Analysis Of Mark Antony 's ' Julius Caesar '

Many people know that Julius Caesar was betrayed and killed by many people who he had thought to be his friends. Some less common knowledge is that he did still have friends and others who stayed loyal to him. One man named Mark Antony was the most loyal of them all, even after Caesar’s death. When he found out Caesar had been killed, he began plotting to get on the traitor’s good sides and make it seem as if he had joined them so that he could convince the citizens to fight against them with him. He deceived the traitors and convinced them to let him speak at Caesar’s funeral, and in this speech he turned the citizens against them using very powerful rhetorical skills. After he had drove the traitors from the city, he took control of the city and led them to victory in a war against the conspirator’s armies. These are three telling examples that prove Antony’s skill and potential as a leader.

Unlike the common view of leaders, the potential leaders of Julius Caesar are not necessarily nice or giving. However, sometimes that is necessary. In the play Julius Caesar, a long tale of leadership shows the true qualities of the greatest leaders. Where the reader finds themselves started is at the point which Antony and Caesar, the overconfident leader of Rome, are discussing people around them. This discussion boils to a point in which Antony and Caesar discuss the possibility of Cassius being a threat to Caesar. Later, readers find Cassius is indeed a threat, as he and multiple others, including Brutus, stab Caesar to death. Antony then brings Caesar’s body to the multitude, and with a great speech inspires a hatred for those who wrongfully stabbed him. At the next point Antony is seen, he and Octavius are the new rulers of Rome. These two comrades go and finally eliminate the last of the traitors, Cassius and Brutus, in a battle that cements the two as the new leaders of Rome. Throughout all these actions, one man particularly showed that he should control the Roman Empire. Antony was created to be Rome’s leader in Julius Caesar, where William Shakespeare gave him inspirational abilities, persuasiveness, and fearlessness which are unparalleled.

Mark Antony, in the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, was a brave, intelligent, pleasure-loving, and cunning man. He was loyal to his friend, Caesar, whom he considered a true friend. He looked at life as a game in which he had a signified part to play, and played that part with excellent refinement and skill.

In the play Julius Caesar written by the whimsical, sophisticated William Shakespeare both beloved Brutus and noble Antony deliver their most thorough attempts to win over the delicate citizens of Rome into what they believed was correct. Brutus gave it a valiant effort in trying to convince the citizens that murdering the noble Caesar was the best thing to do for the people. In the end Brutus’ effort was not enough because Antony was able to turn every Roman against Brutus and the other deceitful conspirators during his speech with his extraordinary use of logos, pathos, and ethos.

There have been many rulers in history who have been betrayed by those they trust, but The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare,1959) still holds a special place in Western literature as one of the most enigmatic human beings to ever exist. Powerful men like Julius Caesar shaped the life and times of the late Roman Republic, just before Rome would officially become the Roman Empire on the crowning of Augustus as the first Roman emperor. Julius Caesar was a powerful general who expanded Rome's power and who was beloved by the people for his generous charity after his successful conquests. Despite knowing the story of Julius Caesar to some extent, most 16th/17th century English would not have ever visited Rome, nor would know what the Roman Republic was like, which presented a unique opportunity to William Shakespeare to create a play unlike any other he had created before. (Shakespeare Julius Caesar, 1599) Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is a reimagining of Rome from a Elizabethan point of view, and despite some inaccuracies, the play depicts an enlightening view on Roman life, and the life of the Roman general, Julius Caesar.

Mark Antony appeals to the audience by using a pathos strategy to make the audience feel something. In his speech he talks about how great of friends he was with Caesar and how devastated he is at his death. Caesar uses language like, “He was my friend” and “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar” to make the audience feel sympathetic towards him. He makes his pathos approach very clear when he starts to relate to the citizens by saying how he knew how much Caesar loved them and how they loved him too. This pathos strategy strengthens Antony’s appeal by making himself out to be an equal of the citizens rather than a higher authority.

Mark Antony’s use of rhetorical devices helped turn the crowd against the conspirators in multiple ways in the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. Mark Antony was Caesar’s best friend and right hand man. Caesar was killed by the conspirators because they thought he was ambitious and was trying to take all the power and become king. The conspirators gave Antony specific rules for what he could and could not say when he gave his speech at Caesar’s funeral. Mark Antony’s use of motifs, personality traits, and rhetorical devices such as the appeal to ethos, logos, and pathos, and repetition in Julius Caesar help convince the crowd to rebel against the conspirators.

