Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare Essay Example For Students

Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare Essay Julius Caesar is a famous play written by the respected William Shakespeare in 1599. The drama is based on real events concerning the assassination of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, on March 44 BC. It is an epic tale about a Roman tragedy. My main aspect within this essay is to emphasise on how Antony manipulates the Roman plebeians by giving a speech after Caesars death which is the core of the play. He is left with a daunting task due to the highly persuasive speech which Brutus delivers prior to him. Julius Caesar is about power, fear of dominance, betrayal and conspiracy. It portrays the time in which the Romans dominated the world. Caesar returns from the battle field ending a civil war between his forces against Pompeys forces who was the current emperor of Rome at that time. Julius Caesar was feared by many after his victory over Pompey. The demolition of Pompey meant that Caesar would be the new emperor. It was his arrogance which leads him to his death. He is warned by his wife and the soothsayer about the possibility of his assassination but due to his ignorance he fails to understand that he is a target for many. He ignores their advice not knowing what his destiny will be. His arrogance leads to the fear of his dominance and many are appalled by the fact that he has become the new emperor and refuse to accept this. This is due to the fact that they believe he will become a tyrant if he is to have power to such an extent. The initial people who reacted to this were Flavius and Marullus. They warned the fickle plebeians about Caesars potential of becoming a tyrant. Subsequently they were instantly assassinated. This created many reasons for a conspiracy to kill Caesar. The conspirators who planned to kill Caesar were Marcus Brutus (Caesars dear friend), Caius Cassius, Decius Brutus, Metellus, Cinna, Casca and finally Trebonius. Marcus Brutus Caesars dearest friend is the leader of the conspirators. Hes a patriotic Roman citizen and values nothing above his love for his nation. Cassius persuades him to join the conspiracy and due to his agreement in the belief of Caesars potential of becoming a tyrant and that the Romans are to become slaves without freedom if Caesar were to be crowned he decides to join Cassius and his companions. Cassius uses Brutus love for Rome as a key to make him join the conspiracy because hes realised that that Brutus has love for Rome to such an extent that he would be prepared to kill his dear friend Caesar for the good of Rome. The conspirators needed someone wise and of high knowledge. They found these qualities in Brutus therefore they gave him the authority to be their leader. Eventually they succeed in their objective as they manage to kill Caesar on the day that he was to be crowned at the senate house. This built up tension between the plebeians as they were curious about the murder and why it occurred. Brutus calms the atmosphere immediately by delivering a powerful speech and concluding it with the mistakeby letting Antony speak which leads him to his death further in the play. He uses clever manoeuvres to persuade the crowd in order to retain his innocence. He talks about the importance of Rome and how Caesars dominance wouldve affected it dramatically. Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more (Act 3 scene 2) Brutus gains the crowds belief that Caesar was to become a tyrant if he were to become the emperor of Rome as he is highly persuasive with his speech. He gives the crowd the impression that he was a great friend of Caesar and that he mustve had a major reason to kill him if he was acquainted with him to such an extent. He further emphasises on how Caesars dominance wouldve lead to slavery and a state without freedom. Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?(Act 3 scene 2) He uses this to create a scenario within the minds of the plebeians making them think about the possible future if Caesar was to live. He gains there trust and their agreement in the murder of Caesar by using these clever techniques. The people are stunned and are left with a lot of thoughts to consider. What Brutus mentions during his speech is unimaginable to the Roman citizens and to its effect they have no objections and start believing Brutus and praising him to such an extent that what initially was believed to be a vicious act had turned into a praiseworthy achievement due to Brutus ability to persuade and manipulate the crowd. Let him be Caesar! (Act 3 scene 2) This is the reaction of a Roman citizen after Brutus speech followed by another citizen saying: Caesars better parts shall be crowned in Brutus (Act 3 scene 2) Brutus knows that the Romans are fickle therefore he uses this weakness as a key to persuade them. He is now respected an honoured by the people and has proven himself to be innocent as he has gained the trust of the citizens. Now Antony arrives at the location with the realisation of the knowledge that he is left with a daunting task if he is to turn the crowd against Brutus. Instantly after Caesar was killed Antony was present and was devastated by seeing Caesars dead body. He shook hands with the conspirators indicating that he will take revenge on each of them one after the other. Brutus doesnt kill Antony because he considers the risk of people acknowledging that his plan would seem too bloody. Additionally it would make his task much more difficult in proving himself to be innocent to the plebeians. Antony also didnt seem like a threat to