![]() :Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears::I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.:The evil that men do lives after them :The good is oft interred with their bones :So let it be with Caesar. The famous speech is alluded to the television series Rome, though the speech itself is left unheard.The character of Antony is later seen mocking Brutus, saying that maybe his speech was too "high brow" for the crowd. ![]() It is also a demonstration of political populism. Bertolt Brecht has a demagogue trained in political rhetoric by an actor using this speech in " The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui". The speech is a famous example of the use of emotionally charged rhetoric.Indeed, comparisons have been drawn between this famous speech and political speeches throughout history in terms of the rhetorical devices employed to win over a crowd see, for instance, the 1935 essay by Kenneth Burke titled "Antony in Behalf of the Play," which ventriloquizes Antony's speech in order to reveal its manipulative devices (in 2007). In so doing, he turns the tide of public opinion against Brutus, Cassius, and their confederates, and thus paves the way for the conspirators' defeat at the close of the play. Antony follows Brutus' instructions to the letter, but through a subtle shift of emphasis, most notably a continuous and intentionally ironic repetition of the phrase "But Brutus is an honourable man" (and variants), he manipulates the crowd, provoking their rage against the assassins and their grief for the lost Caesar. Lastly, he has to speak from the same public pulpit as Brutus that too, after he finishes.īrutus' speech, though an example of Brutus' oratorial skill, is cold, rational and aloof, while Antony's is personal, emotional, and appeals to the people, whose hearts he manages to sway through this speech and others throughout the rest of the scene.Īs Antony's speech begins the Plebs are completely on the conspirators' side. ![]() He also has to clarify to the citizens that he is speaking with the permission of the conspirators. Against Cassius's advice, Brutus has given Antony permission to give Caesar's funeral oration provided he abides by the condition that he can praise Caesar how much ever he wants to but not blame the conspirators for Julius Caesar's murder. It means "Friends, Romans, fellow citizens, listen to me." It is taken from Act III, scene II.Īt this point in the play, the conspirators have murdered Julius Caesar. The speech is written in iambic pentameter. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your earsįriends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears is the first line of a famous and often-quoted speech by Mark Antony in the play "Julius Caesar", by William Shakespeare.
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