considered as friends. The theme of betrayal and the notion of friendship and its validity are both topics that are worth examining but perhaps the most prevalent topic that drives this plot is the image of Caesar. Caesar ascended into power after a long period in Rome where the rise of tyranny had been fought systematically and physically. He had to not only be a powerful leader but also a wise politician when it came to his decisions. His image tarnishes more and more as his power increases and he too chases after it. He becomes so ambitious over power that he begins to feel immortal and free from danger. His conspirators do not just want him out of power for the simple sake of it but because some of them, either persuaded or not, earnestly believed that Julius Caesar’s death would save Rome not hurt it. What makes this playwright’s so extraordinary is not the dynamic drama alone, but also the depiction of Julius Caesar and how even in the monstrosity of his murder, his image was still arguable causing division amongst men. Although William Shakespeare has, for a very long time now, been known for his great writings it is clear that he himself depicted a ruler that would win favor in the eyes of the great Italian political philosopher and writer Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli but not the profound Italian writer Baldassare Castiglione. Both writers wrote ab...
Throughout Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, readers are constantly thrown in the middle of a battle between Roman and Egyptian values. Antony, a noble warrior for the Romans, is the character that seems to have the most trouble between this dichotomy. He is constantly caught between reason (Rome) and passion (Egypt) and has a difficult time making the transitions. Cleopatra is the character that stays most true to her roots, but begins adopting the other side’s values toward the end of the story. She makes a smoother transition than Antony, which can be attributed to her self-confidence and open-minded spirit. Antony is a constant source of back-and-forth commotion while Cleopatra seems to posses Egyptian qualities until the end of the book when the reader’s eyes are opened to her new, Roman ways.
Throughout the play, Shakespeare establishes a love-hate relationship between Antony and Cleopatra. In doing so, there are times when the lovers are characterized as stark opposites of each other as well as instances where these characterizations are reversed. The Romans, represented b...
As far back as the Old Testament, the topic of reputation has been, and continues to be, weaved into story lines. The protagonist in a story is quickly identified through the author’s characterization as being a “good guy” or a “bad guy.” The technique used by the writer can be either direct, using the narrator, another character, or the main character themselves, or it can be deduced by the audience through observing the characters actions, manner of speech, interaction with others, and appearance. Once established, the storyline observes the ability of the protagonist to maintain, destroy, or enhance their reputation. The great play writer William Shakespeare demonstrates the difficulties the characters in his plays experience in maintaining a good reputation, greatly due to the outside influences of others. An examination of the impact influence, through the wording of William Shakespeare and from a historical perspective, can have on ones repute, as shown through Shakespearean character Mark Antony from Antony and Cleopatra, will illustrate that a good reputation, while difficult to obtain, is even harder to maintain when left on its own accord.
Antony was born the son of “a man of no great repute in public life, nor illustrious, but kindly and honest, and particularly a liberal giver.” Some fifty years later, Mark Antony died in the arms of one of the most famous and stirring women in history. He had served at the highest positions attainable in the politically savage world of the Roman Empire after the chaos that ensued with the death of Julius Caesar. Plutarch’s Antony tells the tale of not only one of the most pronounced and controversial figures in Roman history, but delineates Antony’s personality, character, and nature along with his mighty accomplishments, which some may say were achieved in spite of his traits not because of them. Plutarch’s message, however truthful, leans
William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra While Mark Antony is a great general, one of the three triumvant, it
The life recounts of noble Caesar by both Brutus and Antony may both share a different spin on Caesar. To Brutus, Caesar is a man whose ambition will overcome his judgement and turn him into a tyrannical leader. Brutus’ portrayal is skewed and not quite right, and it is disproven by Caesar’s actions in the play Antony offers the true view of Caesars life, that he is simply a ruler who is wrongly accused of being ambitious and tyrannical. Throughout his livelihood, Caesar showed that he was not tyrannical or ambitious, and that he was a good ruler that helped the city and empire of Rome through his existence, just as Antony viewed him. When Caesar fell, chaos ensued, and Marc Antony was there to pick up the pieces.
William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra In the play Antony and Cleopatra, the character of Cleopatra is one of
In the play, Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, there are a lot of deaths and suicides. Shakespeare, who some consider the greatest writer of all time, has written about love, backstabbing, and heartbreak. But, Julius Caesar is a bit different. The primary focus of the story is betrayal and the way the characters moved on from it, or just did not move on at all. The historical Roman, Julius Caesar, is the main character and got betrayed by his most trusted people, Cassius and Brutus. Although Caesar did not choose his death, it could be stated that Cassius and Brutus got over the act of killing Caesar committing suicide, rather than face the consequences of their decisions. But, each may have had their own reasons behind their ultimate decisions.
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is an intimate portrayal of the famed assassination of Julius Caesar and the complex inner workings of the men who committed the crime. In one particularly revealing scene, two of the men closest to Caesar, one a conspirator in his murder and one his second-in command, give orations for the deceased. Despite being simple in appearance, these two speeches do much of the work in developing and exposing the two characters in question. Though both have a love for Caesar, Mark Antony's is mixed with a selfish desire for power, while Brutus' is pure in nature, brought to a screeching halt by his overpowering stoicism. These starkly-contrasted personalities influence the whole of the play, leading to its tragic-but-inevitable end.
(Cicarma,2017) With all the planning to negotiation the tactics of both were lacking and defeat. When all things are all well in the eyes that seem to doom Cleopatra puts herself in seat of death of a cobra granted that this was a myth or not. Plutarch says that those who believed in the asp theory that the snake was smuggled in to her bowl of figs. (Baldwin, 1964, p 182: 2) And still no one knows if it was Cleopatra killed Antony for her own free will. It was the power that struck her and her own risk to not anyone have her Antony right beside her. This goes to that this fascinated to us about Cleopatra show us in ways as a woman she did her best to reign and what she expected for the last Pharaoh to do what's right mind of her
One of the biggest internal struggles in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra is Antony’s struggle between reason and emotion. One of the times this is shown is when Antony turns his ships around after noting that Cleopatra has done so in Act III scene 10. Shakespeare decided to show Antony’s internal struggle by having him follow Cleopatra to emphasize how strongly his emotions and reasoning lead him to mix business with pleasure, intertwining his role of general with his role of lover. From turning his ship around mid-battle to dressing himself after spending the night to outright stating his feelings, Antony shows over and over the unavoidable mutual existence of his roles as general and lover.