Marc Antony: the Persuasive Puppeteer

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Marc Antony: the Persuasive Puppeteer

William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: it is a classic play of many characters and their power plays for honor and status.  There is Julius Caesar, who is revered by many and scorned by few, and Brutus, the moral compass of Rome.  Then, there is Antony.  At first a seemingly unassuming character, Antony proves to be a master of persuasion comparable to the likes of Caesar and Brutus.  Antony’s famous speech eulogizing Caesar is heavily imbued with rhetorical devices and oratory effects that bring his audience, and ultimately, Rome, to its knees.

One of the main reasons Antony is so effective in winning over his audience is in his approach.  Much of the devices and effects Antony employs are for the purpose of building a connection between himself and his audience.  Antony first begins by presenting himself as a friend: “Friends, Romans, countrymen / … / Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral. / He was my friend, faithful, and just to me” (III.ii.75,86-87).  He then gains the empathy of the crowd when he loses composure and pauses in his speech.  “Bear with me,” implores Antony, “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, / And I must pause till it come back to me” (III.ii.107-109).  This use of aposiopesis, be it feigned or genuine, elicits responses from the audience like, “There’s not a nobler man in Rome than Antony” (III.ii.118).  Antony also makes statements to appeal to the emotions of the audience. “We’ll hear him, we’ll follow him, we’ll die with him,” yells the crowd in response to Antony’s riling descriptions of Brutus’s death (III.ii.210-211).  By the time he suggests mutiny, it is apparent that Antony has won the hearts and trust of the citizens.

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This trust Antony establishes is mutual; while he gains the trust of his audience, Antony also trusts them to pick up on the nuances of his sarcasm and irony. A point he repeats five times in his speech is that “Brutus is an honorable man” (III.ii.84).  As he repeats this line throughout his speech, however, it becomes clear that Brutus’s accusations greatly contrast from the selfless, generous Caesar Antony portrays:  “When the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: / Ambition should be made of sterner stuff: / Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; / And Brutus is an honorable man” ...

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