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Universal Truth In Shakespeare's The Tragedy Of Julius Caesar

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Have you ever heard the phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me”? While this could be accepted as a universal truth, this statement is not always completely accurate. A few cleverly chosen words may turn the tide of any argument, with consequences most severe. In Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”, the content of the two speeches delivered at Caesar’s funeral has devastating effects on the outcome of the plot to which it directly foreshadows.

The plot of this dark play revolves around the decision that Marcus Brutus made to assassinate his friend, Julius Caesar; his reasoning behind it was that Caesar was too ambitious and this ambition would bring about the downfall of Rome. The speech he gives to the Roman crowd reflects this reasoning, as he resorted to only …show more content…

However, by stopping Brutus’s plan to end tyranny, he became a tyrant himself in the future, once again defeating Brutus at the end of the play. The success of Antony in this one speech had a drastic effect on the outcome of the play.

Upon the conclusion of the two speeches, the winner was decided quite easily by the crowd, demonstrating the power of rhetoric. Having the full support of his audience, Antony easily triumphed over his foes and became one of the leaders of Rome, which had not been his intention in the beginning either. At the end of the play, Mark Antony, as foreshadowed, triumphs over Brutus and the other conspirators, and becomes a tyrant of

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