In Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy, the art of persuasion and the power of rhetoric become especially significant amidst the political upheaval of ancient Rome. One of the most captivating moments in the play where this occurs is during Antony’s speech at Caesar’s funeral, where he struggles with the challenge of honoring Caesar’s memory while simultaneously abiding by the conditions he agreed to with the conspirators. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, although Antony does not explicitly slander the conspirators’ reputations, as promised, Shakespeare conveys how Antony is still able to cleverly manage to gain the Roman people’s support by indirectly painting Brutus and the conspirators in a bad light, as well as to highlight Caesar’s non-ambitious qualities, of which he is accused. …show more content…
Antony had already promised Brutus to not speak ill of Brutus or the other conspirators during his speech. Consequently, Shakespeare had Antony get creative and state how Brutus claimed Caesar, who was “faithful and just to [Antony]”(line 94) to be “ambitious”(lines 87,95,102,107), but also repeatedly mention how Brutus was “an honorable man”(lines 79,84,91,95-96). By praising Caesar, artfully pointing out how the conspirators continue to contradict Caesar, and then continually “praising” the conspirators, Antony is able to allude to his true opinions without being accused of slander. Shakespeare’s use of this technique is extremely effective in that on a surface level, Antony’s words are praises for the conspirators, however, the true undertones found in these words do not match their concrete meaning. These contradictions and the way in which they are conveyed demonstrate how Antony is put in a position of power to craftily win over the people’s hearts and minds. This is especially true in the context of how both Antony and most Romans felt about Caesar during his