00:00:00 [Music] how does mark anthony persuade the crowd so here's some context

brutus and his buddies who are roman politicians have just murdered julius caesar
who is a very popular and successful roman general they've killed caesar because
well it's complicated but basically they feel threatened by caesar's popularity to
illustrate at one point in the play brutus compares caesar to a serpent's egg he
explains that right now caesar is vulnerable but eventually he'll become deadly so
the sooner they kill him

00:00:55 the better [Music] brutus and his buddies assassinate julius caesar and
the roman people want answers we will be satisfied they say in other words tell us
what's going on [Music] brutus then delivers a speech to an audience of roman
people logically explaining why caesar had to be killed believe it or not the roman
people buy it after the speech they find nothing wrong with brutus's actions and
they support caesar's murder [Music] so everything seems fine and dandy despite
caesar's popularity brutus has

00:01:41 killed him and convinced the roman people that the murder is justified
here's the thing mark anthony another roman politician is not happy about any of
this he's a loyal friend to julius caesar and can't let brutus get away with murder
[Music] mark anthony is faced with two difficult problems first he is surrounded by
brutus and other murderous politicians he is heartbroken over caesar's death but he
can't be outspoken about it he needs to appear as if he agrees with the murder or
he's at risk of being

00:02:29 murdered himself [Music] second the roman people seem convinced by
brutus speech they side with brutus and are celebrating caesar's death [Music] marc
anthony would rather that the people were on his side and outraged by caesar's
murder so what does marc anthony do well he needs to appear as if he agrees with
the murderers and persuade the romans that caesar's murder was unjustified this
seems an impossible task with two contradictory objectives but incredibly marc
anthony succeeds and his success is

00:03:15 undoubtedly a shining moment in shakespeare's play [Music] now that you
have some context let's go back in time to the moment when caesar has just been
killed [Music] mark anthony is basically standing over caesar's dead body chatting
with the murderers it's definitely an awkward situation marc anthony shakes each of
the murderer's hands and tells them that although he loved caesar surely there are
good reasons why caesar was murdered he's pretending to side with them so that they
grant him a favor

00:03:58 he then politely asks brutus if he might say a few words to the roman
people about caesar marc anthony wishes to give a speech cassius one of the
murderers is suspicious and says privately to brutus do not consent that anthony
speaks in his funeral know you how much the people may be moved by that which he
will utter [Music] cassius is worried that marc anthony's speech will be so
emotionally charged that he will inspire the romans to revolt in anger in response
to caesar's murder [Music] brutus replies

00:04:52 i will myself into the pulpit first and show the reason of our caesar's
death [Music] brutus will deliver a speech before marc anthony's speech and brutus
has confidence that he will get the romans on his side and as a result marc
anthony's speech will be inconsequential brutus then delivers a speech to the roman
people logically explaining why caesar had to be killed and the roman people eat it
up they support brutus and caesar's murder then it's mark anthony's turn and
remember and i apologize for repeating

00:05:39 myself but this is such an important detail to understand the speech
mark anthony needs to appear as if he agrees with the murderers while persuading
the romans that caesar's murder was unjustified [Music] let's look at seven ways
marc anthony convinces the roman people that caesar's death was unjustified and
that as a result they should revolt [Music] he takes a gentle approach he repeats
the words honorable and ambitious he provides examples of caesar's good character
he uses rhetorical questions

00:06:29 he makes the romans feel guilty he teases caesar's will and finally he
humanizes caesar and brutally describes his dead body [Music] let's talk about each
of these points in more detail one by one a gentle approach [Music] before mark
anthony begins speaking the romans are riled up by brutus's speech they're saying
things like this caesar was a tyrant and we are blessed that rome is rid of him the
average roman imagines caesar as evil and is ready to pounce on anybody who
contradicts this view so marc anthony can't come out and say

00:07:26 caesar was amazing or the people would turn against him he needs a
gentle approach to convince them therefore mark anthony plays a delicate game with
his words walking a tightrope he begins by giving indications that he is on the
roman people's side he greets them kindly as friends romans countrymen but more
importantly he assures them that he is not going to defend caesar he says i come to
bury caesar [Music] not to praise him then he says the noble brutus hath told you
caesar was ambitious if it were so

