The Tragedy of Julius Caesar- Mark Antony Monologue Analysis
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- Category: English: Shakespeare
- Date Submitted: 04/06/2011 08:35 PM
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Antony’s Rollercoaster
Many emotions encumber Antony’s suffering with the loss of his friend and mentor. Shakespeare takes the reader through every curve and trough of the emotional rollercoaster Antony is with extensive use of imagery, metaphor, and tone. By doing this, it allows the reader to get a sense of his plight, from the initial mournful sorrow that grows to anger, ultimately evolving to unbridled violent rage.
Antony’s tone of metaphor allow one to realize what Caesar meant to him, grasping the sorrow that eventually snowballs into brash, violent thoughts. As if he were speaking to his god, he starts by humbling himself, “O pardon me,” before a series of generously exaggerated flattery, “the ruins of the noblest man.” Ruins: dying, decay of the man and empire that was Julius Caesar, as ruins generally were once something classically magnificent. And as a mother tiger wails over a killed cub, he “curses” or “prophesizes” a vengeful bloodbath for the “butchers” that “shed this costly blood,” for this will not be easily dismissed. Like a prophet swearing righteous war for his god, Antony proclaims his visions of misery, “Fury and civil strife shall cumber all the parts of Italy,” as rationality fades, the scope of his fury widens from the few butchers responsible to the whole land. Word choices like “blood,” destruction,” and “hands of war” create a violent vengeful tone. Even describes Caesar’s spirit on the hunt, Antony displays frantic rage over the loss of what he describes as a “piece of earth.”
Antony’s language submerges the reader in the emotional storm he is swept up in; Shakespeare uses imagery relating to all five senses. Capturing what he sees and how it calls him to action as he describes Caesar’s wounds, “like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips to beg the voice and utterance of my tongue,” the reader practically sees Caesar’s wounds speaking to him, compelling him to do or say something in reaction to this injustice. He preaches how...
Many emotions encumber Antony’s suffering with the loss of his friend and mentor. Shakespeare takes the reader through every curve and trough of the emotional rollercoaster Antony is with extensive use of imagery, metaphor, and tone. By doing this, it allows the reader to get a sense of his plight, from the initial mournful sorrow that grows to anger, ultimately evolving to unbridled violent rage.
Antony’s tone of metaphor allow one to realize what Caesar meant to him, grasping the sorrow that eventually snowballs into brash, violent thoughts. As if he were speaking to his god, he starts by humbling himself, “O pardon me,” before a series of generously exaggerated flattery, “the ruins of the noblest man.” Ruins: dying, decay of the man and empire that was Julius Caesar, as ruins generally were once something classically magnificent. And as a mother tiger wails over a killed cub, he “curses” or “prophesizes” a vengeful bloodbath for the “butchers” that “shed this costly blood,” for this will not be easily dismissed. Like a prophet swearing righteous war for his god, Antony proclaims his visions of misery, “Fury and civil strife shall cumber all the parts of Italy,” as rationality fades, the scope of his fury widens from the few butchers responsible to the whole land. Word choices like “blood,” destruction,” and “hands of war” create a violent vengeful tone. Even describes Caesar’s spirit on the hunt, Antony displays frantic rage over the loss of what he describes as a “piece of earth.”
Antony’s language submerges the reader in the emotional storm he is swept up in; Shakespeare uses imagery relating to all five senses. Capturing what he sees and how it calls him to action as he describes Caesar’s wounds, “like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips to beg the voice and utterance of my tongue,” the reader practically sees Caesar’s wounds speaking to him, compelling him to do or say something in reaction to this injustice. He preaches how...