http://www.schooltube.com/video/53efe6c2cf1bb89f9e82/
Background
Claims
Brutus had just spoken saying that Caesar was a Tyrant. However, Brutus was one of Caesar's assassins. In Shakespeare's play, Antony spoke after him in order to argue against his point.
- Caesar has a passion for serving the impoverished people (line 19).
- Caesar refused a crown, so he was not ambitious, as Brutus claims (line 24).
- From the Gallic Wars, he brought back many captives, increasing revenue for Rome (lines 16-17).
- The people have lost their reason regarding their perception of Caesar (line 33).
Style
Purpose
Shakespeare's Mark Antony speech is an eulogy to Julius Caesar. It is a piece of ceremonial discourse as well as a causal argument.
Rhetorical Strategies
Rhetorical Question
Parallelism
Repetition
epistrophe, Anadiplosis, and repetend
he deserves to be remembered in a positive way.
Caesar was not ambitious and was a good ruler.
Appeals
This speech is an eulogy to Caesar. One of the main purposes was to refute the claim made by Brutus that Caesar was an ambitious tyrant. To prove that Caesar did not deserve to be remembered distastefully. To remind the audience that Caesar was a great ruler who should be remembered in that way.
- In lines thirty to thirty-one he writes, "You all did love him once, not without cause/ what cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?" (Shakespeare 3.2).
Shakespeare uses rhetorical question to posit the main issues of antony's argument. two of the important questions he asks are in lines eighteen and thirty-one.
In line 12, Shakespeare acknowledges the piece as a eulogy by saying, "Come I to Speak at Caesar's funeral," (Shakespeare, 3.2).
Argument
- Different forms of repetition are used countless times in the Mark Antony Speech. The two most frequently used words are honourable and ambitious. These words are significant to the speech because they are the basis for the main argument.
- Epistrophe is evident in lines ten, eleven, fifteen, twenty-two, and twenty-seven, which all end in the phrase, "honourable man" or "honorable men," (Shakespeare, 3.2).
- Anadiplosis is exemplified in line eleven, which states, "So are they all, all honourable men," (Shakespeare, 3.2).
- Repetend is found in lines fourteen through fiteen and twenty-six through twenty-seven, where the sequence of two lines is repeated almost exactly.
Ethos: Antony establishes himself as a reasonable and logical speaker. He also emphasizes his respect for brutus, which proves his character to the audience. (line 28).
- Contrast (lines 3-4)
- Rhetorical Question (lines 18 and 31)
- Epimone (lines 18 and 25)
- Repetend (lines 14-15, 26-27)
- Allusion (line 32)
- Metaphor (line 34)
- Epistrophe (lines 10, 11, 15, 22, 27)
- Anadiplosis (line 11)
- Personification (line 3)
- Alliteration (line 20)
- Repetition (lines 6, 14, 18, 20, 21, 25, 26, 10, 11, 15, 22, 27)
- Parallelism (lines 14-15, 19)
Parallelism is used by Shakespeare in the speech to make the argument more compelling. The consistent use of language makes the style very sophisticated and establishes Antony's position as one of merit
- One example of parallelism is found in line nineteen, where Shakespeare writes, "When the poor hath cried, Caesar hath wept," (Shakespeare, 3.2).
- This sentence displays parallelism to establish the close connection between the emotions of Caesar and the poor.
- Parallelism is also found in lines fourteen to fifteen.
Caesar deserves to be praised rather than hated because he was a good leader without being ambitious.
- In line eighteen he writes, "Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?" (Shakespeare, 3.2).
- In line thirty-one he asks, "What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?" (Shakespeare, 3.2).
Shakespeare writes in line twenty-eight, "I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke/ But here I am to speak what I do know," (Shakespeare, 3.2).
- Shakespeare writes in line twenty, "Ambition should be made of sterner stuff," (Shakespeare, 3.2).
logos: Inductive reasoning- Antony lists what Caesar did for Rome.
Pathos: Antony Explains that caesar was a good friend, and is overcome with emotion at the end of the speech. (line 13, 34-35).
Audience
This scene takes place in the Roman Forum. Mark Antony is addressing the people of Rome.
- In line one he addresses his audience, "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;" (Shakespeare, 3.2).
Mark Antony Speech
- Ad hominem
- Antony attests to Brutus' character and dwells on his personal characteristics rather than focusing on Caesar.
- It can be inferred from this that the character of Antony was angry at Brutus.
works cited
"Figures of Repetition." Figures of Repetition. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. <http://rhetoric.byu.edu/figures/groupings/of%20repetition.htm>.
Shakespeare, William . "Shakespeare: Speech of Antony." Shakespeare: Speech of Antony. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. <http://www.ibiblio.org/ais/speechan.htm>.
In line ten, Shakespeare writes, "for brutus is an honourable man," (Shakespeare 3.2)
- He repeats brutus' name eight times, the same number of times as he references caesar by name.
From Shakespeare's Julius Caesar