Antony - Questions | Quotes/Evidence | Analysis/Commentary |
What is the significance of Antony’s second sentence?
| “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 interrèd with their bones. So let it be with Caesar.”
| In this quote and by the second line of his speech, Antony opens with a strong statement. Antony states “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” Essentially, what Antony is trying to say is that he is here to fulfill his duty as a loyal friend. At his funeral, he does not intend to sing praises that may not be true, but rather show that he is a loyal, responsible friend of Caesar, even up to the grave, after his demise. He goes on to remark on how many men’s legacies have to do with the evil acts that they committed, while any good they may have done is swept over and readily forgotten. Here, by saying “good is oft interred with their bones,” Antony conjures a powerful image and personifies the good in Caesar as being subverted and suppressed in a coffin. |
What is the purpose of referring to Caesar’s will?
| “I found it in his closet. ’Tis his will. Let but the commons hear this testament, Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read, And they would go and kiss dead Caesar’s wounds And dip their napkins in his sacred blood— Yea, beg a hair of him for memory And, dying, mention it within their wills, Bequeathing it as a rich legacy Unto their issue.”
“You are not wood, you are not stones, but men. And, being men, hearing the will of Caesar, It will inflame you; it will make you mad. ’Tis good you know not that you are his heirs, For if you should, O, what would come of it?”
“Moreover, he hath left you all his walks, His private arbors, and new-planted orchards, On this side Tiber. He hath left them you, And to your heirs forever—common pleasures To walk abroad and recreate yourselves. Here was a Caesar! When comes such another?”
| These quotes reveal Antony’s purpose in alluding to Caesar’s will. By constantly mentioning the will but simultaneously urging the public to have patience, Antony builds suspense in a way and garners the audience’s attention. As the speech progresses, they become more anxious to know what the will states. This is a cunning, yet effective move on Antony’s part, as he makes the audience realize what an immense loss has occurred following Caesar’s death. By making statements such as “beg a hair of him for memory” and “kiss dead Caesar’s wounds,” it’s almost as if Antony is hyping up the benefits that the citizens stand to gain following Caesar’s death, in an effort to emphasize all the potential advantages they have lost with the death of such a kind, generous leader.
As we discussed in class, human beings tend to be egotistical and even narcissistic. Knowing this, Brutus invokes the will many times because he knows people will pay more attention when they are invested and know they are benefitting in some way. The will helps him elucidate how much Caesar did for the citizens, proving he was not selfish, and in turn, spur them to action to avenge his murder. |
3. How does Antony manage to bring the crowd to tears? (Oh, now you weep…)
| “Even at the base of Pompey’s statue (Which all the while ran blood) great Caesar fell. O, what a fall was there, my countrymen! Then I and you and all of us fell down, Whilst bloody treason flourished over us. O, now you weep, and I perceive you feel The dint of pity. These are gracious drops. Kind souls, what, weep you when you but behold Our Caesar’s vesture wounded? Look you here, Antony lifts Caesar’s cloak. Here is himself, marred as you see with traitors.”
| Antony manages to bring the crowd to tears by revisiting the brutality with which Caesar was murdered. Antony states “Oh now you weep” in a woeful way, saying the sympathy and pity the citizens are offering Caesar come far too late as he lays there, lifeless. He speaks of Caesar’s fall, which symbolizes not only his physical fall and death, but more importantly, signifies his loss of authority and power as a leader. Antony speaks of the events of the murder as “treason,” meaning that traitors quite literally stabbed Caesar in the back.
As we mentioned in our group discussion, the powerful speech Brutus delivers, along with exposing his mutilated body to the crowd, evokes a sense of guilt and a need for action. Throughout the speech, Antony repeats “honorable men,” when referring to Brutus and other conspirators. The literary device used here is anaphora, and through the use of anaphora, it becomes clear as the speech goes on that this is not meant to be taken literally, but is rather a form of verbal irony. What is being said is the opposite of what is truly meant, so Antony means that Brutus is dishonorable and is a traitor to Caesar. The repetition of “honorable men” compels the audience to consider whether Brutus was truly acting honorably, or if his act was one of sedition. |
4. In his will, what has Caesar left to the people?
| “Here is the will, and under Caesar’s seal: To every Roman citizen he gives, To every several man, seventy-five drachmas.”
