Julius Caesar
In act three, scene two, of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" the indignant people of Rome want to know why Caesar has been killed. Marcus Brutus has just given the people a legitimate excuse for his murder indignant, but, as it is clearly shown in "Julius Caesar," it is always not the man who has the most valid point that people believe, but he man that is more convincing. People do not always think, but instead let their actions be lead by their heart. Mark Antony is well aware of this and uses it to his advantage in his funeral oration. In the opening section of his funeral oration for Julius Caesar, Mark Antony quickly moves the hostile crowd from believing that they are well rid of Caesar to questioning the assassination. Through language, which suggests he is contrasting his concrete experience with the conspirator's mere opinions, through phrasing, which suggests that Brutus is wrong, through a repetition of keywords in context, which reverse their meaning, and his use of theatrical gestures, Mark Antony sways the crowd to his position.During his eloquent oration, Mark Antony, convinces the emotion driven crowd that Caesar is a wronged hero. By stating his personal view as if it was fact and
Mark Antony illustrates how simple it is to lead a crowd, with use of eloquent, persuasive words. Throughout the beginning of his compelling address Antony repeats two keywords, and through his usage of sarcasm and irony changes their meaning. During Antony's funeral eulogy he also uses conjunctions that signal the opposite meaning and rhetorical questions that implied a negative answer. The last way Antony convinces the mass that his position is the correct one was through his use of theatrical gestures. Mark Antony has now successfully made Brutus appear to be totally misguided in his belief that Caesar was ambitious, thus also shedding him of the honor and admiration the indecisive mass once held for him. Honorable entails that Brutus was justified and correct in saying that Caesar was overly ambitious. The irony in Antony's words begins to become noticeable, as he clearly proves that if Caesar was indeed ambitious, then ambition must be an admirable quality. Antony stops in the middle of his speech to "weep openly" (line 107). Giving back to the community is no reason to be slain. Antony then gives the mob specific examples of Caesar being a charitable, compassionate man but continues on to say, "Yet, Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man" (lines 93-94). After Antony tells the crowd that Caesar has had the opportunity to make money, but choose instead to give it to the people; he then asks the crowd "Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?" (line 90). " (lines 91-92) He now tells the people that, Caesar, a great and powerful Roman, is saddened just because the poor people are sad. But shortly after he takes it out he "puts the will away"(line 141). Antony then gives two more cases where Caesar did not seem ambitious and then asks the crowd, "Was this ambition?" (line 97).
Common topics in this essay:
Mark Antony,
Antony Caesar,
Brutus Caesar,
Rome Antony's,
Antony Brutus,
Rome Giving,
Caesar Antony,
Julius Caesar,
Antony Caesar's,
Marcus Brutus,
mark antony,
caesar ambitious,
brutus ambitious,
julius caesar,
brutus honorable,
ambitious honorable,
honorable lines,
theatrical gestures,
crowd caesar,
wrong repetition keywords,
crowd position,
ambitious brutus honorable,
continues brutus ambitious,
brutus wrong repetition,
caesar overly ambitious,
|
Acceptance Essays