00:08:31 it was a grievous fault and grievously hath cesar answered it [Music]
these words would seem to suggest that mark anthony agrees with brutus and the
roman people but there are few key phrases here which gently prod his audience into
sympathizing with caesar [Music] the phrase if it were so which translates to if it
were true opens room for doubt was caesar really that ambitious and the phrase
grievously has caesar answered it suggests that caesar's punishment death was too
harsh and out of proportion

00:09:26 [Music] these phrases are only hints meager suggestions but they plant
the seed in the romans minds that caesar might not have been as bad as they think
he was marc anthony sprinkles hints like these throughout the first half of his
speech each of which works a subtle magic on the romans leading them to side with
caesar [Music] now let's talk about repetition of the words honorable and ambitious
in the first 34 lines of his speech mark anthony uses the words ambitious and
honorable five times each

00:10:12 these are two key adjectives that fuel the romans hatred for caesar
after all brutus says that caesar's out of control ambition is why he needed to be
murdered and this murder is legitimate because brutus is an honorable man let's
first talk about the repetition of the word ambitious in the following lines but
brutus says he was ambitious line 90 yet brutus says he was ambitious line 97 and
word for word exactly like line 97 yet brutus says he was ambitious line 102. each
time mark anthony describes caesar

00:11:02 as ambitious it is contextualized as hearsay as mere opinion he doesn't

say caesar was ambitious but rather brutus says he was ambitious without being
forceful or overly direct this opens the door to the interpretation that brutus is
wrong brutus is just one person with one opinion maybe he's wrong what do other
people say what does marc anthony say mark anthony's repetition of the word
honorable undermines brutus's argument in a different way consider these lines for
brutus is an honorable man 986

00:11:50 and brutus is an honorable man line 91 and brutus is an honorable man
line 98 and sure he is an honorable man 103. [Music] in this case each time mark
anthony describes brutus as honorable it's not contextualized as hearsay it's
spoken directly which you would think gives credence to the idea that brutus is
indeed an honorable man thing is this constant repetition leads to an effect like
semantic satiation which is when you repeat a word so many times that it loses its
meaning [Music] i can remember doing this with my

00:12:34 friends in the schoolyard repeating a word again and again without
pause until it didn't seem like a word anymore but just a meaningless noise [Music]
well you can imagine the same thing is happening here mark anthony repeats the word
honorable so many times that his audience becomes numb to its meaning [Music] the
eighth time mark anthony uses the word honorable a roman remarking on brutus and
his co-conspirators shouts they were traitors honorable men [Music] at this point
the roman people are in on

00:13:13 the joke so to speak and the word honorable has been tainted it becomes
code to mean malicious and disloyal [Music] examples of caesar's good character
mark anthony provides three key examples either events in caesar's life or his
behaviors to prove that caesar was not ambitious but rather humble and generous
example one he hath brought many captives home to rome whose ransoms did the
general coffers fill did this in caesar seem ambitious [Music] example two when
that the poor have cried caesar

00:14:21 hath wept ambition should be made of sterner stuff example three you
all did see that on the looper call i thrice presented him a kingly crown which he
did thrice refuse [Music] was this ambition i like to think of marc anthony's
speech as having two dimensions he appeals to both the romans minds and hearts
their reason and their emotion these examples provide a factual basis upon which
mark anthony sprinkles rhetorical techniques that appeal to his audience's emotions
like repetition or rhetorical questions

00:15:32 and that leads me into this way in which marc anthony persuades the
crowd by using rhetorical questions in brief rhetorical questions are questions
that don't require answers they're asked for effect to place emphasis on some point
hey i have a free ticket to the hockey game this evening do you want to come with
me is the sky blue of course i want to go with you the question do you want to come
with me requires an answer but the question is the sky blue does not the sky is
obviously blue so asking is

00:16:15 the sky blue is another way of saying obviously i will accept your free
ticket [Music] it's a rhetorical question because it's asked for effect to place
emphasis on the point that the answer is certainly yes [Music] in two of the
previous examples mark anthony asks rhetorical questions did this in caesar seem
ambitious and was this ambition [Music] neither question requires an answer caesar
obviously does not come across as ambitious for trying to bring wealth to the state
nor does he come across as ambitious for

