The Tragedy of Julius Caesar In Act III Scene II in William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Antony delivers a speech at Julius Caesar’s funeral. Antony uses a sarcastic, empathetic, and persuasive tone in order to turn the citizens of Rome against Caesar’s conspirators and murderers. Antony’s purpose is to convince the citizens of Rome that killing Caesar was unjust. He attempts to convince the plebeians that Brutus, Cassius, and the other conspirators are not as honorable or innocent as they are acting by delivering his speech in a manner that is hardly noticeable. He does it like this because does not want to overstep his boundaries or rules given to him by Brutus. He convinces the citizens with his sarcastic tone. He continuously says how “honorable” Brutus and Cassius are for killing Caesar. He also continues to repeat how “ambitious” Brutus claims Caesar was and contradicts him. He displays empathy towards the plebeians and remembers how empathetic Caesar was towards them. He reminds them about how he put the ransom money from his captives into Rome’s bank. He is persuasive when he shows the citizens of Rome Caesar’s will which …show more content…
One rhetorical device Antony uses is paralipsis. Paralipsis is when person pretends to exclude something drawing awareness to it. Antony mentions Caesar’s will by saying “here’s a parchment…’tis his will…pardon me, I do not mean to read,” Mentioning this causes the plebeians to demand that he reads it; however, Antony continues to claim he will not read it. He says “I must not read it…hearing the will…will inflame you…’tis good you know not that you are his heirs.” Revealing that the plebeians are Caesar’s heirs enrages the citizens. The Fourth Plebeian responds by saying “We’ll hear it…read us… Caesar’s will!” He causes the Second Plebeian to say “They were villains, murderers…Read the will!” His use of paralipsis is very effective on the