Mark Antony’s speech following Julius Caesar’s assassination uses his own understanding of ethos, pathos, and logos to make the crowd feel his pain and play effectively into his own motivations unknowingly. As Mark Antony delivers his speech to the crowd of plebeians his purpose and motivation is revealed when in context before the actual speech is delivered when Antony says, “A curse shall light upon the limbs of men; Domestic fury and fierce civil strife Shall cumber all the parts of Italy;” (III.i.262-264).Antony’s motives have been uncovered to reveal his desire for a civil war that will bring him more power and throughout his speech he is also trying to disprove those, in his opinion, false accusations of ambition Caesar’s murderers have given as cause for his death.

Antony, another Julius Caesar character, employs three Machiavellian skills: using fickleness to his advantage,“...while you treat them well, they are yours” (Prince 3), and ruling by fear. Antony’s objective was revenge toward the conspirators for killing Caesar. Antony also successfully used the fickleness of the Roman people to his advantage. After Brutus explained why the conspirators had killed Caesar, the crowd was understanding and agreed with the conspirator’s actions. The Roman peasants are convinced; they even want Brutus as their new emperor, with better qualities than Caesar. The plebians say, “Caesar’s better parts / Shall be crowned in Brutus” (3.2.54-55). But the level of the masses’ support for Brutus did not deter Antony’s opinion of the wrongdoing of the conspirators. In Antony’s speech, he spoke both confidently and assertively, which led to Antony convincing the crowd to support his cause and fight against the conspirators. Additionally, in Machiavellian style, Antony understands the crowd’s perspective; they need praise to believe in Antony’s cause. Antony appeased the Roman masses when Antony

Julius Caesar’s, one of the main leaders of Ancient Rome, reign was short lived because some of his fellow leaders, including his best friend, Brutus, murdered him. Mark Antony, a Roman politician, general, and ally of this leader, gives a speech at his funeral in William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar. Antony’s purpose is to convince the people of Rome that Brutus and his men wrongfully murdered Caesar. He adopts a sarcastic and snarky tone in order to convince the public that Brutus and his “honorable men” are not the noble, just people that they call themselves. Mark Antony delivers a speech at Julius Caesar’s funeral to persuade his audience that Brutus and his men unjustifiably murdered Caesar.

In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony was known to be a noble man, but soon after he conveyed the speech to the plebians it all changed from there. Brutus and the conspirators killed Caesar because they felt if Caesar stayed leader he would bring Rome to a down fall. During Caesar’s funeral, Brutus made a mistake of letting Mark Antony speak at Caesar’s funeral. At this point, his mistake allowed Antony to turn on him and the conspirators and get the plebeians to turn on the conspirators. Mark Antony uses the word ¨honorable¨, the will, and the body of Caesar as a way to persuade the plebeians to turn against the conspirators.

Shakti Gawain once said, "You create opportunities by asking for them." In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” Mark Antony can be described as one who changes his approach to the conspirators and Caesar’s death, questioning his trust. A ruthless opportunist can be described as one who adjusts his values in a certain situation for a certain purpose, uses others for his gain, and does not consider the principles or consequences. Whether it was his persuasion or his passion, Antony knew how to win a crowd and how to manipulate those involved in Caesar’s death such as the conspirators for his own purpose: to gain power. Mark Antony, therefore, can be described as a ruthless opportunist, seeking whatever it may be that will grant him power from the death of Julius Caesar.

The lust of power is intoxicating and dangerous as it is seductive and on March 15, 44 BC, Mark Antony found out how dangerous power was. With the death of Caesar, chaos ensued and people tried to make their way into positions of power and Mark Antony was one of them. I believe that Mark Antony was motivated by his lust for power for three reasons: he is a politician, the temptation, and his skills as an orator.

The tragic and untimely death of Julius Caesar, a condemned Roman tyrant, triggered William Shakespeare's creativity. In his play Julius Caesar Shakespeare writes of the treacherous conspirators, Marcus Brutus and Caius Cassius, and their plans to assassinate their Roman leader, Julius Caesar. The story continues to explain how Caesar's loyal friend, Marc Antony, helps avenge the brutal murder. After Antony receives soldiers to fight his battle, his character begins to change. The  fair and faithful Marc Antony transforms to a darker and more deceitful character. Marc Antony is not suitable to rule Rome because he holds a grand desire of great power, his conceit

William Shakespeare, one of the most profound writers in all of history, skillfully used the character of Mark Antony in his play, Julius Caesar, in order to verify true the theme that loyalty and respect are two of the most extremely convincing tactics. He demonstrates the power of speech as he is manipulating words in order to prove a certain point in the speaker’s favor, whoever that may be. Mark Antony was a man who enjoyed spending the majority of his time at extravagant parties and receiving everything he wanted at his sudden demand. Shakespeare created Antony to be an expert in speech manipulation, which ended up making Julius Caesar to be what