The Art of Persuasion as revealed through Marc Antony's spee
In Act III scene 2 of the play Julius Caesar, Marc Antony delivers a powerful speech to the citizens who have assembled in the Forum after the assassination of his friend, Julius Caesar. The citizens have just finished listening to a speech by Brutus in which he has tried to justify the killing of Caesar, explaining that Caesar was too ambitious and had to die for the good of Rome. Brutus succeeds in persuading the crowds, who are ready toMarc Antony successfully sets out to defend Caesar against the accusation of ambition and to turn the crowd against Brutus and the conspirators by a very skillfully constructed and manipulative speech. Marc Antony immediately captures the hostile crowd's attention, using tone and visual effects. He walks in carrying Caesar's body, making a very dramatic entrance. Then he starts to speak, using words that can only be uttered in a soft tone:and the result is that it is not he but the citizens who are telling each other to be quiet so they can hear what he has to say. He addresses them as friends (l. 65), careful not to antagonise them. Throughout his speech Marc Antony uses irony to convey to the crowds the complete opposite to the ac
206-208),Marc Antony tells the crowd, that if he and Brutus traded places, Brutus would speak so skillfully that it"Would ruffle up your spirits and put a tongueIn every wound of Caesar, that should moveThe stones of Rome to rise and mutiny. they would go and kiss dead Caesar's woundsAnd dip their napkins in his sacred blood, Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,And, dying, mention it within their wills,Bequeathing it as a rich legacyUnto their issue. 87-89)He asks the people if they consider this ambitious, obviously implying it was not, because Caesar's deeds were for the good of Rome, not for Caesar himself. He continues to reinforce his words visually showing them Caesar's cloak, pointing to the holes and graphically linking each hole to the stab by a conspirator:"Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through;See what a rent the envious Casca made;Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabbed. The words that Marc Antony uses throughout his speech are cleverly chosen to influence the crowd: he refers to Caesar's "sacred blood" (l. He balances the repetition of this phrase with something positive about Caesar or something negative about his death. 218-220)As intended, the crowd immediately seizes upon that last word 'mutiny':"We'll mutiny. Marc Antony comments to himself with satisfaction:"Now let it work.
Common topics in this essay:
Marc Antony,
Marc Antony's,
marc antony,
Julius Caesar,
Rome Brutus,
Act III,
throughout speech,
caesar ambitious,
Caesar Marc,
caesar marc antony,
speech marc antony,
speech marc,
caesar's body,
sacred blood,
crowd brutus,
brutus stabbed,
visual effects,
marc antony's,
|
Acceptance Essays
