Mark Antony Speech In William Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony delivers a speech at Julius Caesar’s funeral. Brutus betrayed his best friend, Caesar, and helped assassinate him and then persuaded the people of Rome that Caesar was in the wrong and not him. Mark Antony uses his speech to discredit Brutus, who spoke before him, and to prove that Julius Caesar was wrongfully killed. Antony managed to persuade the Roman citizens, who moments before were supporting Brutus, to see that Caesar was a good man. Antony was publicly mourning when he gave his speech but he managed to create a sarcastic and biting tone that moves the crowd. Mark Antony starts his speech with verbal irony by saying he was there, “...not to praise him.” …show more content…
After Antony mentions how Caesar helped bring in money, he asked, “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?” By asking this rhetorical question, he is engaging his audience by forcing them to wonder if his actions reflected the accusation of ambition. He follows the question by giving a more personal example that showed the relationship between caesar and all of his people, not just the elite. Antony said, “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept…” Antony further proved his argument when he immediately rebukes Caesar’s kindness as not being stern enough for ambition. His next rhetorical question not only engages the audience but logically asked if Caesar could truly be ambitious if he refused to be crowned king not once but three times. The last example connected Caesar to the people but this one affected all people because of the logic behind it. An ambitious person would not have hesitated to take the crown if it was …show more content…
Antony uses his grief as an excuse to pause in his speech which allows for the first half of his speech to sink in with the people. The people begin to see the logic of his argument then they start to sympathize with him when they see his is crying over his lost friend. During his pause, the people decide he is more noble than Brutus when they said, “There’s not a nobler man in Rome than Antony.” Brutus’s entire justification of the murder was that he did the honorable thing for Rome but the people have decided that Anthony was more honorable thus nullifying Brutus’s
In his play Julius Caesar, Shakespeare employs various rhetorical strategies such as direct address, repetition, and apostrophe in Antony’s eulogy to convince the crowd into believing that Caesar was a good ruler. His excellent use of rhetoric begins before he starts his speech through the establishment of familiarity. Before Antony begins his speech, he refers to the crowd as “friends, romans, [and] countrymen” to establish a personal connection, indicating the use of direct address (3.2.82). By referring to the crowd as “friends,” Antony removes any separation between him and the audience, establishing a close bond by choice. As it came first on his list, it emphasizes the importance of his friendship with the audience as friendship implies
The people are essential to Antony's plan. He didn't just go and give a speech about how he felt, he knew what would come from his actions. “ I thrice presented him the crown, which he did thrice refuse” Antony is trying not to show Caesar faults, but shows how Brutus lied about Caesar being honorable, later stating honor should be made of stronger stuff . Antony is showing that when Brutus says Caesar was ambitious, he was showing that Caesar wasn't ambitious and that Brutus lied. Antony knows that if he can make Brutus seem not honorable, he can get the people to turn on the perfect
While Mark Antony’s speech is a eulogy Caesar’s funeral, it gradually develops the energetic tone of an epideictic (praise-and-blame speech), which points to an ulterior motive. He draws in his audience with a solemn introduction that is meant to defer any bad feelings the Roman’s have towards him, and then he begins to exemplify Caesar’s good character. However, his tone soon becomes more passionate and he begins to use interjections to arouse the listeners. By shouting “O judgment!” as he questions the Roman’s loyalty, Antony is making use of ecphonesis to force a reaction: hopefully one that supports Caesar. Antony strategically spaces these throughout the course of the speech to ensure their enthusiastic spirit, yet hide his own zeal from the audience. Most notably, he exclaims “what a fall was there, my countrymen!” to emphasize the magnitude of Caesar’s death and in the last line he shouts to them “here was a Caesar!...
