Thursday, February 19, 2015

In Act III scene 2 of Julius Caesar, what does Antony tell the crowd about Caesar's will and how do they respond to this?

In an excellent example of manipulative rhetoric, Antony
witholds telling the crowd the details of Caesar's will until he has managed to
effectively stir them up against the conspirators through showing them the mantle that
Caesar wore and the various holes in it made by the conspirators. When, then, he reveals
that Caesar left each man seventy five drachmas and the walks, arbours and orchards as
common property to be enjoyed by the citizens of Rome for their diversion, Antony has
proved beyond all doubt what a wonderful ruler Caesar was and built the base of his own
grab for power in the vacuum that has been created by Caesar's death. Note the way that
the crowd responds to this announcement:


readability="8">

We'll burn his body in the holy
place,


And with the brands fire the traitor's
houses.



Antony has managed to
enflame the hearts of the crowd against the conspirators, and this will literally be
expressed in their act of burning the property of the
conspirators.

No comments:

Post a Comment

What accomplishments did Bill Clinton have as president?

Of course, Bill Clinton's presidency will be most clearly remembered for the fact that he was only the second president ever...