Brutus starts out by pleading with the plebeians to listen to him,
“Hear me for my cause, and
be silent, that you may hear…”
When he says this, I want him to say it almost desperately but still with an air of authority. He should reach out to the crowds while they watch him. As Brutus’ speech is written in blank verse and not iambic pentameter, all of it would usually be spoken with normal stresses, but now in this part of the speech, I want him to stress certain important words so that they make more of an impact on the plebeians.
“living, and DIE all SLAVES”
“was AMBITIOUS, i SLEW him”
Once he reaches the part where he tells how he was “ambitious,” he should start to sound angry and clench his fists as he asks if he has offended anyone. At this time, the people would still be in two minds about whether the murder was right or wrong and want to let Brutus go on but without the great enthusiasm that we shall see later on.
When Anthony enters with the body, he should also come in through the back door. This makes it seem as though all three people, Brutus, Cassius and Anthony have come from the same place. Anthony lays the body down covered by the bloodstained cloth at the front of the stage and holds a piece of paper in his hand and stands back to watch Brutus speak (see diagram 3).
Once Brutus asks what the people want with him, they should now be very enthusiastic for Brutus to live and shout “live, Brutus live” with great joy. They then start to get worked up and individually shout for him to Caesar. Brutus should look on this with dismay, as it isn’t what he wanted. He then hurriedly called them to silence and reluctantly hands over to Anthony as he knows that he can do no more to make the plebeians believe what he wants them to believe as they are too worked up.
One point that I think Shakespeare is trying to show in this speech is the division between the masses and the monarchy. He is in a way recreating what is happening around him at the time with some people arguing for the monarchy and some against. I think he makes it very clear though as to what side he is on; he portrays the republicans, Brutus and the conspirators as having a very weak argument but just being deeply resentful for no real reason other than jealousy.
When Brutus leaves he just goes straight backstage whilst Anthony takes up his place at the front of the stage. This shows he is trying to be more informal and friendly with the citizens by coming down near them (see diagram 4).
When Anthony comes to the front of the stage, he has to speak in a calming and gentle way, as the plebeians are very angry at Caesar by this time. He should put out his palms as a gesture to quell the crowds shouting and begin his speech.
“Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears:
I come to bury Caesar not to praise him”
These lines should be said quietly; this is so the audience have to really be quiet so that they can hear him thus making sure everyone is listening. Most of the things he says at the beginning of his speech including part of the quote above are lies. This is to fool the plebeians that he is honourable and on their side and that he just happens to have the will. He claims he is “no orator as Brutus is,” this makes him seem more innocent and makes the plebeians trust him more.
All through the speech he should say things as if he is trying to desperately plead with the plebeians in a controlled way. He has to make the audience believe that he really is grieving which should therefore earn their sympathy. The way he uses iambic pentameter helps this by stressing many of the important words;
“the STONES of ROME to RISE and MutiNY”
When he gets to the part where he says he must pause because of the grief, he should turn away with his head in his hands whilst looking through his fingers at the crowd’s reaction in a way that is obvious to the audience watching. This is an example of dramatic irony, by which the audience knows that he is not really grieving but the plebeians do not. His earlier plea for sympathy is now seen to work as we hear some of the audience speak up for Anthony.
Another theme that is carried on throughout the whole of Anthony’s speech is how he says Brutus is “honourable.” As the speech progresses, every time he says it, it should sound more and more sarcastic, maybe even with some of the actors in the audience laughing later on.
Then when he declares he has Caesar’s will, the plebeians should shout in an excited and impatient way that they want to hear it. Anthony then uses this to see whether the citizens are really on his side, yet by telling them that he could not possibly read the will in a very humble way. The crowd then reply angrily that he should because the conspirators “were villains” and “murderers.”
Then Anthony is asked come down to the citizens ; he comes down from the stage and stands in a parting of the crowd, made by the actors, close to the stage within reach of the body of Caesar (see diagram 5).
He then goes on to show the plebeians where each of the conspirators stabbed Caesar by holding up the cloak and pointing to the tears where he was stabbed. This part of the speech and that ensues after it, makes the people really grieve for Caesar which can be seen by their shouts of grief for the dead emperor. They then become very angry and Anthony has to stop them from going off to riot straight away.
For the last main part of his speech, Anthony has to act calmly and innocently to keep the citizens under his control until he finally builds up the emotion in his voice until it is both sad but also angry when he finally ends by telling the people out right to “mutiny” against the conspirators.
It is only while the citizens are shouting that he reminds them of the will, this is mainly to get them even angrier by showing them how good Caesar was to them. This sends them into a frenzy of anger against those who killed their great leader.
They leave in a mass of shouting whilst carrying the body between them to the exit of the Globe. They can then take the body backstage by going around the Globe (see diagram 6).
Because this is being performed to a modern audience, most of this speech and its meaning would be understood which allows the actors to be more subtle in their movements. But if this were to be performed to an Elizabethan audience, many of the people in the standing area would be largely uneducated, like Caesar’s plebeians, and would need to be told more openly what Anthony was doing. This also reflects on Shakespeare’s opinion of the commoners in his time by representing them as simple whilst the upper class are much smarter and can manipulate the masses.
Overall, I hope I have been able to portray Brutus as a desperate man who badly needs the people on his side and Anthony as a quietly confident schemer who uses the suppleness of the plebeians to his advantage. Hopefully it still has the same tension and energy the previous scene generated and will keep the audience interested.
