"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?" Act II, Scene II of Romeo and Juliet. For centuries William Shakespeare has been influencing society. We perform his plays, quote his writings, analyze his sonnets. One of his very first, and most common productions being Julius Caesar. In every act of Shakespeare’s plays, there is a leader that shows skills that make him or her perfect for their job. In Julius Caesar, one of these leaders in Marc Antony. Marc Antony would be a strong leader because he has two important traits that the audience can see through his words and actions throughout the play. He is fiercely loyal, to his friends, countrymen, leaders, and to Rome. And, he is respectful to everyone, even his enemies. These two traits are …show more content…
This is one of Marc Antony's strongest characteristics as it helps him triumph in war, rally the Romans, earn respect, and become a leader of Rome. One of the best examples we see of Antony's quick thinking is after Caesar dies. Brutus leaves to speak to the other Roman citizens, and leaves Antony to talk to the citizens after Brutus convinces them that, "I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I slew him." Act III, Scene II of Julius Caesar. He convinces them that killing Caesar was the best . Antony speaks to the citizens and is able- without angering the people further, making them hate him, or dishonoring Brutus openingly- to convince them that the conspirators are in the wrong. He does this in a number of ways, all proving him to be very convincing and intelligent. Antony helps the people of Rome remember the good Caesar has done for Rome, and reminds them of how he denied the crown offered to him three times. He shows them the body of Caesar, emphasizing the holes and blood, saying, "Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through: See what a rent the envious Casca made: Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd;" Act III, Scene II of Julius Caesar. He captures them with the revealing of Caesar's will, and then entices them into listening to him by promising to show them what Caesar had written. A …show more content…
Some flaws can make you a good or a bad leader, depending on how they are used or directed. One of these such traits is ambition. Marc Antony was very ambitious, which could have been very good for him as leader, but he was so ambitious that he killed his own family members. This is very important, because he does this to not anger his fellow rulers of Rome. If someone is willing to kill off their own family, then how can one know they will not kill others to stay in power? The audience could say this makes him unfit to lead. This argument is not valid, because we see that his being a ruler of Rome and having no bad feelings between him and his fellow leaders allows them to win in the end. They work together to bring justice, and without justice there is disorder. And when you are a leader, disorder can turn others against you. This is why this is not a weakness or flaw that interferes with him being a loyal, strategic, respectful, and intelligent leader in the story of Julius
George Reuss Linda Comm Honors English 10 14 April 2023 Antony’s Persuasiveness “If you wish to win a man over to your ideas, first make him your friend.” This is a quote from Abraham Lincoln, and it can be applied to Antony’s speech during Caesar’s funeral. Antony begins his speech using ethos to try and befriend the crowd before applying into logos and pathos to completely win the crowd over. In the story The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, Antony’s goal in this speech is to persuade the unruly and confused crowd to be in support of him and Caesar, and not the conspirators.
By asking questions such as, "Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?" (Act III, Scene II), Antony highlights the contradictions and hypocrisies present in the statements made by Brutus and his co-conspirators. Moreover, Antony's repeated emphasis on Caesar's virtues and his loyalty to Rome serve to further engender the crowd's affection towards him. In doing so, Antony is able to gain the support of the masses, ultimately leading to a chaotic and violent uprising against the conspirators. His skillful employment of rhetorical questions and his masterful use of language play a crucial role in swaying the opinions of the Roman
Mark Antony helped persuade the crowd by pulling out Julius Caesar’s robe and will. He showed that Caesar’s robe had many stab wounds and that Caesar’s will was very generous to the people of Rome. Caesar left land to the poor people of Rome. The will showed that he was kind. The robe showed that he was stabbed in the back by the senators.
Antony uses a greater variety of rhetorical devices than Brutus does in his speech, ultimately leading him to a more successful outcome. Although Brutus does get the people to understand his motive for the assassination of Caesar, Antony quickly undoes everything that Brutus had accomplished with his speech. Antony manages to divert the minds of the people away from everything they were just convinced of, and then completely alters the people’s perspective to fit his views and reasoning. Overall, Antony does this by strategically using a handful of different rhetorical questions in his speech. He first utilizes ethos in order to establish his credibility and principles before he proceeds any further, which the man does on purpose in order to gain the plebians’ trust.
Antony's recognition of opportunities that will benefit him is like no other. When encountering Caesar's dead body surrounded by the conspirators, Antony says “I know not, gentlemen, what you intend, Who else must be let blood, who else is rank. If I myself, there is no hour so fit.” (III.i.151-153). Antony recognizes this is the perfect opportunity to submit to the conspirator's authority to seem less of an enemy and more of an ally to them, so he offers them his life.
