Words are the knives that stab Caesar, each one coming at a different angle and with more force than the one before. If hit in the wrong place, one can kill, if not, one leaves them in pain and suffering. Throughout the play Julius Caesar, written by playwright William Shakespeare, friends and foes attain the forceful weapons of words. Following the assassination of the great ruler Julius Caesar, two well-respected men, Brutus and Antony, express the power of speech to gain the crowds affection during the funeral of the beloved Caesar. Brutus, a well respected Conspirator and Antony, a loyal friend of Caesar, avail rhetorical and literary devices, conveying different tones of persuasion and matter of fact against manipulation and melancholy
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While justifying his reasons for the speech, that he “[isn’t speaking] to disprove what Brutus spoke” but rather “speaks what he knows,” Antony uses verbal irony. The statement contains irony because he says that he speaks not to disprove Brutus, however he did the opposite by the claims against the Conspirators. Using the irony as bait to draw in the citizens, Antony builds on his tone of manipulation. The irony makes him appear as a good guy, that does not speak out against others, so the people respect him differently. He manipulates them into listening to the rest of the words he must say. Similarly to Brutus, Antony also “[pauses] until it comes back to [him]” as a form of a dramatic pause. By pausing in the middle of the speech to turn around and weep, the audience feels sorrow for him because he loses a beloved friend. This adds to his other tone of melancholy because when he turns around, he sets the scene of sadness and the audience reacts by pitying him. When he gets such a reaction from the audience, Antony continues to manipulate with his melancholy tone. He uses personification as a final device. The “sweet Caesar’s wounds” become personified to “poor dumb mouths” as he shows the crowd the 23 stab wounds. The wounds he believes should speak as though they are a mouth, like the people should feel sorry for Caesar by looking at what happened to him. This conveys both melancholy and manipulation. The stabbing and adding selective words like sweet next to Caesar coincide with the melancholy tone; however he also manipulates them in the same way by making them turn against the Conspirators. At the end of the speech, the rebellion starts against the Conspirators, proving that Antony won Rome over. Antony uses the devices of verbal irony, a dramatic pause and personification to
While justifying his reasons for the speech, that he “[isn’t speaking] to disprove what Brutus spoke” but rather “speaks what he knows,” Antony uses verbal irony. The statement contains irony because he says that he speaks not to disprove Brutus, however he did the opposite by the claims against the Conspirators. Using the irony as bait to draw in the citizens, Antony builds on his tone of manipulation. The irony makes him appear as a good guy, that does not speak out against others, so the people respect him differently. He manipulates them into listening to the rest of the words he must say. Similarly to Brutus, Antony also “[pauses] until it comes back to [him]” as a form of a dramatic pause. By pausing in the middle of the speech to turn around and weep, the audience feels sorrow for him because he loses a beloved friend. This adds to his other tone of melancholy because when he turns around, he sets the scene of sadness and the audience reacts by pitying him. When he gets such a reaction from the audience, Antony continues to manipulate with his melancholy tone. He uses personification as a final device. The “sweet Caesar’s wounds” become personified to “poor dumb mouths” as he shows the crowd the 23 stab wounds. The wounds he believes should speak as though they are a mouth, like the people should feel sorry for Caesar by looking at what happened to him. This conveys both melancholy and manipulation. The stabbing and adding selective words like sweet next to Caesar coincide with the melancholy tone; however he also manipulates them in the same way by making them turn against the Conspirators. At the end of the speech, the rebellion starts against the Conspirators, proving that Antony won Rome over. Antony uses the devices of verbal irony, a dramatic pause and personification to