Rhetorical Analysis of Marc Antony’s Funeral Speech
Marc Antony’s speech at the funeral of Julius Caesar is widely regarded as one of the pivotal moments in Shakespeare’s play, “Julius Caesar”. Antony uses this opportunity to sway the crowd against the conspirators of Caesar’s assassination, and undermine Brutus without directly appearing to do so. Shakespeare uses the rhetorical devices repetition, pathos, irony, and diction to achieve such a momentous effect on both characters of the play, and those actually reading it. The use of pathos in Antony’s speech is used in an assertive manner, while on the outside just looking like a friendly greeting. He does this by addressing the crowd as “Friends”, “Romans”, and “countrymen”. This immediately gives cover to the real message of Antony’s speech by creating a much lighter, friendlier, and more personal mood among the citizens of Rome. Antony tells the crowd that he has come to “bury Caesar, not praise him”, which is clearly …show more content…
Antony is being entirely sarcastic while saying this, and is trying to get the sardonic point across that Brutus is so honorable, surely his reasoning could never be wrong. Antony is using Brutus’ own words and justification against him. Another form of repetition is the use of Caesar’s “ambition”. Antony gives examples of Caesar’s good will and generosity, then asking if these were illustrations of Caesar’s ambition. He points out that Caesar was offered the crown three times, and refused each and every one, and asks again if this was ambitious of Caesar. Antony is not only glorifying Caesar for his nobility, but also creating a mockery of Brutus and the other conspirators. Of course, Antony only adds to this by saying he is no orator like one of the caliber of Brutus, and is a simple, blunt man. This further adds to the irony, because as seen already, Marc Antony is a master of
Marc Antony’s speech at the funeral of Julius Caesar is widely regarded as one of the pivotal moments in Shakespeare’s play, “Julius Caesar”. Antony uses this opportunity to sway the crowd against the conspirators of Caesar’s assassination, and undermine Brutus without directly appearing to do so. Shakespeare uses the rhetorical devices repetition, pathos, irony, and diction to achieve such a momentous effect on both characters of the play, and those actually reading it. The use of pathos in Antony’s speech is used in an assertive manner, while on the outside just looking like a friendly greeting. He does this by addressing the crowd as “Friends”, “Romans”, and “countrymen”. This immediately gives cover to the real message of Antony’s speech by creating a much lighter, friendlier, and more personal mood among the citizens of Rome. Antony tells the crowd that he has come to “bury Caesar, not praise him”, which is clearly …show more content…
Antony is being entirely sarcastic while saying this, and is trying to get the sardonic point across that Brutus is so honorable, surely his reasoning could never be wrong. Antony is using Brutus’ own words and justification against him. Another form of repetition is the use of Caesar’s “ambition”. Antony gives examples of Caesar’s good will and generosity, then asking if these were illustrations of Caesar’s ambition. He points out that Caesar was offered the crown three times, and refused each and every one, and asks again if this was ambitious of Caesar. Antony is not only glorifying Caesar for his nobility, but also creating a mockery of Brutus and the other conspirators. Of course, Antony only adds to this by saying he is no orator like one of the caliber of Brutus, and is a simple, blunt man. This further adds to the irony, because as seen already, Marc Antony is a master of