ipl-logo

How Does Mark Antony Use Irony In Julius Caesar

578 Words3 Pages

People use irony in their everyday life even if they overlook it. Irony is the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, irony is used so Mark Antony can achieve his goal safely. Irony is used indirectly by persuading the audience, using dramatic irony, and with Caesars good will. First of all, Shakespeare uses verbal irony so Mark Antony can persuade his audience. The use of verbal irony lets us know that Mark Antony is trying to insult Brutus while seeming to praise him. Each time Antony says “Brutus is an honourable man” we begin to wonder if he really is an honourable man. He is being a little sarcastic each time he addresses Brutus. Before Antony spoke he was given a list of rules from Brutus that he had to follow. If the rules were broken Antony could have been in danger. By praising Caesar in disguise using verbal irony, Antony tries to get his audience to turn against Brutus and the conspirators. The way Shakespeare wrote the speech was to express the tone and diction. The way Mark Antony …show more content…

Caesar’s good will is mentioned in lines 23-25. “You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambitious? Antony is saying that Caesar turned down a crown three times because he wants to show that Caesar was a good person and didn’t want power. Antony's goal of these lines are to get the audience to think higher of Caesar and less of Brutus. Caesar’s good will is mentioned again in lines 16-18. “He hath brought many captives home to Rome, Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?” This is saying that Caesar payed dept to bring prisoners home. If Mark Antony wins the audience over to believe him by mentioning the good things Caesar did then they will realize who is telling the

Show More
Related
738 Words | 3 Pages

1. Irony as we talked about in class is considered to be intellectual or a sort of dry humor. It also has a double meaning, where you say one thing but the opposite meaning is implied. For example, in the reading “SantaLand Diaries” David and another elf realized that Santa is an anagram of Satan. So they would substitute the word for Santa by using Satan in front of customers.

Read More
585 Words | 3 Pages

Tacitus uses a diverse set of words with the central meaning of death to illustrate Augustus’s reign and Tiberius’s sneaky ascent into power through the demise of his rivals. An accomplished writer such as Tacitus prefers to have a variety of words when writing, so the reader is not seeing the same word over and over again. A lack in word variety makes the writer appear unintelligent and unable express their ideas. In the second paragraph, Tacitus uses “caesis,” “exotique,” “interfecto,” and “partibus,” when writing about Augustus’s rise to ruling, how he showed himself to be barely a Consul, leaving the title of triumvir behind. He seemed to be a true tribune of the plebs, running all his orders and ideas through the senate and waiting for

Read More
958 Words | 4 Pages

Expository Essay Irony can clearly be stated as the use of words that mean the opposite of what we think it means. An example of a story that uses irony is The Cask of Amontillado. Which is about a man named Montresor who believes this other man named Fortunato insulted him. Montresor’s family motto is “no one insults me with impunity”, he feels justified in taking revenge on Fortunato.

Read More
833 Words | 4 Pages

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Julius Caesar, Mark Antony uses rhetorical devices such as paralipsis, rhetorical questions, and verbal irony in his speech to the plebeians in order to plot them against the conspirators. During his speech to the plebians, Antony uses paralipsis in order to kindle curiosity and interest in the audience. Antony mentions to the plebians that he had Caesar’s will with him but tells them, “Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it; It is not meet you know how much Caesar loved you” (3.2.152-153). By drawing attention to Caesar’s will, something Antony desperately wants to show the plebeians, but then dismissing the idea of reading it, Antony uses a type of verbal irony called paralipsis. Antony is aware that the contents

Read More
207 Words | 1 Pages

Mark Antony is trying to win over the people of Rome by his very effective use of rhetoric. In his speech, his overall point is to persuade the Roman citizens that Brutus’s claim of Caesar being ambitious is not true. Antony’s use of rhetorical devices such as a rhetorical question give the people a good message. When he is telling them that Caesar brought many captives to Rome, he asks, “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious” (3.2.18). Antony’s rhetorical question was very effective since he is making the people question Brutus’s claim.

Read More
789 Words | 4 Pages

William Shakespeare, in his tragedy Julius Caesar, uses the rhetorical devices of a rhetorical question, repetition of the word “ambitious,” and a direct reference in Antony 's speech to persuade the plebeians to rebel against the conspirators. Antony appeals to the pathos, ethos, and logos of the audience to get them to exile the conspirators. Shakespeare uses a rhetorical question in Antony’s speech to get the plebeians to notice the wrongdoings of the conspirators and excite them to revolt. Antony discusses the economic dominance and vigor that Caesar brought to Rome, and with sarcasm he states, “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?” (3.2.99).

