Julius Caesar Mark Antonys Speech

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

-ENGLISH ORAL

10mins

- puppet play

Subject: Julius Caesar Mark Antony’s speech to children

1st part: 1 min brief introduction

- Jovi with puppet talking abt the old speech

- Unnati dont understand *

- Jovi : Lets break it down and explain

- Unna: how to make it effective?*

- Explaination

- Jovi : lets start!

2nd part: 8 min

- Parallel line ; old ver & new ver.

( shows the effect )

3rd part: 2 min

- conclusion - awesome shakespeare’s work, we nee`d modern stuff to make ppl understand today .

Jovi : Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him...

The evil that men do lives after them;

The good is oft interred with their bones;

Unnati : I think this might be a little heavy for today’s generation. They will not understand what mark antony was trying to say in this speech. They won't see the beauty of words and language shakespeare poured into this speech to make it so effective.

Jovi : Um, then what if we break this down into smaller parts and translate it in today’s language?

Unnati : Yes but We also want to explain the effects shakespeare was trying to create in the speech.

J: We can talk about the language features Shakespeare used as we translate the speech.

U: That is brilliant! That way they will not only understand the speech but also see how shakespeare made it into the artifact that it truly is.

J : So we all remember Mark antony's speech is an excerpt from a play by Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. The play tells what happened in Rome in 44 BC : Caesar proclaimed himself emperor, but he is killed by conspirators, and there is a subsequent war between the political leaders : Brutus, Cassius, Mark Antony and Octavius.

U: Julius Caesar is a play deeply concerned with the idea of rhetoric, or persuasion. The play is driven by persuasion. Cassius convinces Brutus that Caesar must die, setting the story in motion. The resolution of the plot is decided by Antony's speech to the plebeians. Shakespeare sees rhetoric as one of the most powerful forces in the world; able to topple kings and crown them. The play, Julius Caesar, examines what gives rhetoric its power by pitting Brutus's speech against Mark Antony's. Shakespeare shows Antony's rhetoric to be superior by the effect he has on the plebeians.

J : This particular scene takes place in the Forum. The conspirators, Brutus and Cassius, speak to the crowd, to announce Caesar's death and justify their crime. Antony, who was a friend of Caesar, tells the speech, trying to change the plebeians minds to support Caesar. While the crowd is on Brutus's side, throughout his speech, Antony manages to convince the crowd that Caesar is not to blame, contrary to Brutus, for he betrayed his adoptive father and emperor. He ends up getting a lot of respect from the people.Our presentation is aimed at showing how Shakespeare succeeds in writing a spectacular political speech, inserted in a play.

U: The exordium "Friends, Romans and countrymen" is classic.

• Friends - earn their trust.

• Romans and countrymen - respect and patriotism.

• Listing everything they all are- they are so many things. unifying his audience; "Romans" is repeated to emphasize their commonality

• He pleases them . • breaks into a silence.

• same triple construction -structure as Brutus’s - to establish he is on the same team

Where Brutus said "hear me for my cause, and be silent that you may hear"

Mark Antony chooses to say "lend me your ears" note the arrogance of "be silent" versus the mock humility of "lend me your ears."

J: Not only that - He calms them down by answering what they were all questioning in their heads. - I come to bury Caesar ,not to praise him because he knew that Romans at that moment were thinking of how Caesar was a bad man who deserved his misfortune, his death. For this, Antony made himself look as if he was one of the conspirators, or else the crowd would have never listened to him.

U: Modifying this to fit into our cultural and time context:

Friends, Hongkongnese, Countrymen, please give me all your attention

I have come here to bury Caesar, not to honour him.

J: You will see why we have used the word honour here as we go further with the speech. Moving on, Antony then says, " The evil that men do lives after him; The good is often interred with their bones;"

- repeating the same idea but with different wordings

He reminded the people that they are only recalling the few bad things Caesar had done over the great things Caesar brought to rome and the people.

U:So let it be with Caesar.

When mark antony says "so let it be with caesar" He puts Caesar on the same level as "Everyone" to show how down to earth Caesar really was.

U: All the bad one has done lives long, after they are gone.

However, their halo is often buried with them.

It might as well be the same with Caesar.

J: We used the same juxtaposition of two opposite ideas of evil and good but used "bad" against "halo" to emphasise how the angelic the things caesar did were as compared to the little bad things. We also used the metaphor as Shakespeares did to show how good things are gone and completely forgotten, just as one’s bones after death.

J: Antony then says " The noble Brutus

Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:

If it were so, it was a grievous fault,

And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it."

U: Antony then begins his dissection of Brutus’s logic and reasoning behind the assassination of Julius Caesar.

