"Do not imagine that the good you intend will balance the evil you perform."-Norman Macdonald. In the tragedy Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Antony begins playing a larger role after his death. Thi has caused debate about whether he was a concerned friend of Caesar or whether he was a political power seeker. Despite this, the evidence in the text shows that power was more of a priority to Antony than concern for Caesar's death. Therefore, Antony's intentions were more focused gaining political influence that on worrying about Caesar, showing his position as a political opportunist in Rome. Antony's actions while he was in the triumvirate really shows his greed for power. for example, Antony and the triumvirate “have put to death …show more content…
In the beginning, Antony states that “[he] shall remember:/ When Caesar says ‘Do this,’ it is performed”. (779)(Antony). Antony is very obedient, and he respects Caesars commands and authority. this shows that he is a friend. However, he orders Lepidus to “Fetch the will hither” because the triumvirate “shall determine/ How to cut off some charge in legacies”. (845)(Antony). Antony is a power seeker because he is taking advantage of Caesar's death by directing some of it to his own pocket which then goes to his army. not only that, by breaking his friends will, he is basically disobeying his friends command after death, so Antony contradicts his previous statement. for this reason, Antony cannot be considered a legitimate friend, and he can certainly be considered a true political …show more content…
although Caesar may have wanted the conspirators to feel his revenge, it was still unnecessary for him to modify Caesar's will. this was unnecessary because “For [Brutus] can raise no money by vile means” and “By heaven, [he] had rather coin [his] heart/ And drop [his] blood for drachmas than to wring/ From the hard hands of peasants and their vile trash”. (850)(Brutus). first if Brutus was able to raise funds without stealing, then Antony should be completely able to do so also, proving that the task was unnecessary for Antony to do. since Antony did do such an unnecessary task to fund his army, then there must be another reason why he would do such a deed. This reason could be that Anthony wants to take advantage of the Caesars death, and he sees Caesar's death as an opportunity to gather more power. even though his choice was avoidable, he is so desperate and hungry for power that he is willing to go as far as to disobey his own master's will and command just to increase his own political power and status. Antony’s lust for power is shown here because he has done such an unnecessary wrong deed to his “friend”. it is also important to note that his choice was unjustifiable because a modifying will is pretty much disrespectful to any dead person, not to mention that he is modifying his “friends” will. by modifying the will, he is disobeying his
Brutus first states, “[Would you rather Caesar] living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead to live a freemen” Then Antony came back with “You all did love him once, not without cause. What cause withholds you, then, to mourn for him?” After Brutus’ speech, Antony was able to evoke the feeling of the audience and bring them back, before his death and see what they had loved within Caesar before his death. All of his accomplishments were able to evoke the emotions they had before his death and then wanted to actually kill Brutus. In the next Scene, it mentioned a major consequence of the words that Antony had spoken. The famous poet Cinna was killed. However, he wasn’t even involved in the assassination of Caesar. That was how much emotion he was able to evoke in the people in Rome. Although ethos could establish the cold, hard truth, pathos can get under peoples skin and effect them and draw them into your cause. In which case it is Antony's'
In one situation he shows Caesar’s dead body and in the second he talks about the will of Caesar to gather the people’s attention, but he claims he isn’t calling attention to it. Unlike Brutus, Antony utilises a “prop”, Caesar’s bloody body, and in doing so he allows his words to be far more effective by calling attention to each and everyone of his wounds and claiming to have seen where each of the conspirators placed their daggers (Shakespeare III. ii. 140-165). To begin with, Antony had not witnessed Caesar’s stabbing, but he incorporated this part into his speech, because he knew it would affect the people’s hearts. Here, he utilises pathos by bringing out the people’s emotions and ethos by robbing Brutus and the conspirators of their credibility. Throughout Antony’s speech there are also instances of paralipsis, for instance, Antony states, “’Tis good you know not that you are his heirs,/For if you should, O, what would come of it?” (Shakespeare III. ii. 114-115). Antony is clearly drawing attention to the supposed will in an attempt to sway the people to his side. This technique is incredibly effective, because not only is he talking about the people receiving an inheritance, but he’s also showing them that Caesar cared deeply for them. Antony is also causing the people to question the purity of the conspirators’ intentions by showing the people that Caesar never wronged
Many people know that Julius Caesar was betrayed and killed by many people who he had thought to be his friends. Some less common knowledge is that he did still have friends and others who stayed loyal to him. One man named Mark Antony was the most loyal of them all, even after Caesar’s death. When he found out Caesar had been killed, he began plotting to get on the traitor’s good sides and make it seem as if he had joined them so that he could convince the citizens to fight against them with him. He deceived the traitors and convinced them to let him speak at Caesar’s funeral, and in this speech he turned the citizens against them using very powerful rhetorical skills. After he had drove the traitors from the city, he took control of the city and led them to victory in a war against the conspirator’s armies. These are three telling examples that prove Antony’s skill and potential as a leader.
Mark Antony, in the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, was a brave, intelligent, pleasure-loving, and cunning man. He was loyal to his friend, Caesar, whom he considered a true friend. He looked at life as a game in which he had a signified part to play, and played that part with excellent refinement and skill.
