Julius Caesar: Antony’s Speech

In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Antony captures the minds of the commoners. Antony's funeral speech shows a good understanding of them. He uses different language like irony and manipulation and he uses many gestures like descending into the crowd and using dramatic pauses. He also uses props like Caesar's wounds and the will to sway the crowd. All of which drives them into turning against the conspirators, even Brutus.

The first way Antony shows a good understanding of the commoners is by using different language. He uses irony and manipulation to win all of them over.Throughout his speech Antony manipulates the commoners by calling them "honorable men", but the crowd feels a sense of sarcasm each time he calls them that. Then he says, "You all did love him once, not without cause; / What cause withholds you then to mourn for him? " (913).

This rhetorical question goes against Brutus by questioning his speech in which he so greatly demonized and demeaned Caesar. Now the crowd is starting to turn against the conspirators and follow Antony. After watching Brutus’ speech, Antony knows he is dealing with a very hostile crowd.He uses irony and manipulation to get the commoners into rising against the conspirators in rage and mutiny and avenging Caesars death: “O masters! If I were disposed to stir / Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, / I should do Brutus wrong and Cassius wrong…” (914).

When he says this, he lies. He makes the crowd think that he is noble for saying that he does not want to do Brutus and Cassius and all the other conspirators wrong. Antony is getting into the minds of the commoners by using the different language towards them.When Antony is speaking, he uses many gestures to keep swaying the commoners. He makes a clever use of dramatic pauses which allows his words to sink in among the crowd. The crowd feels sorry for Antony when he pauses to cry in the middle of his speech.

“My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, / And I must paused till it come back to me. ” (913). The crowd is very much effected by the use of this emotional phrase. Antony has the crowd’s full attention. Antony wants to get even closer to the commoners, so he descends into them.

By doing this, Antony makes himself more relatable to the commoners: “Shall I descend? And will you give me leave? ” (916). This gives the crowd a sense of importance because he asks their permission before he does descend. He is no longer one of the leaders of the world, but one of the commoners. This makes them trust him even more.

Antony uses one more method to convince the crowd to turn against the conspirators. He uses props, like Caesar’s will and body, to get the crowd more emotionally attached and anxious.Antony teases the crowd with Caesar’s will, which they beg him to read, but he refuses. Antony tells the crowd to have patience, and expresses his feeling that he will do wrong to the men that have killed Caesar, if he does read the will. “Will you be patient? Will you stay awhile? / I have o’reshot myself to tell you of it.

/ I fear I wrong the honorable men / Whose daggers have stabbed Caesar; I do fear it. ” (915). Antony wants the crowd to be intrigued by the will, and they are. He tempts them with his proposal of reading it to them.Antony also uses Caesar’s bloody cloak as a prop to get the crowd emotionally attached.

“Look, in this place ran Cassius’ dagger through; / See what a rent the envious Casca made; / Through this well-beloved Brutus stabbed…” (916). This gets the crowd wanting revenge. Antony is hinting at the brutality of the crime. He wants the people to know how brutal the committed crime was. The conspirators had killed an elderly, unarmed man, and Antony wanted that to sink into the crowd’s minds. At this point, the crowd has fully turned against the conspirators.

Being a wonderful orator, Mark Antony arouses sympathy for Caesar, his conquests, his love for the common men, in his funeral speech. He wants to earn the support of the commoners, who are said to be dumb and fickle, and he does. Many different methods sway the crowd towards mutiny and turning against the conspirators. Antony’s language, his actions, and the props that he used made his speech effective on making sure that the commoners were on his side. Antony fully turned the commoners against the conspirators and he made them want revenge, just like he wanted.