The repeating use of the word ambition and the questioning of whether Caesar truly had the ambition the conspirators labeled him with becomes a key point in Antony’s speech, which he uses to rouse the crowd around him.

If Caesar was ambitious (and Brutus the honorable man said he was), then it is right for him to be killed. No challenge yet to Brutus but

By bringing up the question of If, Antony has placed doubt of the honorable Brutus’ words in the crowds minds.

J: For Brutus is an honourable man

So are they all ; all honorable men"

Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.

- the repetition line throughout the whole speech

- contain an irony meaning

- written in parentheses and spoken as a remark about the conspirators

U: "So are they all ; all honorable men"

Now reminding the audience that Brutus was not alone, there was a whole group of what they called "honorable men" who so brutally assassinated the great ruler Julius Caesar, an act that was not at all noble.

J: Our translation for this is something like this.

U:The very noble and honourable Brutus had accused Caesar for being ambitious. If that truly is the case then it was a serious fault and Caesar seriously paid for it.

I only stand here in front of you with Brutus’s and his men’s permission, who are just as honourable as he is, to speak at Caesar’s funeral.

J: He was my friend, faithful and just to me.

But Brutus says he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honourable man.

- "friend, faithful" - words with positive meaning. showing that Caesar was faithful to Antony, giving some positive image to Caesar

- Repetition: honourable & ambitious

- Verbal Irony: Antony pointed out Caesar was a faithful friend, but the honourable Brutus said Caesar was ambitious..

- subtly, Antony is using his personal experience to counter Brutus's unsubstantiated charge of Caesar's ambition

- The audience now starts sensing the sarcasm that was intended.

U: He hath brought many captives home to Rome

-starts listing all the good Caesar had done which he stated in the beginning was "interred with his bones" , forgotten after his death, a murder.

- instead of saying " he hath brought many captives to rome" he uses the word "home" to emphasise that it was his home and therefore he loved it and only always did what was best for it. Also implying that all people living in it, the romans, were his family.

J: (evidence 1.)

Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:

Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?

- Use of rhetorical Questions, with giving some good facts that Caesar has done, proving Caesar wasn’t ambitious and letting the audience to think, was Caesar really ambitious?

-Though Antony never directly says that Caesar loved the people as he did Antony, he tells stories showing that this is true .Caesar brought back captives to Rome, filling the coffers with revenues. This doesn't seem to be a sign of ambitiousness.

U: When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:

-Again, not a very strong sign of ambition

- empathetic

- Using emotions . connecting with people. - showing how also Caesar was strong that he did not "cry" but he did have a soft side for his people , his Roman family.

J: (evidence 2.)

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honourable man.

-Repetition: incessantly reiterating this idea, this concept was gradually engraved in the crowd’s mind.

- Irony: using other fact to show that Caesar has great feelings towards the poors and the plebeians where he cried for them. Then he pointed out that the honourable Brutus said Caesar was ambitious, making the crowd felt that killing Caesar was a bad decision.

- By proving that Caesar wasn’t full of ambitions, at the same time, he used facts to proved that the conspirators weren’t honourable man either

U: You all did see that on the lupercal

I thrice presented him a kingly crown,

which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?

- No room for argument or denial " you ALL"- everyone "DID" - for certain "SEE" - seeing is believing

throughout Antony’s speech. Logos is using words to appeal to logical reason. He is able to state to his listeners the argument that Caesar was not ambitious because

-facts - 3 times!

- Rhetorical question- spur thoughts

- Repetition

By doing that, Antony carefully rebuts Brutus' statement that Caesar was ambitious and starts turning the crowd against the conspirators.

J: Continuing with the speech. Antony next says "Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;

and, sure, he is an honourable man.

-Repetition

- After using the rhetorical question asking the audience, does this kind of things should be take into account as an ambitious man? Then, he once again reminded plebeians that was the honourable Brutus said Caesar was ambitious, making the audience to reconsider the personality of Brutus.

This time the sarcasm is way too obvious for anyone who had been listening, which was everyone because he grabbed their attention and did not let it go for even a split second, using the word "sure" which even today is commonly used as a sarcastic response .

So all of this would translate to:

U : As you all know he was my friend, always faithful and just to me: but Brutus says he was ambitious; And brutus is an honorable man.

Not only was he my friend, he brought back infinite captives back home to us, to Rome, whose ransoms brought infinite wealth to his family, Romans. Was this what seemed ambitious in Caesar?

Whenever the poor cried in the streets, Caesar wept too. Ambition should not be so soft.

Yet Brutus claims he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honourable man. You all saw on the Lupercal Feast day I offered him the king’s crown three times, and he refused it all- three- times.

was THIS ambitious?

YET Brutus says he was ambitious; and , sure , no question, he is an honourable man.

