The Menacing Antony Politics. What a controversial topic. Especially in modern times, people are debating about who are the right people to lead. They want to know who can bring people to success and who has the best ideas and morals. To understand the possibilities of who may be a potentially good leader, or even a potentially dangerous leader, one may start to look at past examples in the real world and in literature. One of the most iconic and well known examples of historic literature is Shakespeare’s dramas and plays. Even though he wrote plays, they are incredibly well written and have all the same attributes as any novel. One of his dramas, Julius Caesar, is focused on leaders and their qualities. When the Roman leader Julius Caesar …show more content…
This was reasonable and expected from the conspirators. They had even discussed what they were going to do with him beforehand. Cassius wanted to kill him along with Caesar, but Brutus believed that he could convince Antony to join their side. Antony realized this quickly and began forming his plan to ruin them. He called the conspirators “friends” and said that he was “with [them] all, and love[s] [them] all” (III.i.220). This made them believe that Antony would support them while they were explaining their actions to the people. Brutus decides to let Antony speak at Caesar’s funeral, but only after Brutus makes his speech. He goes outside to find the citizens of Rome angry and confused. Once Brutus has their attention, he makes his speech and wins them over. Antony then comes to the stage to make his speech. After using his speech to enrage the people and make them furious with the conspirators, he lets them cause chaos throughout the city. He did not need to work for the vexation after that; he could simply “let it work” because “mischief, thou art afoot, / Take thou what course thou wilt.” (III.ii.256-2567). This is Antony gloating over what he had achieved. He knows that his words were powerful enough to spark mutiny within the people. They will carry out his plan on their own. Antony does this out of self interest because he wants to be in control, and to make the conspirators pay for what they have