Question

how does antony motivate the romans to avenge the death of julius caesar?

Answer 1

Antony effectively stirs up the crowd’s emotions over the course of his speech: he won over the Roman citizens by effectively reasoning and persuading them of Caesar’s benevolence. One way Antony aroused the crowd’s emotions was by presenting the will Caesar had supposedly left the citizens. Antony claimed that “they would go and kiss dead Caesar’s wounds” if they heard ofwhat Caesar did for them. Antony enticed the crowd even more when he said “it is not meet you know how much Caesar loved you,” which only further captured the Romans attention. While he had the crowd’s attention, he questioned if he should really read the will for “he fears he wrongs the honorable men whose daggers have stabbed Caesar.” Antony implies that the wrongdoing committed by the conspirators is only viewed worse after the discovery of the generous will left behind by Caesar. The whole topic of the will convinces the Roman citizens that Caesar was an honorable man; the citizens now mourned his death, despising the cruel conspirators for brutally murdering Caesar. Antony’s mentioning of the will convinced the crowd that Caesar truly did care for the good of Rome and was not as ambitious as the conspirators claimed.

Antony also uses Caesar’s close relationship with Brutus as an aid for a point in his speech. Antony speaks about how Caesar trusted Brutus; Caesar was strongly betrayed by Brutus’s participation in his own death. Antony vividly describes Brutus’s betrayal by illustrating how Brutus stabbed Caesar, saying “and as he plucked his cursed steel away, Mark how the blood of Caesar had followed it,” which gives the Romans an image of Caesar’s well beloved Brutus turning completely against him. Antony states “Brutus was Caesar’s angel” and that “Caesar dearly loved him,” which also shows how Caesar’s profound trust in Brutus was in vain, enraging the citizens about Brutus’s lack of loyalty. Whenever Caesar saw Brutus as a part of the conspirators, “then burst his mighty heart,” and he was vanquished by ingratitude. Antony mainly wants the Roman citizens to realize that Brutus’s betrayal deeply hurt Caesar, and the reasons for his assassination were not valid: the conspirators were merely jealous. Antony gives Caesar a dignified appearance when defending him, and ultimately makes the conspirators seem envious.

Antony also talks about Caesar’s compassionate personality when trying to influence the crowd against Caesar’s assassins. Antony tells the captivated crowd that Caesar was not full of detrimental ambition and sarcastically states “Brutus is an honorable man.”Antony brings this up when he says “when the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept; Ambition should be mad of sterner stuff:” which clearly indicates Caesar had a very soft personality and should not have been persecuted for his caring actions. However, Antony’s tone of voice completely shifts when he thunders “Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, And sure he is an honorable man,” which he retorted sarcastically because the idea of Brutus assassinating his best friend is not thought to be honorable. Antony uses strong tone in this part of his speech: first he praises Caesar’s compassionate personality, but then he angrily and sarcastically storms on about Brutus being an “honorable man.” His use of sarcasm affects the crowd; the crowd now becomes frustrated with Brutus’s betrayal to Caesar and begins to recognize how much Caesar truly cared for Rome’s well-being. Antony raises Caesar up on a pedestal when he begins comparing Caesar and Brutus, making Caesar seem more gallant.

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