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With this as
background, read the first nine lines of the soliloquy straight through.
Then read the analysis that follows.
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Sentence 1 : Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come
to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
Sentence 2 : The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft
interred with their bones.
Sentence 3 : So let it be with Caesar.
Sentence 4 : The noble Brutus hath told you Caesar was ambitious.
If it were so, it was a grievous fault, and grievously hath Caesar
answer'd it.
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Sentence 5 : Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest – for Brutus
is an honorable man; so are they all, all honorable men -- come I to speak
in Caesar's funeral.
Sentence 6 : He was my friend, faithful and just to me. But Brutus
says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man.
Sentence 7 : He hath brought many captives home to Rome, whose
ransoms did the general coffers fill. Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
Sentence 8 : When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept.
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.
Sentence 9 : Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an
honorable man.
Analysis of the
Soliloquy
Sentence 1 : Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come
to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
This is the perfect introduction to a speech, i.e. “tell them what you are
going to tell them.” It is also very simple language, suggesting that the
speech will be neither polemical nor great oratory. It will be a
heart-felt statement of bereavement.
Sentence 2 : The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft
interred with their bones.
Once again very simple language, but something has already begun to
change. Note the excellent use of contrast to stimulate and maintain
interest. “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him” in the first
sentence, and “evil” and “good” and “lives” and “interred” in the second.
Sentence 3 : So let it be with Caesar.
Brutus has already denounced Caesar as a tyrant who had to be killed for
the general good. Anthony suggests otherwise, raising expectations in the
crowd, only apparently to definitively dash them, thus heightening their
interest. This is an excellent example of the “separation” technique, i.e.
breaking a sentence for dramatic impact.
Compare
As it might have been written
The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their
bones and so let it be with Caesar.
As it actually was written
The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their
bones. So let it be with Caesar.
The difference is remarkable.
Sentence 4 :The noble Brutus hath told you Caesar was ambitious. If
it were so, it was a grievous fault, and grievously hath Caesar answer'd
it.
Once again, Anthony reverses position. “If it were so . . .” clearly
indicates that he disagrees with Brutus. We are back to the polemic.
Also note the power in the near repetition of “grievous” and “grievously”.
The statement would have been significantly weaker had Shakespeare felt
compelled to avoid such repetition, a grievous fault of many less
accomplished writers.
Sentence 5 : Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest -- for Brutus
is an honorable man; so are they all, all honorable men -- come I to speak
in Caesar's funeral.
Here comes the master stroke: “for Brutus is an honorable man; so are they
all, all honorable men.” By now there can be little doubt that Anthony is
using the word “honorable” ironically; he is in fact suggesting that
Brutus and his co-conspirators are liars and hypocrites.
Sentence 6 : He was my friend, faithful and just to me. But Brutus
says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man.
Here again Shakespeare works his magic by repeating both “ambitious” and
“honorable.” This heightens the impact of the statement, which would have
been seriously diminished by substitutes. For example: “But Brutus says he
was tyrannical and Brutus is worthy of our trust.” The same thought, but
nowhere near the same power.
Sentence 7 : He hath brought many captives home to Rome, whose
ransoms did the general coffers fill. Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
Again repetition of “ambitious”. Also, Anthony asks a question rather than
making a statement. The listeners are enjoined to answer the question for
themselves, and of course the answer is “no”, just as Anthony wants.
Sentence 8 : When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept.
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.
Note the use of “cried” and “wept”. Not only did Caesar empathize with the
poor; he felt their pain even more than they did themselves. Also note the
near repetition, “ambition” rather than “ambitious”.
Sentence 9 : Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an
honorable man.
“Ambitious” and “honorable”. These two words now resound like a drumbeat.
Anthony has effectively transformed their meanings. “Ambitious” now means
“compassionate” and “honorable” now means “ignoble”. This drumbeat
continues throughout the text.
Now read the soliloquy as Shakespeare wrote it, without interruption,
keeping in mind the above analysis.
Also note the rhythm. Not only is the text clear, it flows almost like a
poem without actually being one. Rhythm in expository writing is seldom
mentioned, because when it flows so easily it is seldom noticed. However,
it is there if you look for it. And you should, because it is one of the
subtle things that convert an ordinary text into a great one.
(Anthony addresses the crowd)
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 noble Brutus hath told you Caesar was ambitious. If it were so, it was
a grievous fault. And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it. Here, under
leave of Brutus and the rest -- for Brutus is an honorable man, so are
they all, all honorable men -- come I to speak in Caesar'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 Caesar seem ambitious? When that the poor have
cried, Caesar hath wept. Ambition should be made of sterner stuff. Yet
Brutus says he was ambitious. And Brutus is an honorable man.
You all did see that, on the Lupercal, I thrice presented him a kingly
crown, which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he
was ambitious. And, sure, he is an honorable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, but here I am to speak what I
do know. You all did love him once, not without cause. What cause
withholds you, then, to mourn for him?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts and men have lost their
reason. Bear with me. My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar and I
must pause till it come back to me.
But yesterday the word of Caesar might have stood against the world. Now
lies he there and none so poor to do him reverence.
O masters, if I were disposed to stir your hearts and minds to mutiny and
rage, I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong, who, you all know, are
honorable men: I will not do them wrong. I rather choose to wrong the
dead, to wrong myself and you, than I will wrong such honorable men.
But here's a parchment with the seal of Caesar I found it in his closet.
Tis his will. Let but the commons 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, bequeathing it as a
rich legacy unto their issue.
(The crowd demands to hear the will.)
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Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it. It is not meant you
know how Caesar loved you. You are not wood, you are not stones, but men.
And, being men, bearing the will of Caesar, it will inflame you, it will
make you mad. Tis good you know not that you are his heirs, for, if you
should, O, what would come of it!
Anthony continues to display mock deference to the “honorable men”. This
only stirs emotions further. When he finally does read the will, the crowd
mutinies against the "honorable men" and sets off to kill them.
If there is any doubt that this was the objective of Anthony’s soliloquy,
they are swept aside by two comments as the crowd begins to riot:
-- “Now let it work. Mischief, you are loose. Take whatever path you
want.”
-- “Fortune is favorable, and in this mood will give us anything.”
The complete scene is too long to reproduce here. If you have never fully
appreciated the Marc Anthony soliloquy, this is your opportunity to break
out your Shakespeare, read the complete text -- and learn some valuable
lessons.
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