Read More
818 Words | 4 Pages

In the play "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar" by Shakespeare, two individuals named Brutus and Antony give a funeral oration to the people of Rome in concern of the justification of Caesars death. Both of them share an opposite view towards the death of Caesar, Antony thinks his death was unjustified, while Brutus believes in the opposite. Despite the fact that Brutus was able to deliver a better ethical appeal. Antony delivers a more persuasive rhetorical speech since he appeals to the crowd more with his emotional and logical appeal Ethical appeal was used by both individuals in their funeral orations, evidently Brutus was able to execute a better ethical appeal than Antony. Brutus wanted to make the people of Rome feel like the death of Caesar was necessary for the sake of Rome.

Read More
521 Words | 3 Pages

While Brutus spoke well, but had no real factual standpoint, Antony gave many examples of Caesar’s achievements. In his speech he uses Pathos, Logos, Ethos, and Situational Irony to sway his audience. He uses Brutus’ and Cassius’ precious honor and Caesar’s achievements against them, saying, “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept./ Ambition should be made of sterner stuff./ Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,/ And Brutus is an honorable man” (3.2.90-93). In this statement and many other statements following the same pattern Antony degrades the honor and the arguments of Caesar’s ambition that were made by Brutus and the other conspirators.

Read More
978 Words | 4 Pages

Within Antony’s speech to the Romans he uses anaphoric text to spike a whirl of rage towards Brutus. Repeatedly Antony states “Brutus is an honorable man” emphatically for the duration of his speech to contradict Brutus’s nobility ( March Antony, Lines 83,88,95 ). Before Antony begins his speech he is approached by the Romans with comments to not speak bad on Brutus’s name, which is why he utilized the anaphora to repeat that Brutus is an honorable man therefore allowing him to gain the Romans trust to speak. Antony does not say these lines truthfully but sarcastically to make the people of Rome feel furious against Brutus for taking Caesar to his mortal death.

Read More
949 Words | 4 Pages

Antony’s Speech Using Rhetorical Appeals In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, after Caesar’s death, the Romans are conflicted about what should be done. After Brutus’ speech the Romans are ready to crown Brutus king and be on the conspirators’ side. Though Brutus then leaves the crowd while Antony delivers his speech, the crowd realizes what should be done of Caesar’s murder and Antony prevents the conspirators from getting away with the murder of Caesar.

Read More
804 Words | 4 Pages

In William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, Marc Antony appears to be a strong advocate for Julius Caesar’s triumphs and increasing power. However, like Caesar, Antony is extremely manipulative and powerful. After Caesar’s death, Antony manipulated the conspirators into believing he was on their side before requesting to speak at Caesar’s funeral. While Brutus and the conspirators remained fooled by Antony’s innocence, Antony took the initiative to inform the Roman citizens of the conspirator’s horrendous actions towards their beloved leader, Julius Caesar. Caesar’s funeral was a time of reflection for the citizens of Rome, as Marc Antony caused them to question their allegiance to Brutus.

Read More
373 Words | 2 Pages

Antony is trying to find out whether they believe if Brutus had a valid reason to assassinate Caeser. He achieves his goal of making the murder seem unethical by using his convincing argument. Overall, Mark Antony’s speech was helpful in trying to convince the Plebeians. By the end of his speech, the Plebeians believed that the murder of Julius Caesar by the conspirators was an unrightful doing. The conspirators might’ve gotten away with the murder, but will never be seen the same by the

Read More
754 Words | 4 Pages

Antony then steps up to the plate to give his speech. “The noble Brutus hath told you Caesar was ambitious… He hath brought many captives home to Rome Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: did this in Caesar seem ambitious? When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:... I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he thrice refuse: was this ambition?”

Read More
617 Words | 3 Pages

Marc Antony gives his speech at Caesar’s funeral to the citizens of Rome. The purpose of his speech is to prove to the citizens that Brutus is wrong and Caesar shouldn’t have been killed. The tone of his speech is very ironic. It also gets very dramatic as he talks about Caesar being killed.

Read More
1177 Words | 5 Pages

There are two reasons why Antony gave this speech. The first was to get back at Brutus for murdering his beloved friend, and making him pay for it. The main reason Antony gave this speech is because he had a greed for power. He thought that if he could get all the plebeians on his side, that they would attack the conspirators and trust Antony, therefore making it easy to take on the spot for power. “Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, Like wrath in death and envy afterwards, For Antony is but a limb of Caesar.

Read More

More about How Does Mark Antony Use Irony In Julius Caesar

Related Topics

Open Document