Julius Caesar was a politician, general, and dictator. He once said, “It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.” He was an incredible speaker of the time and was very well liked by most citizens. He brought a lot of change to Rome and was a very strong leader. Julius Gaius Caesar was born in Rome Italy, in 100 B.C., on July 13th.
When it comes to murder, the culprit almost always rationalizes his or her actions to make them seem innocent in the situation. The murderer usually rationalizes their actions by using the victim's characteristics and using that to measure the value of the victim's life. In the play Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, Brutus and others decide to kill Caesar to protect the citizens of their home for they fear Caesar and his “ambition” would enslave the people of Rome. After they murder Caesar, Brutus speaks to the people to explain his actions and Mark Antony, one of Caesar's close companions, speaks on Caesar's behalf. Mark Antony was able to use rhetorical strategies better than Brutus in his speech in order to gain a level of
Although Caesar, as the upcoming ruler of Rome in Julius Caesar, should be portrayed as the ideal leader of the play, he actually has too arrogant of a character to be so. Therefore, Shakespeare places honor in Brutus and allows Brutus to have the role of the idealistic leader of the story. Although Shakespeare writes this play in a controversial time period during England’s political turmoil, he allows the audience to be able to choose the true ruler of loyalty to the crown or the honor of a noble man through the understanding of the two contrasting character
The final reason why Julius Caesar was a villain is the fact that he took action first without thinking about what the consequences would be. Some people might say that Caesar was a hero because he conquered new lands and saved Rome from the hardships of war. Except Caesar, like stated before, only cared about fame and wealth so, he sought out to conquer new lands when really he just started the wars and put Rome in a zone of danger. He started unnecessary wars without thinking about how the rise of taxes (due to the war) would affect the economic part of Rome and it’s citizens.
In the beginning of his speech, he attempts to gain their trust by saying, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” (3.2.82). This remark now makes the Romans feel as they are all one, as well as Antony. It also confirmed to the Plebeians that he was on their side and was trustworthy. Also in his speech, Antony questions them by asking, “ Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?” (3.2.99).
Antony’s manipulative behavior intensified during this scene as he attempted to persuade Brutus into allowing him to speak at Caesar’s funeral, which had major consequences later in the act. Another group that Marc Antony successfully persuaded was the citizens of Rome. After the citizens praised Brutus for his honorable speech, Marc Antony presented Caesar’s body to the crowd, revealing each fatal stab wound that shattered the beloved Caesar. Antony’s crying and speech about Caesar’s accomplishments appealed to the citizens’ sympathy, which later escalated into anger. He used his strength of public speaking to convince the crowd that his intentions were in their favor.
Julius Caesar Zakary Powers Julius Caesar, leader of Rome, had a overwhelming ego and it is shown many times throughout the play of, “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”. One of the times Julius Caesar showed his overwhelming ego was towards the beginning of the play when the soothsayer warns Caesar about the “ides of march”. The second time Julius shows his ego is when he says that he is not afraid of anybody - and people may talk behind his back, but never to his face as they would be too scared. The third time Julius shows his ego when he ignores his wife’s caution and worries about going to the Senate. Julius Caesar overall is seen to be arrogant and he has a very large ego.
Leadership is a key part in Julius Caesar because without it, many of the significant events in the play would not have occurred. Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, and Antony all play the role of a leader in the middle of all the confusion in Rome, however, some characters are careless and would not be good leaders. It is often seen that great leaders have great qualities that allow them to lead well, but also are able to fight through obstacles, while there are some leaders who lack those qualities and lead poorly. A poor leader would be Caesar because he is hungry for more power and only thinks of himself and not of others.
In public, Caesar was the leader Rome had always wished for, a strong, valliant man that would let nothing in his way. Consequently, Caesar had a more vulnerable side to him where the reader would be able to see glimpses of throughout the play. Still, Caesar allowed his public self image to take priority in which would eventually lead to his death. Speaking historically, the great Julius Caesar was a people’s leader with a deep hunger for power in which he would do anything to
There are two reasons why Antony gave this speech. The first was to get back at Brutus for murdering his beloved friend, and making him pay for it. The main reason Antony gave this speech is because he had a greed for power. He thought that if he could get all the plebeians on his side, that they would attack the conspirators and trust Antony, therefore making it easy to take on the spot for power. “Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, Like wrath in death and envy afterwards, For Antony is but a limb of Caesar.