Mark Antony's Funeral Oration
- Submitted by: NicholasBemmulla
- Views: 580
- Category: English: Shakespeare
- Date Submitted: 06/16/2013 06:10 PM
- Pages: 6
- Report this Essay
http://perso.wanadoo.es/claudiaines/efb/bcn-onlineexercises-beg.htmMark Mark Antony’s Funeral Oration
Who is Mark Antony? Mark Antony is a remarkable character in William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, who remains Caesar’s true friend even after his death, in spite of the fact that his life too is threatened by the scheming conspirators. His explosive oratory mobilizes the public opinion to overturn the primary aim of the conspirators and punish them with death for the crime of murdering the Roman dictator.
How does Antony bring about a complete u-turn change in the public opinion, which approved the assassination of Caesar after listening to Brutus’ speech? The secret is behind his subtle art of public speaking and excellent verbal capability which finally convince the crowd that the murder of Caesar is a grave crime and the perpetrators are traitors.
Oratory alone is not sufficient to bring about such a massive transformation in the behavioural pattern of the people. It works in combination with a flawless design of several essential components. The aim of this article is to discover how the various parts of the design are fitted into the whole to give the expected result.
As soon as Caesar is assassinated, Antony leaves the Capitol and remains under cover. It is, no doubt, a tactical move. Sometime later, he sends a message to Brutus, with great humility, to say that he will co-operate with him provided he satisfies him as regards the reasons which forced him to kill Caesar.
If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony
May safely come to him and be resolved
How Caesar hath deserved to lie in death,
Mark Antony shall not love Caesar dead
So well as Brutus living, but will follow Act3.i.140-145
This is the most important link of the master-plan. At the time Antony sends this message to Brutus, he had firmly decided to eliminate those who killed his friend. His idea is to incite the rabble and take revenge on Caesar’s assassinators through its means.
And Caesar’s...
Who is Mark Antony? Mark Antony is a remarkable character in William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, who remains Caesar’s true friend even after his death, in spite of the fact that his life too is threatened by the scheming conspirators. His explosive oratory mobilizes the public opinion to overturn the primary aim of the conspirators and punish them with death for the crime of murdering the Roman dictator.
How does Antony bring about a complete u-turn change in the public opinion, which approved the assassination of Caesar after listening to Brutus’ speech? The secret is behind his subtle art of public speaking and excellent verbal capability which finally convince the crowd that the murder of Caesar is a grave crime and the perpetrators are traitors.
Oratory alone is not sufficient to bring about such a massive transformation in the behavioural pattern of the people. It works in combination with a flawless design of several essential components. The aim of this article is to discover how the various parts of the design are fitted into the whole to give the expected result.
As soon as Caesar is assassinated, Antony leaves the Capitol and remains under cover. It is, no doubt, a tactical move. Sometime later, he sends a message to Brutus, with great humility, to say that he will co-operate with him provided he satisfies him as regards the reasons which forced him to kill Caesar.
If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony
May safely come to him and be resolved
How Caesar hath deserved to lie in death,
Mark Antony shall not love Caesar dead
So well as Brutus living, but will follow Act3.i.140-145
This is the most important link of the master-plan. At the time Antony sends this message to Brutus, he had firmly decided to eliminate those who killed his friend. His idea is to incite the rabble and take revenge on Caesar’s assassinators through its means.
And Caesar’s...