“Moreover, he hath left you all his walks, His private arbors, and new-planted orchards, On this side Tiber. He hath left them you, And to your heirs forever—common pleasures To walk abroad and recreate yourselves. Here was a Caesar! When comes such another?”
| In his will, Caesar has left seventy-five drachmas, but also many services that will last a lifetime, for generations to come. He allows the public to go into private gardens and orchards for recreation, indicating how down to earth he was, and how he had the best interests of the public in mind. He was not “ambitious” or selfish as Brutus might say, but rather a generous, considerate leader. By mentioning these items from the will, Antony reminds the audience how they are the “heirs” of Caesar, inheriting great pleasure for many years to come. Caesar left them facilities they could use for a long period of time, not just those in the present. |
5. Antony pauses several times in the course of his speech; what are the effects of these pauses? | “I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, But here I am to speak what I do know. You all did love him once, not without cause. What cause withholds you, then, to mourn for him?— O judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason!—Bear with me; My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, And I must pause till it come back to me. (He weeps.)”
| By pausing several times in the course of his speech, Antony adds a dramatic flair and suspense to the speech. The pauses enable the crowd to process what he has been saying. The words he is uttering set in, allowing the audience to have a stronger emotional reaction. By pausing and providing them with a moment of time to think and digest, Antony’s speech becomes even more impactful. There is time for discussion, as the crowd slowly comes to a consensus that Caesar was wronged and was indeed a noble leader.
In the quote in the middle column, for instance, the pause Antony takes implores the crowd to summon their judgment and reason and encourages them to mourn the death of Caesar. It forces them to consider what has suddenly changed their mind about Caesar, who historically was a great leader, until Brutus said otherwise. |
Mood of audience | The mood of the audience is attentive yet somber. The audience listens intently to what Antony has to say in regards to Caesar. The audience is captivated by what Antony has to say, and goes from being complacent about Caesar’s death to infuriated.
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What he says | Through this speech, Antony effectively reverses the audience’s sentiments on Caesar. He does so in a clever manner; rather than explicitly turning the blame on Brutus and the conspirators, Antony refers to them ironically as “honorable men,” which forces the audience to reconsider this as a matter of fact. By revisiting the vicious, savage murder of Caesar, Antony makes it clear that Brutus is in no way honorable. Rather, the honorable man is Caesar, who even in his passing, thought deeply and considerately of his citizens’ lives after he was gone. |
How he says it (literary & rhetorical devices) | The style and tone of the speech is impassioned and somber, yet highly ironic. The whole purpose of Antony’s speech is to come in and contradict what is put forth by Brutus. Brutus has convinced the people that Caesar was selfish, even tyrannical, and had to be murdered for the greater good of the Roman Republic. Antony, though, must reveal to the people that this is simply not true, and he does so through verbal irony. He constantly refers to Brutus as being “honorable,” which is ironic considering the bloody nature with which Caesar is killed. The repetition and anaphora of “honorable,” along with “ambitious,” forces the audience to reconsider the conclusions they have drawn from Brutus’ speech. In reality, it is Brutus who is dishonorable, on top of the fact that Caesar was not ambitious; rather, he was charitable and kind as demonstrated by his will. Furthermore, by making statements such as “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,” Antony uses pathos (an emotional appeal) to persuade the audience of how deeply hurt they should all be by the untimely, undeserved death of their beloved leader.
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Reaction of audience | The reaction of the audience goes from somber to vengeful and enraged. The audience starts out by listening to Antony, rather unswayed initially. They seem to be alright with and undisturbed by the fact that Caesar has been murdered. However, by the end of the speech, when the clauses of Caesar’s will have been fully disclosed and indicated to be in their favor, the audience is suddenly mournful of his demise. At the same time, they are highly enraged at the people who took Caesar away from his throne. According to the play, “Never, never!—Come, away, away!/We’ll burn his body in the holy place/And with the brands fire the traitors’ houses./Take up the body.” Essentially, the citizens vow to give Caesar the reverence he deserves, while also punishing the traitors.
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