him. When Antony arrives at the scene he carries Caesars dead body and lays it down to express his love for Caesar and displaying to the crowd how horrifically he was killed. It shows his devastation about Caesars death. He uses the body as a base to indirectly challenge Brutus because hes showing that hes aggrieved by Caesars death and wants a chance to express his feelings. Romeo and Juliet Character EssayInitially Antony is talking about the good of Rome, but as he attains the crowds interest his method changes. His aim is to manipulate the crowd in order to demolish Brutus. As Antony smoothly continues his speech he builds up the tension by mentioning something which entices the crowd to listen to him with full attention. He uses a clever manoeuvre to turn the situation around. He pretends that Caesar had left a will behind for the citizens of Rome. The crowd becomes hyper by this statement and is eager to hear more about it and command Antony read out the will immediately. But heres a parchment with the seal of Caesar; I found it in his closet; tis his will (Act 3 scene 2) Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read (Act 3 scene 2) I have oershot myself to tell you of it (Act 3 scene 2) Here we can obtain that Antony uses Caesars will as a method to resurrect Caesars innocence after the crowd believed he was guilty due to Brutus persuasive words. However Antony is clever and keeps the crowd in suspense; he tells them that he will read out the will but that he has already gone beyond the limit simply by just telling hem about the will which the crowd appreciates yet they are impatient to hear it. Their impatience of hearing the will shows how clever Antony was to use the will in order to make the people go mad and make them think that Caesar loved them immensely. This is the turning point in the drama. Antony now takes full command of the scenario and has persuaded the people to believe that Caesar was innocent and a man of high essence. Here Antony has fulfilled his objective due to the immaculate techniques he used. He has laid out a foundation for himself on which he can now stand and be assured that he can take his revenge on the conspirators. He becomes successful in his speech as we can see. They were traitors. Honourable men! (Act 3 scene 2) Here a plebeian reacts to Antonys persuasive words. The situation turns into a chaos as it is clear that Antony has become successful in his task. It was Antonys determination and motivation that made the people turn against Brutus. Brutus underestimated Antony and was unaware of Atonys skills and that was a key point to Antonys success as he took advantage and redeveloped the entire scenario to his will. The plebeians decide to rebel against Brutus as they are outraged by the facts mentioned to them by Antony. O piteous spectacle! O noble Caesar! O woful day! O traitors, villains! O most bloody sight! We will be revenged. Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay! Let not a traitor live! (Act 3 scene 2) This is the crowds reaction to Antonys speech. He has gained total control of the scenario and has now encapsulated the support of the plebeians. He has all the force and ability to take revenge on the conspirators. He has been successful by using his phenomenal skills to turn plebeians who are fickle yet still hard to convince against the conspirators. Conclusion To conclude I would like to emphasise on the immaculate techniques used by Antony within his speech. Every step he takes has a goal and an achieved target. He arrives with Caesars body to show how severe his wounds are to indicate to the people how viciously he was killed. The turning point in his speech is when he mentions Caesars will despite the fact that he made it up. At this stage he had already gained the crowds attention and this kind of statement would settle his position as a person demanding for revenge. The vital dramatic pauses which Antony uses during his speech had a great effect as it gave him time to read the mood of the crowd enabling him to continue his flurry of persuasive techniques according to the current mood of the crowd. He acts humbly like an average Roman plebeian to show he is on the same level as the people. A fine example of this is: Will you give me the leave to speak? (Act 3 scene 2) He mentions this to assure the crowd that he wants them to allow him to speak as he only wants to express his feelings even it though was Brutus who appointed him to speak. Yet in order to make the people eager to listen to him he asks for their permission. Antony is an expert at building up the tension during his speech as he holds the crowd back three times from leaving and vandalising the surroundings. He uses repetition when he uses the word honourable several times to build up the irony that these men are praiseworthy and honourable yet they have committed such a horrific act. It is significant to analyse these techniques and obtain that contemporary politicians at present also use similar skills in order to attain the citizens attention. Many use repetition like Antony did in order to emphasise on a negative or positive point to express their views about something with the hope of gaining the support of the citizens. Many politicians give speeches in similar fashion to Antony. Initially they express general points on which anyone would agree and as the speech flows successfully they gradually gain support and then fully express their views as the support increases. All the sublime techniques which Antony uses are a key to his success and after winning the civil war he has avenged Caesars death and brought an end to this epic tale of drama.