Antony asks many rhetorical questions to indirectly manipulate the meaning of the term “ambitious” which also sways the crowd against Brutus and the conspirators. Initially, Brutus accuses Caesar of being ambitious to explain one of the reasons for assassinating him. He assures the people that Caesar had, “tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honor for his valor, and death for his ambition.”(3.2.29-30) Brutus clearly establishes that he believed Caesar was hungry for power; this sets the stage up for Antony to easily oppose Brutus later in order to make Brutus look bad. The meaning of ambitious here is having a thirst of power, Caesar was killed because he was claimed to be ambitious. Considering this, Antony contradicts Brutus’s claim and causes the crowd to question Caesar’s motives and Brutus’s accuracy due to his kind actions. Antony tells the people that Caesar “hath brought many captives home to Rome/whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?”(3.2.97-99) Antony makes Brutus look like a liar by verifying that Caesar did good things instead of being hungry for power. He successfully changes the meaning of ambitious from a power-thirs...
Antony was devoted and preferred to be dependent upon Julius Caesar since he rather have enjoyed life than to claim the highest position in the government. He wanted the crown to be given to Caesar so that all conflicts could be avoided. However, this additional power contributed to the conspirator's motive to assassinate him. Antony was distraught with Caesar's death and sought revenge first by speaking to the crowd in his speech. He showed how clever and cunning he could be when he convinced the crowd at Caesar's funeral ceremony to side with him and not with the murderers. The people became excited and rowdy when he teased them about the will, waving it in the air and pretending as if he was not going to read it. Reverse psychology is used when he first pretends to respect the conspirators calling them honorable men, and then slowly proving that they are not. He speaks out against them because he wanted power for himself, and unlike Brutus, he is politically ambitious and so believes that if he can take control while the state is in turmoil, he will remain in power. He was alone in making this oration, yet he was confidant in himself and courageous.
There are many parts to a speech that make it powerful. The three main categories that can decide how good a speech is are logos, ethos, and pathos. Logos is a person's logic and reasoning behind their argument, ethos is the trust between the speaker and the crowd, and pathos is the emotion in a speech. All of these are important to helping a speech be as strong as possible and without them, a speech with a lot of potential can seem dull and unimportant. When comparing and contrasting speeches, these are some key components to look for. If we compared Martin Luther King Jr's “I Have a Dream”speech with Mark Antony’s speech in the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Martin Luther King Jr's speech is more powerful because although they both had a firm belief that they deserved what they were protesting for, Martin Luther King Jr. had much more pathos, with emotional pauses and analogies.
First, Mark Antony has been loyal to Caesar since the beginning of the play; in addition, he is a decent speaker that can persuade individuals to follow him at Caesar’s funeral. At the end of the funeral, numerous Romans take Antony’s concept of revenging the conspirators for their wrong-doing. The Plebeians say, “We’ll burn the house of Brutus/ Away then. Come, seek the conspirators” (3.2.245-246). It suggests the powerful effects of Antony’s speech which make the Plebeians seek revenge, versus Brutus’s speech about how Caesar deserves to die because of his ambition. Although it is true that Antony can easily
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.
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.
Mark Antony also includes a hyperbole in his speech to show how saddened the death of caesar made him and to make the audience feel sad. At the end of the speech Antony says to the audience “My heart
Throughout his famous speech in the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Mark Antony continuously propagandizes the crowd using his eloquence. From the very beginning of his speech, Antony is facing a crowd that is already not on his side. His unique elocution allows him to fairly easily brainwash the throng into submitting to his ideas about Julius Caesar’s death. Using rhetorical appeals such as logos and pathos, Mark Antony changes the mob’s mind in a timely manner. He uses plausible and convincing reasoning, rationale, and emotional appeal in order to indoctrinate the multitude of Romans into believing what he has to say. Antony’s exceptional mellifluousness helps him put it all together though, leading to the final product that is his acclaimed speech. Mark Antony possesses phenomenal enunciation and flaunts his rare skill admirably as he dexterously instills his views into the brains of the Romans.
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/
“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 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.
Antony was one of the most successful users of rhetoric in the play. After the conspirators killed Caesar, Brutus explained his actions and why Caesar had