J: The addition of "as you all know" to the fact that Caesar was a good friend to Brutus, does not allow the audience to question it and in fact agree with it even more.

The exaggeration in "infinite" to the number of captives and the wealth that made not only Caesar but Rome richer with their ransoms, a fact that was undeniable make the audience realise how big Caesar’s contributions to Rome were.

U: Antony then says " I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, But here I am to speak what I do know"

-Of course, he quickly adds that he speaks "not to disprove what Brutus spoke," but that is easily lost on the crowd.

- I think we can all pick up the irony here by now because that is exactly what he is doing " disproving what Brutus spoke" but I suppose technically not. This is what makes this speech such a clever speech. Afterall Mark Antony never disproves what Brutus spoke, only mocks, irony questions and subtly rebuts everything he accused Caesar of - all done by only speaking of "what he did know".

He then says, "You [the crowd] all did love him once, not without cause. What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?" This rhetorical question is against Brutus by questioning his speech when he betrayed Caesar. Now the crowd is starting to turn against the conspirators and follow Antony.

The language is both strong and emphatic, using words such as "do" and "did", "You all did love him once, not without cause (3.2.102)." Caesar's actions toward the people can only be described as friendly.By contrasting not only his own feelings with regard to Caesar with Brutus's words but the people's experience with Brutus's words, Antony is creating doubt in their minds.

J: O judgement! thou art fled to brutish beasts

and men have lost their reason. bear with me

My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,

- metaphor and exaggeration - "o judgement" - very emotional / dramatic

- pun "brutish beasts" - Brutish sounds like Brutus

U: he starts concluding with a blatant appeal to emotion, "My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar

- Metaphor - continuing to be very dramatic and full of emotions

And i must pause till it come back to me.

- Aposiopesis- caps off this part of speech. this is a form of ellipse where the speaker come to an abrupt halt, seemingly overcome by emotions. this clever trick made the plebeians thought that Antony was so sad and so depressed about Caesar’s death and need to take a rest for recovering.

- he falls silent while his heart "returns" to him. While that is happening, the people's hearts begin to be inflamed. Antony is succeeds.

J: this dramatic and emotional ending in our words would be

U: I am not here to disagree with Brutus has said, but I am certainly here to simply speak of what I do know. You all did indeed love Caesar once, not without a reason. Then what exactly is the reason that is holding you back from mourning from him now? Oh, reasoning! Men have become Brutish Beasts and lost their reason!

Please bear with me , my heart has stopped beating in my chest, it lies in that coffin with Caesar. I have to pause and wait for it to return to me.

J: So what we have all seen today in this speech is how

-Antony wanted the Romans to one, believe that Brutus betrayed Caesar

two, Praising Caesar but at the same time, respecting the ones who killed him.

and 3 Incite the crowd against Brutus

J: How it worked out:

Every time antony used repetition of the words ambitious and honourable, he gave a fact of what good things that Caesar has done and then he backed it up with "... But Brutus said he was ambitious.... And Brutus is an honourable man".

The logic behind Brutus’s speech was that Caesar was ambitious and Brutus and his men were honourable which made the assassination legitimate. Mark antony used these two very contradicting ideas. The more he repeated them the more the sarcasm was obvious and the more the legitimacy of the crime was doubtful.

Effect:

-The words seemed more sarcastic the more they are being said

- the word sounds worthless as it begins to sound tiresome and cause the plebeians to question about Brutus ‘s personality

-gave a negative meaning to honourable while giving a positive meaning to the word ambitious.

U: Mark Antony's argument is a great piece of rhetoric. He successfully accomplishes his object of convincing the plebeians that Brutus is a traitor. He has mastered the use of emotion, subtlety and logic. He uses emotional phrases which give him a connection with the emotion the crowd is feeling at the death of Caesar. He begins not by attacking Brutus, but by praising Caesar. This serves to give him a greater common ground with the crowd, who must have also remembered the things that Antony spoke of. He provides many counter-examples to Brutus's claim that Caesar was ambitious. These give warrant to the crowd's rejection of Brutus.

Lets not forget that Marcus Antony was merely a character, it is Shakespeare who displays that using persuasion and rhetoric is better than manipulation. In Marc Antony’s speech Synchoresis, a rhetorical technique of appearing to agree with those who are against you or disagree with you was His indirect way of showing the crowd his feelings makes his speech more effective. The crowd is guided but not forced to his conclusions so that when they accept his argument they feel like it is their own. Antony is ultimately the better orator because of his understanding of the crowd. Antony skillfully manipulates the crowd shows that words of wisdom can have alot more power than words of a fraud , words written by shakespeare and translated to you into our ( time and location appropriate) language using similar devices to create the same effect and better understanding of the piece. Hoping it was effective to you as Mark Antony’s speech was to his audience.