Explore Shakespeare's Presentation of the Three Great Leaders: Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Through the Changing Fortunes of Acts Iii and Iv. Explain How the Balance of Audience Sympathy Shifts

Humanity has become the most dominant species on Earth due to our high intelligence and communication skills but our communication can also be used to easily manipulate and convince. This manipulation is shown when, Mark Antony delivered a deeply passionate and articulate speech at Caesar’s funeral, altering the political dynamics of the Rome in William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. Antony uses his words to influence the Roman people. He effectively uses rhetorical devices to prove his point and gain the support of the citizens. Antony also uses the rhetorical device of Pathos to invoke emotion in the crowd and Ethos to use Brutus’ and the conspirator’s reputation against them.

Antony uses an abundance of pathos in his speech. One example is: “Caesar was my friend and just to me” (III, ii, 86). Using pathos helps the audience make connections with him. He also reads Caesar’s will which makes the people feel guilty about turning against Caesar during Brutus’ speech. He shows them the stabs wounds on Caesar’s coat and names which conspirator stabbed him. The Roman people now feel pity and anger towards the conspirators. Overall, Antony was smart with his words and won over the Roman people better than

　　By keeping his listeners thoroughly engaged, Antony is able to further develop on his purpose by utilizing diverse rhetorical devices. Near the beginning, he makes effective use of parallelism to list Caesar’s selfless deeds, like “when that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept”, which gives the effect that the list is so long that Antony cannot describe it in unique detail. Additionally, his parallel repetition of “Brutus says he was ambitious and Brutus is an honorable man” serves as sarcasm. By repeating each good action with these two lines, Antony is getting the audience to contrast Caesar’s endless good deeds with Brutus’s repetitive and conflicting argument. Further on in the speech, Antony uses proslepsis somewhat obviously to reveal Caesar’s will to the people. He tells them that he found “a parchment with the seal of Caesar...tis his will”, yet quickly stops himself from telling anymore. Therefore, the audience is intrigued by the will and its mention reengages any listeners who

Julius Caesar, a tale of a great leader that was evidently taken down in the worst way. Julius Caesar was one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays; showing how a leader should present himself, and his people. It really is magnificent; except, Julius Caesar does have a dark side. Friends that Caesar trusted, with Brutus as the leader, stabbed Caesar to death and bathed in his blood. They went on to make sure that Caesar was determined, as Brutus says, “ambitious” (III.ii.24). Though, this play is not all sadness and woes. Marc Antony, a great friend of Caesar’s, turned the tables on his unjust death. When he goes to give his eulogy, he uses pathos, logos, and ethos, to persuade the people. By using these rhetorical strategies, he was able

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.

Even in the hardest times, Antony shows honor through his actions. The very first time Antony is introduced to the reader, he shows his nobility to Caesar. He responds to Caesar’s simple request by saying, “when

Antony did not have such an elite status in his play up until Caesar died, but many peasants called Antony noble throughout Julius Caesar. For example, they said, "There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony," (Shakespeare 3.2.114). Thus, Antony was considered noble even by the common man. His noble reputation was further established by his devout commitment to Caesar. Antony's loyalty to Caesar is first made apparent when he offers Caesar the crown. Casca exclaimed, "I saw Mark Antony offer him a crown," (Shakespeare 1.2.236-237) which is a simple gesture with a powerful message. It shows the people that Antony is no foe to Caesar and wishes to see his friend succeed as leader. No jealousy or scheme to overthrow Caesar was hinted at by Antony. Moreover, he vouched to die when Caesar did: "I shall not find myself so apt to die; No place will please me

This makes the Romans feel furious and loved, because Antony says Caesar cared about them, and they are furious because they believe a great leader was

In the first part of Antony’s speech, he begins speaking about his thoughts on who Caesar was, as well as who the conspirators are as people. He then goes on speaking about what Brutus had mentioned when he told the commoners why Caesar had to die.

Shakespeare creates an image of Caesar being an unkind, selfish, and ambitious leader. For example, in the beginning he returns from a successful military campaign. The people are celebrating in the streets; however, two of Caesar’s government officials Hannah and Emily point out the negatives of the situation instead of looking at the positive attributes. They say that Caesar is somewhat traitorous for killing Pompey, who was one of his fellow triumvirs. He also implies that the people are fickle and should not be celebrating the murder of one of their previous leaders whom they loved very much. In this scene and many others, Shakespeare makes it seem as if Julius Caesar is arrogant and feels that he is superior to everyone else. For instance, towards the beginning when the crow is

We’ll revenge his death!/ O royal Caesar!” (III.ii. 65-67, 239-240). While Antony pretended to be an ally of the conspirators, he thoroughly spoke how Caesar was not ambitious and Brutus was not a noble man, manipulating the audience that Brutus is wrong and that Caesar was a good leader. As a result, being able to turn the people’s back against Brutus and the conspirators despite Brutus’s great image, indicates the power that Antony had to become a leader, but also his manipulation that can harm and mislead the people of

After the death of Julius Caeser Mark Antony and Brutus both give a speech at his funeral. Mark Antony's speech is known as one of the most dramatic scenes in the play. Mark Antony was a good friend of Caeser's and believed he was wrongly assassinated and in his speech he makes the crowd believe that too. In Mark Antony's speech his goal is to start a riot amongst the Roman people and he succeeds that when the people of Rome form a mob and rebel against the conspirators believing that Caeser was wrongly assassinated. In Brutus's speech he tries to justify his actions to the people of Rome and make them feel good about having a new leader. Brutus says "not that I loved Caeser less, but that I loved Rome more." trying to turn the crowd to take

Before the audience meets Antony, Shakespeare presents us with two soldiers discussing Antony’s current debauched life. This is dramatically effective staging because they are acting

Antony and Cleopatra is a fable about the destructive duality of Antony's character. Shakespeare uses gender bending as a device to portray Antony's transformation from Roman to Egyptian. This transformation causes constant conflict between Antony the Roman defined by empire and duty and Antony the Egyptian defined by folly and lust. This duality finally proves to be fatal. Antony and Cleopatra is one of Shakespeare’s Roman plays. It is a tragedy about Antony one of the triumvirates who rule the world who falls in love with, and has an affair with Cleopatra the seductive queen of Egypt. Throughout the whole of the play Antony is caught in a tug-of-war between Antony the lover and Antony the leader.

Shakespeare’s Presentation of Rome and Egypt in Antony and Cleopatra As the title clearly suggests, Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra is based around the extraordinary relationship among two distinctive individuals, one a Roman general and the other an Egyptian queen. Along with Caesar who is also a Roman general, these entities dominate the play’s tragic storyline progression. However whilst Antony and Cleopatra centres around a provocative love affair, Shakespeare makes it evident that there is a good deal larger tensions involved, a collision course between two worlds. Antony and Cleopatra details the conflict between Rome and Egypt, it demonstrates the differences between Eastern and Western