why did Antony play his safe manipulation tricks during his speech
Answers
Antony played his safe manipulation tricks during his speech because he wanted to direct the Romans against Brutus for murdering Julius Caesar. While he claims Brutus to be an honorable and generous man, he successfully manages to sow seeds of hatred in the minds of the people towards Brutus. To do this, he pauses thrice in between his speech to create a suspense so that people will look forward to listening to what he had to say.
In reality, Mark Antony himself yearned for the assassination of Julius Ceasar because he wanted to marry the latter’s wife Cleopatra. She too shared the same feelings for Antony and both of them plotted ways to kill the ruler.
During the speech, Antony actually shows the brutally of the actions that took place.
He elaborated the pieces of Caesar’s death in a way that make it seems like the hideous act which it actually was.
Also, he shows what knew the work done by Caesar for the others and hence took advantage of it to remind them what a great man he actually was.