Julius Caesar - Speeches

Julius Caesar - Speeches

1. " I speak not to disaprove what Brutus spoke but...."

   • Anthony's contradictory use of CONNECTIVES like 'but' and 'yet' shows he can balance or hide a point by MIRRORING it later.
   • "But here i am to speak what i do know"
     • he is particularly drawing upon the fact that he was NOT known as an orator (like Brutus) so he appears as more down to earth as a speaker in whom they can trust.
   • And yet Brutus is an honourable man
     • The repetition of the word 'honourable' means that the word is losing its meaning
       • CONTEXT:- As Dr Will Poole indicates, Mark finds the key words of your opponent's speech (honour) and "PAINT THEM A DIFFERENT COLOUR" - Mark paints it BLACK - He turns ' honourable' into dishonourable.
       • Mark Anthony slides from Epideictic (praising) to Judicial repetition
         • Machiavelli scheme of being cunning

2. O masters, if i were disposed to stir your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage...to wrong the death, to wrong myself and you"

   • Through REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY, Anthony manipulates the fickle-minded plebs - "if i were disposed to stir.."
     • Shakespeare uses this as a warning for Elizabethans about being swayed by popular figures such as the charismatic Earl of Essex
   • The "Mutiny and Rage" realated to Elizabethan times becasue tensions was growing as Queen Elizabeth was getting older and subtle groups were trying to rise to power.

3. "And being men, bearing the will of caesar.."

   • By placing 'men' and 'caesar' in the same sentence, after the gerund-bearing- places them with equal weight and not only raises men to be like the god-like statue of Caesar, but also sinks Caesar to the ordinary status of men.
     • By Julius Caesar being portrayed as masculine, the critical woman in the audience, Queen Elizabeth, was watching. In her speech, " i have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but i have the heart and stomach of a king"

4. "Romans, Countrymen, and lovers"

   • Brutus speaks in pros, he normally speaks in verse- he tries to relate to the crowd, down to earth
   • Contrast to Mark Anthony's speech of "Friends, Romans, Countrymen"
     • Its all personal

5. Main difference between Brutus and Mark's speeches is that, Brutus speaks with REASON and LOGIC, whereas, Mark Anthony speaks with EMOTIONS

6. "With this i depart"

   • "Brutus make as psychological mistake"- Dr Will Poole
     • this is defended by the Plebeians saying "Let him be Caesar" Shakespeare makes it clear that Brutus made a mistake, because they didn't understand what he was saying
       • By doing this there is an opeing up of a gap between how the aristocrats and plebeians speak

7. 'a serpents egg, which hatched, would...grow mischievous" - James Shapiro - 1599

   • By Shakespeare working through Plutarch, the assassination of Caesar was numbed down by Elizabeth because Queen Lizzie helped to translate the Plutarch, therefore she is pleased.

8. James Shapiro- 1599 " Shakespeare's success in employing this balanced dramatic structure is that 4 centuries later critics continue to debate whether he sides of or against Brutus"