Antony uses repetition to impair Brutus' credibility. Anthony says in the beginning of the speech that “The noble Brutus/Hath told you Caesar was ambitious./If it were so, it was a grievous fault,/And grievously hath Caesar answered it” (III, ii, 76-79). Antony continues to call Brutus honorable, and brings attention to his claim of Caesar’s ambition. This seems counterproductive, until Anthony consecutively disproves Brutus's claim, bringing up examples of Caesar’s selflessness. The plebeians respond to this logic and begin to sympathize with Caesar. Antony uses repetition again, to put blame on the conspirators for killing Caesar. Antony pleads with the crowd, saying that Caesar “is himself, marr’d, as you see, with traitors./Let not a traitor live!” (III, ii, 191-193). As Antony calls the conspirators traitors, the crowd is forced to think of them as common criminals, who should be punished according to the Roman law code. Hearing this, the crowd falls into a mutinous rage, calling for the death of the traitors. It is in this moment that Antony has true control of the people, and has won revenge for
By keeping his listeners thoroughly engaged, Antony is able to further develop on his purpose by utilizing diverse rhetorical devices. Near the beginning, he makes effective use of parallelism to list Caesar’s selfless deeds, like “when that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept”, which gives the effect that the list is so long that Antony cannot describe it in unique detail. Additionally, his parallel repetition of “Brutus says he was ambitious and Brutus is an honorable man” serves as sarcasm. By repeating each good action with these two lines, Antony is getting the audience to contrast Caesar’s endless good deeds with Brutus’s repetitive and conflicting argument. Further on in the speech, Antony uses proslepsis somewhat obviously to reveal Caesar’s will to the people. He tells them that he found “a parchment with the seal of Caesar...tis his will”, yet quickly stops himself from telling anymore. Therefore, the audience is intrigued by the will and its mention reengages any listeners who
As to annoy us all; which to prevent, Let Antony and Caesar fall together(2.1.167-173) To the other politicians at this time, he is considered to be different because of his strong mutual bond and respect for Caesar. Antony was not part of the conspiracy so he is kept in oblivion. This causes him to find out from others what sort of planning had taken place to end his friend, and leader’s, life. Without hearing the news directly from the conspiracy with an explanation from the beginning, he is more likely to be in shock and act more drastically.
Therefore, Antony is trying to prove that once the conspirators are in his sights, no one is getting out alive. While Marc Antony is giving his speech to the common people trying to persuade them that the conspirators are in the wrong: “In every wound of Caesar that should move the stones of Rome to rise and mutiny” (131). From this moment every action that Antony does will in turn affect the stability of Brutus’ physical and mental well being. Also, Brutus does not realize how close Caesar and Antony are, which can only lead to his demise because Antony is trying to kill him and he does not realize it. During Antony’s speech, to persuade the common people, he walks over to Caesar’s body to show the people all the wounds: “Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell. O, what a fall was there, my countrymen! Then I, and you, and all of us fell down, Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over us” (129). Antony is exaggerating, in a light hearted way, the fact that Brutus stabbed Caesar; for the conspirators told
Antony’s actions after Caesars death solidified his expectations of inheriting power as he moved to take control of Caesars assets, and publically read his will and he thought himself to be the strongest contender to carry on Caesars political legacy.
The tragic and untimely death of Julius Caesar, a condemned Roman tyrant, triggered William Shakespeare's creativity. In his play Julius Caesar Shakespeare writes of the treacherous conspirators, Marcus Brutus and Caius Cassius, and their plans to assassinate their Roman leader, Julius Caesar. The story continues to explain how Caesar's loyal friend, Marc Antony, helps avenge the brutal murder. After Antony receives soldiers to fight his battle, his character begins to change. The fair and faithful Marc Antony transforms to a darker and more deceitful character. Marc Antony is not suitable to rule Rome because he holds a grand desire of great power, his conceit
What were Antony's intentions once his deuar friend Caesar was killed? After Caesar's death, we see the possibility of Antony being killed also by the Conspirators. In this moment he portrays an unseen amount of strength and braveness, and offers his self up to the Conspirators to be
After Brutus finishes his speech, Antony speaks about his opinion on the issue; unlike Brutus, Antony acts slyly and communicates a very manipulative tone to persuade the Romans to rebel. Because of Antony's use of parallelism, he creates vivid reasoning for his speech. He states, “ I come here to bury Caesar, not to praise him” (III.ii.44). By using this device, he shows the people of Rome that he isn't praising Caesar, he is putting the leader to rest. This particular line creates a very manipulative tone, because his speech is all about what great this Caesar has done and how he wants to rebel against the conspirators. Further more, Antony uses a lot of irony to slyly get his point across. One example that he uses throughout the speech is “Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is a honorable man” (III.ii.44). Because of the repitition of this ironic statement, the meaning of it changes and intensifies. At first, his tone was sincere, but as the speech progresses, you can see his sarcastic tone increases. Antony does this because he has to use this device to surpass the regulations of Brutus, as well as make the romans listen. Lastly, he uses personification to give life and further meaning to a word. Early in the speech, Antony says, “The evil
William Shakespeare, one of the most profound writers in all of history, skillfully used the character of Mark Antony in his play, Julius Caesar, in order to verify true the theme that loyalty and respect are two of the most extremely convincing tactics. He demonstrates the power of speech as he is manipulating words in order to prove a certain point in the speaker’s favor, whoever that may be. Mark Antony was a man who enjoyed spending the majority of his time at extravagant parties and receiving everything he wanted at his sudden demand. Shakespeare created Antony to be an expert in speech manipulation, which ended up making Julius Caesar to be what
The character that demonstrates power is a stronger force in society is Antony. Antony, from the beginning of the act, was always loyal to Caesar and Rome. We did not notice the side of him that was so power hungry until he had an opportunity to obtain power. Antony even cried at Caesar's funeral. ¨ My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,/ and I must pause till it come back to me.(weeps)¨ (Shakespeare iii.ii. 105-106). Antony says his heart is still with Caesar, then he starts to cry. After Caesar’s funeral, everything changed. The other side of Antony started to show. He got a group of people to fight with him to get power. All his loyalty toward Rome started to fade away.