In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene ii, the author portrays a persuasive monologue given to the commoners by Caesar’s friend, Antony, in order to show his viewpoint on the death of Caesar. Throughout Antony’s speech, he attempts to stir up the emotion of the commoners and subtly tries to start a war within the community in order to get revenge for Caesar’s death. In the beginning of the speech, Antony’s tone is sarcastic, but genuine. In his speech, he states, repeatedly, “But Brutus says he was ambitious/And Brutus is an honorable man.” Within this, Antony shows the crowd his opinion of Brutus – he believes Brutus is an honest and trustworthy man; however, he states the not-so “ambitious” actions of Caesar
…show more content…
One of the rhetorical devices he uses is hyperbole. Hyperbole is an exaggeration to make a dramatic effect. In Antony speech, he announces, “My heart is in the coffin here with Caesar.” When Antony uses this device, he exaggerates his doleful emotions. This creates the crowd to become more connected with Antony due to the fact that he is also mourning for the loss of Caesar. Due to his, the commoners are more anticipated to hear what Antony has to say in his speech. Another rhetorical device that Antony uses is paralipsis. This is giving emphasis by stating little or nothing about a particular subject. Antony does this when he reveals, “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.” In doing so, Antony hides his intention of sharing the will by exposing the Plebeians to the seal of Caesar. The Plebeians are anxious to know more of what was left from Caesar; they are unknowingly being persuaded to want more information. This eventually led to the unraveling of the apparent good side of Caesar that would make the commoners vengeful of his death. Antony had achieved his goal in persuading the ignorant commoners to think that the conspirators are savage
One of the rhetorical devices he uses is hyperbole. Hyperbole is an exaggeration to make a dramatic effect. In Antony speech, he announces, “My heart is in the coffin here with Caesar.” When Antony uses this device, he exaggerates his doleful emotions. This creates the crowd to become more connected with Antony due to the fact that he is also mourning for the loss of Caesar. Due to his, the commoners are more anticipated to hear what Antony has to say in his speech. Another rhetorical device that Antony uses is paralipsis. This is giving emphasis by stating little or nothing about a particular subject. Antony does this when he reveals, “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.” In doing so, Antony hides his intention of sharing the will by exposing the Plebeians to the seal of Caesar. The Plebeians are anxious to know more of what was left from Caesar; they are unknowingly being persuaded to want more information. This eventually led to the unraveling of the apparent good side of Caesar that would make the commoners vengeful of his death. Antony had achieved his goal in persuading the ignorant commoners to think that the conspirators are savage