00:16:59 refusing the crown the last line of marc anthony's speech includes a
rhetorical question he says here was a caesar when comes such another the answer to
this question is obvious there will never be another caesar in fact in response to
this question a roman bursting with emotion shouts out never never [Music] and so
mark anthony's rhetorical questions give his audience an opportunity to participate
in his speech and strengthen his message [Music] now let's talk about guilt
tripping although brutus convinces many romans to

00:17:50 hate caesar and to believe that he deserved death marc anthony knows
that these same romans have celebrated caesar in the past he says you all did love
him once not without cause what cause withholds you then to mourn for him mark
anthony is pointing out the hypocrisy you loved caesar for good reason in the past
so why aren't you sad now that he's dead mark anthony takes it a step further and
says oh judgment thou art fled to brutish beasts and men have lost their reason
this is daring he insults his audience

00:18:55 but recovers by apologizing asking them to have patience with him for
he is deeply saddened by caesar's death bear with me he says my heart is in the
coffin there with caesar and i must pause till it come back to me [Music] the roman
people accused of hypocrisy of being unfeeling animals witness mark anthony's
display of emotion his vulnerability and it affects them inspires guilt marc
anthony rubs it in later saying referring to caesar now he lies there and none so
poor to do him reverence mark anthony might as well be saying

00:20:02 feel bad my fellow romans feel bad about yourselves and feel terrible
about caesar's death teasing the will mark anthony's speech really heats up when he
introduces caesar's will a document caesar wrote in the event of his death
detailing his final wishes for the romans this will quickly become a source of
mystery and excitement mark anthony casually introduces it and then builds it up
describing how much the romans will love caesar after hearing his will marc anthony
pretends to resist the urge

00:20:55 to read the will and fear that their emotions will be too intense but
here's a parchment [Music] with the seal of caesar i found it in his closet tis his
will let but the comments hear this testament which pardon me i do not mean to read
and they would go and kiss dead caesar's wounds and dip their napkins in his sacred
blood yea beg a hair of him for memory and dying mention it within their wills
recreating it as a rich legacy unto their issue [Music] in the end mark anthony
reveals that caesar has left the romans money and

00:22:14 parts of his private estate which serves to further galvanize them into
action against brutus [Music] finally let's talk about how mark anthony humanizes
caesar and describes his dead body [Music] marc anthony compels his audience to
think of caesar as a man not as an idea or a celebrity but as a regular human with
frailties and friends [Music] it's important to note that when brutus delivers his
speech caesar's dead body is hidden away but mark anthony brings it with him
speaking while caesar's bloody dead body

00:22:57 is present on display for the romans to see caesar was stabbed 23 times
each murderer taking a turn and mark anthony remarks on each knife wound and who
among the conspirators delivered it he says look in this place ran cassius's dagger
through see what a rent the envious kaska made [Music] through this the well-
beloved brutus stabbed [Music] now the romans can see for themselves how brutally
caesar was murdered [Music] mark anthony goes an extra step he wants the romans to
see the dead body of a

00:23:56 friend not a military general [Music] he says he was my friend faithful
and just to me [Music] and he provides an excerpt from a personal anecdote you all
do know this mantle i remember the first time ever caesar put it on it was on a
summer's evening in his tent that day he overcame the nerve eye so let's review the
seven different ways marc anthony convinces the roman people that caesar's death
was unjustified he takes a gentle approach he repeats the words honorable and
ambitious he provides examples of caesar's good

00:24:56 character he uses rhetorical he makes the romans feel guilty he teases
caesar's will and finally he humanizes caesar and brutally describes his dead body
there's so much more i could say look for mark antony's false humility in lines 122
to 141 or more examples of gory imagery in the description of caesar's body from
lines 175 198 don't forget this is all just one person's opinion on how mark
anthony persuades the crowd i hope you enjoyed my take and i'm curious to hear your
thoughts in the comments below

00:25:42 [Music] thanks for listening and bye for now