Skip to main content

I can't figure out how to start my essay for the William Shakespeare play Julius Caesar. I have a good thesis but can't find a good quote for the...

William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesaris about the assassination of Julius Caesar and the political and military fallout that follows. In Act III, Scene I, the rebellious Roman senators stab Caesar to death. The event you are referring to appears in the next scene, as the Romans attempt to explain their deed to the public. Specifically, Marc Antony is speaking, at first appearing to support the assassination of Caesar, but then turning...

William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is about the assassination of Julius Caesar and the political and military fallout that follows. In Act III, Scene I, the rebellious Roman senators stab Caesar to death. The event you are referring to appears in the next scene, as the Romans attempt to explain their deed to the public. Specifically, Marc Antony is speaking, at first appearing to support the assassination of Caesar, but then turning the crowd against the conspirators through his skillful use of irony.


Antony uses the word “honorable” ten times in his speech. By the end of the speech he has the Roman spectators wondering if the conspirators were really in the right or not, then he concludes with this:



But were I Brutus, and Brutus Antony, there were an Antony


Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue


In every wound of Caesar that should move


The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.



This is a thinly veiled call for the Romans to revolt against the conspirators, and it works. They immediately set off in search of Cassius and Brutus and the rest.


If I were writing a paper on this part of the play, this would be a good quote to use to show the real intent of Antony's speech. By the time Antony says this he has completely turned the idea of what is honorable on its head. The people no longer believe that Brutus is honorable, which is a tragic turn of events for Brutus, since that is what is most important to him. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the meaning of "juggling fiends" in Macbeth?

Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a... Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a sense of guilt, and that man tells him: Despair thy charm. And let the angel whom thou still hast serve...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are some external and internal conflicts that Montag has in Fahrenheit 451?

 Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, faces both external and internal conflicts throughout the novel. Some examples of these conflicts are: External Conflicts: Conflict with the society: Montag lives in a society that prohibits books and critical thinking. He faces opposition from the government and the people who enforce this law. Montag struggles to come to terms with the fact that his society is based on censorship and control. Conflict with his wife: Montag's wife, Mildred, is completely absorbed in the shallow and meaningless entertainment provided by the government. Montag's growing dissatisfaction with his marriage adds to his external conflict. Conflict with the fire captain: Montag's superior, Captain Beatty, is the personification of the oppressive regime that Montag is fighting against. Montag's struggle against Beatty represents his external conflict with the government. Internal Conflicts: Conflict with his own beliefs: Montag, at the beginning of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

In A People's History of the United States, why does Howard Zinn feel that Wilson made a flimsy argument for entering World War I?

"War is the health of the state," the radical writer Randolph Bourne said, in the midst of the First World War. Indeed, as the nations of Europe went to war in 1914, the governments flourished, patriotism bloomed, class struggle was stilled, and young men died in frightful numbers on the battlefields-often for a hundred yards of land, a line of trenches. -- Chapter 14, Page 350, A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn outlines his arguments for why World War I was fought in the opening paragraph of Chapter 14 (referenced above). The nationalism that was created by the Great War benefited the elite political and financial leadership of the various countries involved. Socialism, which was gaining momentum in Europe, as was class struggle, took a backseat to mobilizing for war. Zinn believes that World War I was fought for the gain of the industrial capitalists of Europe in a competition for capital and resources. He states that humanity itself was punished by t...
Post a Comment
Read more