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The Fickle Public In Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar

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Tony Chen Mr. Pommer English 10 18 January 2023 Antony and The Fickle Public in Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a play about the assassination of Julius Caesar, a politician in Rome. The play opens with a party in the streets celebrating Caesar’s win over Pompey, a rival politician in Act I. Cassius, another politician doesn’t enjoy this celebration as he was a fan of Pompey. He then starts scheming to kill Caesar and teams up with a fellow politician named Brutus. They end up planning to eliminate Caesar in front of the public and going through with it. After Caesar’s death, his loyal friend Antony wanted to hold a funeral for him. Brutus allows Antony to do so, but he wants to speak first at Caesar’s funeral instead of Antony. Antony agrees, and they carry out the funeral. Brutus gives his speech and persuades the people in his favor. However, a critical turning point in the play is Antony’s speech. In the speech, Antony persuades the public …show more content…

He starts his speech by refuting Brutus’s claim of Caesar being ambitious. “Hath told you Caesar was ambitious… But Brutus says he was ambitious… Did this in Ceasar seem ambitious… Ambition should be made of sterner stuff… Yet Brutus says he was ambitious… Was this ambition… Yet Brutus says he was ambitious.” He keeps using the word ambitious and asking rhetorical questions. This shows Antony persuading the public by refuting Brutus’s claim of Caesar’s ambition. He uses the fact that the public doesn’t know how ambitious Caesar was because they don’t see what happens in private and turns what Brutus said against him. Antony keeps reinforcing himself by providing examples of Caesar not being ambitious and asking the crowd rhetorical questions regarding Caesar's ambition. The people then get persuaded that Caesar wasn’t ambitious, and start swaying away from Brutus’s side towards Antony’s side because they now believe he is

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Brutus says Caesar is ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man, but was Caesar really that ambitious? The speaker, Marc Antony, is trying to convince all the people of Rome into liking him more than the people that killed Caesar. Marc Antony uses many rhetorical analysis tactics to do this. In Marc Antony’s speech, he uses forms of rhetorical analysis, such as pathos, ethos, and logos, to help persuade the people of Rome to go against his conspirators. At the start of his speech, Marc Antony begins with “Friends, Romans, Countrymen lend me your ears."

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When saying this Antony is logically stating something Caesar did, soon after he asks, “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?”. This rhetorical question is making the audience rethink their opinion on Caesar's ambition and justifying his death. Antony's opinion on the death of Caesar was clearly

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After gaining the crowds' trust, Antony disassembles the arguments that Brutus used prior. Brutus’ main argument is that Caesar was ambitious and tyrannus, so Antony has to prove this untrue. Antony states, “He hath brought many captives home to Rome / Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: / Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?” (3.2.85-87). His example of Caesar’s generosity and unambition directly contradicts what Brutus had divulged.

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