"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears." Thus begins one of the most famous speeches in the history of literature. Mark Antony begins his tactical and well-oriented manipulation of the crowd with the first of many sarcastic remarks: "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.". He's only started speaking, and he's already saying the exact opposite of what he means! Then, he moves on to the topic of Caesar's ambition. He seems to start or end every point with "But Brutus says he was ambitious, And Brutus is an honorable man." This is the equivalent of saying "Well, what actually happened is one thing, but Brutus' word is far more important. What you see with your own eyes, counts for something, but if Brutus says the opposite, that makes it so, for Brutus is an honorable man." Antony points out how Caesar brought so many captives back to Rome, how he wept along with the poverty stricken, and how he turned down the crown not once, not twice, but three times. After pointing out Caesar's positive traits and dispelling the negative ones, he plants the seeds of doubt by saying "You all loved him once, and not without reason. Then what reason holds you back from mourning him now?", then excuses himself for a moment, possibly to regain his composure, but more likely to give the crowd time to think about what he has said, turning it over in their minds, and discussing it between themselves. Then he continues his speech, stirring up rage against the the conspirators. But let's go back a moment, back to the first part of the speech, the part inspiring love for Caesar, and to an extent, himself. Speaking the exact opposite of what one means seems to be a rather roundabout way to get one's point across. It appears that it would only confuse, but by the speech's end his meaning becomes crystal clear. Was it convincing? Take a look at the play: before Antony spoke, the crowd was shouting "Live, Brutus! Live, live!" and "Give him a statue with his ancestors!", while after Antony spoke, every last plebeian cried "Revenge! Let’s go after them! Seek! Burn! Set fire! Kill! Slay! Leave no traitors alive!" I think that the play speaks for itself.
-McKinley :D
really good detail! the only thing i saw wrong is sometimes when you add to many quotes it becomes a little confusing. but really good besides that!
ReplyDeleteE;-)
I really liked how you started your paragraph with the words that Anthony used when he started his speech.
ReplyDeleteReally Good. I liked how you pointed out that Antony probably didn't really need to compose himself, he just wanted the people to think about what he said.
ReplyDeleteStephanie Silvers:)