Act+III+Antony

This page is solely dedicated to looking at the motives, ideas, thoughts, and reasoning of Antony in Act III of __Julius Ceasar__. Here you will see some basic informaton on Antony based on his actions in Act III. Also, all quotations used on this page come with an interpretation into post-modern English (the English we speak today), as well as specific definitions of certain Shakespearean terminology. (the original is **bolded** and the interpretation in is //italics// below it).
 * __INTRODUCTION __**

**__LOOKING AT ANTONY __**
This is the act where Antony becomes a key character to the play. We start to learn a bit about his own character. In the beginning of the play, Antony is basically viewed by the audience (the readers) as a devout follower of Caesar. In fact, when discussing the death of Caesar, Brutus and Cassius believe that Antony would easily be won over to their side because his stereotypical "brawns no brains" personality leads people to believe he is not very bright. They only see him as an important military power. However, Antony proves to have a manipulative characteristic within him. Due to his manipulative characteristic, the Romans are soon convinced. With the two soliloquiys he gives in Act III(shown below), Antony shows that he is capable of manipulating anyone into following his will which, in this case, results in his revenge against the Conspirators for Caesar's death.


 * __BEFORE ACT III-ACT III, SCENE I __**
 * [[image:http://www.amrep.org/images/caesar/MarkAntony.jpg width="174" height="208" align="center" caption="First Century bust of Mark Antony. For original source, click here" link="http://www.amrep.org/images/caesar/MarkAntony.jpg"]] ||

Marcus Antonius (or Antony for short) is at first seen as a slow, innocent, and utterly useless man in the political world, as shown in this quote from Act II where Brutus states, "And for Mark Antony, think not of him, for he can do no more than Caesar's arm when Ceasar's head is cut off." (Act II, scene i, ll 194-196). In scene i, he makes a rather famous soliloquy that shows us his true self. However, he is also a fast runner.

//Ceasar, you must forgive me// //For being nice the those butchers// //You are the greates man// //Who ever lived in all of time// //Damn those who cause he deat of one so great// //By your name, Ceasar,// //(For you would wish it done as well)//
 * "O pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,**
 * That I am meek and gentle with these butchers.**
 * Thou art the ruins of the noblest man**
 * That ever livèd in the tide of times.**
 * Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!**
 * Over thy wounds now I do prophesy**
 * (Which like dub mouths do ope* their ruby lips**
 * To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue)**

//I give a curse to all the people of Rome// //The people will rise and riot in the streets.// //Throughout all of Italy;// //There will be so much blood and destruction// //That it shall be so familiar// //That mothers will smile when they see// //Their babies being brutally tortured to death// //And Ceasar's ghost, lusting for revenge,// //With {Ate} herself joning in the mischief// //Will, with all his kingly authority,// //Cry, "to war!" and add to the destruction// //That this foul deed shall smell above the earth// //And the death shall stink so bad// //People the world over will cry for death.// ( Julius Ceasar, Act III, scene ii, ll 280-301) {Ate; the Roman Goddess of discord. Greek Eris}**
 * A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;**
 * Domestic fury and fierce civil strife**
 * Shall cumber all the parts of Italy**
 * Blood and destruction shall be so in use**
 * And dreadful objects so familiar**
 * That mothers shall but smile when they behold**
 * Their infants quartered with the hands of war,**
 * And Ceasar's spirit, ranging** for revenge,
 * With {Ate} by his side come hot from hell**
 * Shall in the onfines of a monarch's voice**
 * Cry, "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war,**
 * With carrion men groaning for burial"**
 * open**
 * hunting, seeking prey

While Antony had merely planned his move and referred to it in the soliloquiy in scene i, in scene ii he plays it. After having convinced Brutus to let him speak at Ceasar's funeral, (on the condition that he only speak good of the conspirators), he uses the power of word choice to win the crowd over and start a civil war.

"The noble Brutus Hath told you Ceasar was ambitious If it were so, it was a grievous fault And grievously hath Ceasar answered it Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest advocates (the Conspirators)//** (For Brutus is an honorable man; So are they all, honorable men) Come I to speak at Ceasar's funeral He was my friend, faithful and just to me, But Brutus says he was ambitious And Brutus is an honorable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill Did this in Ceasar seem ambitious?** //Was that very ambitious of him?// (Julius Ceasar, Act III, scene ii, ll. 86-99) Notice how Antony merely repeats, "Brutus is an honorable man" while going into detail about Ceasar, this persuades the Romans to believe that Julius Caesar did not deserve the death he was given by the fellow conspirators. He then continues on to talk about more of the great things Ceasar did, while merely stating "Brutus is an honorable man." He is providing evidence of Ceasar's kindness, while merely stating that Brutus is honorable. Generally, people prefer to believe in things that are backed up with hard evidence. Therefore, he's secretly banding the people against the 'honorable' conspirators.
 * //Brutus, who is noble,//**
 * //Told you Ceasar was ambitious//**
 * //If he was, it was a fault of his//**
 * //And he piad for it (by dieing)//**
 * //Here, by the permission of Brutus and his political
 * //(For Brutus is an honorable man//**
 * //They all are, really)//**
 * //I've come to speak at Ceasar's funeral.//**
 * //He was a very good friend of mine,//**
 * //But Brutus said he was ambitious//**
 * //And Brutus is an honorable man.//**
 * //He brought many POWs home//**
 * //Using his own money//**

Also see how, through the course of his speech, Antony was able to change the swing of his argument. By saying that the conspirators where 'honorable' it seemed as if he was still supporting the conspirators in his speech. However, when putting the 'honorable' actions of the conspirators into perspective, and by comparing their 'honorable' actions with Caesar's, Antony was able to change the direction of his speech before the conspirators even knew what had happened. Which once again shows his intelligence, and how he was underestimated by everyone (especially the conspirators). The scene and speech of his at Caesar's funeral expands on that. At the funeral, Antony talks about Caesar's will, in which Antony reads has given so much to the citizens of Rome. Obviously this is untrue, right after Caesar's death, Antony came to the funeral. He couldn't have stopped at Caesar's house and gotten it. So obviously, he made it up. This was "icing on the cake" that finally turned the citizens against the conspirators. Antony is clearly showing us he has been underestimated, and in fact, has delibritely shown himself as meager and dim-witted so others would disregard him. In fact, in scene ii, Antony's funeral oration becomes the most important point in the story.