Rhetorical Analysis: Mark Antony’s Speech

Mark Antony's speech is often held up as a standard of excellence for rhetoric and rhetorical analysis. It refers to the speech given by Mark Antony to a Roman crowd at Caesar's funeral. It was a clever speech of masterful oratory that used irony and rhetorical questions to turn a Roman mob into a powerful political force against those who murdered Caesar.

The speech took place in actual history. However, when people speak about Mark Antony's speech, more likely than not, they are referring to Shakespeare's version in his play Julius Caesar in Act 3, Scene 2. This is the focus of this article. In this article, we look at the historical background of the speech and the rhetorical devices and strategy used that made it so effective.

The Death of Julius Caesar, as depicted by Vincenzo Camuccini. Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC.

In doing so, we look at things such as tone, humor, and figures of speech (or rhetorical devices). Mark Antony’s speech was a famous speech that was depicted in Shakespeare's famous play Julius Caesar, which examined the assassination of Julius Caesar and its bloody aftermath.  

Historical background of Mark Antony’s speech

The speech by Mark Antony is based on both history and literature. Although the version of the speech that we will focus on is from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, it occurred in actual history.  Shakespeare based his play on the writings of a Roman historian named Plutarch, who documented events in Roman history, such as the assassination of Caesar and how he was avenged by his allies Brutus and Octavian.

Mark Antony’s speech was written centuries ago by Shakespeare in 1623. The speech occurs at the funeral of Julius Caesar, who, a day before, was assassinated by Brutus (a close friend of Caesar) and several other conspirators. 

Caesar was a powerful man with powerful friends. However, with his sudden assassination, Brutus and the conspirators have the balance of power in Rome on their side. Chief of Caesar’s allies was Mark Antony, a Roman general who was a close friend of Caesar. 

He is able to convince Brutus to allow him to speak at Caesar’s funeral. However, this was a foolish decision on the part of Brutus. After Brutus gives his own speech, Antony uses his turn to talk as an occasion to stir the Roman mob to mutiny. They turn against Brutus and the conspirators, who have to flee Rome to save their lives. 

How Mark Antony uses rhetorical devices

Mark Antony’s speech at Caesar’s funeral is often held up as a classic example of impressive rhetoric. The speech makes brilliant use of irony, erotema (or rhetorical questions), and various types of repetition.  Lastly, Mark Antony relies on the rhetorical appeal to emotion or pathos by manipulating the grief that the crowd suffers from.

Shakespeare’s language is often criticized as too old-fashioned and difficult to follow by a modern audience. This may often be true, especially when Shakespeare deliberately makes his characters sound like the everyday man using the British dialect of his own era.

However, with Mark Antony’s speech, there is no such problem. It reads like a modern and updated piece of writing that anyone who can read or speak English reasonably well can appreciate. 

Mark Antony’s speech in full

Here is the speech in full. Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 2: 

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 honourable man;

So are they all, all honourable 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 honourable 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 honourable 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 honourable 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.

Mark Antony makes use of three main rhetorical devices here — irony, praeteritio, and erotema. The irony lies in the fact that Antony is saying something without saying it. The speech points out the treachery and dishonor of Brutus, who was treated by Caesar as his own son, all while referring to Brutus as “an honorable man.”  This is called praeteritio. 

Erotema is another name for rhetorical questions, which Brutus uses to point out the absurdity of Brutus’s allegation that Caesar was ambitious. By “ambition,” Brutus meant to suggest that Caesar had ambitions to end the Republic and become a king or tyrant over Rome. 

Mark Antony uses erotema to dismiss the notion. For example:

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 honourable man.

Mark Antony uses just about every known rhetorical device in this speech. It should also be pointed out the logical approach used by Antony in his speech. Let’s take a deeper look. 

Antony begins the speech with subtle irony: 

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;

The Roman crowd may have been slightly suspicious about the weird idea that a man’s good deeds should be ignored at his own funeral. However, Brutus’ grave wrong against Caesar probably became more obvious to them after Antony utters the first rhetorical question: 

He hath brought many captives home to Rome

Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:

Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?

By the second rhetorical question, Brutus directly challenges Brutus’ claim that Caesar had ambitions to be king or dictator. 

You all did see that on the Lupercal

I thrice presented him a kingly crown,

Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?

Finally, Antony throws away all pretense and irony with his last rhetorical question: 

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.

The rhetorical question is further reinforced by Brutus suggesting that the crowd are as dumb as “brutish beasts” if they don’t realize how much of a crime has been committed against Caesar.  We take a closer look ate the various rhetorical devices used by Mark Antony in his speech:

Repetitive rhetorical devices

The following table provides several examples of repetitive rhetorical devices. As mentioned earlier, repetitive rhetorical devices add emphasis and establish a rhythm. 

This is what Antony does in his speech, especially with the repetition of “honourable man.” He also seeks to emphasize the hypocrisy of Brutus and the conspirators by contrasting the goodness of Caesar with his barbaric manner of death. 

Rhetorical Device	Definition	Example
Anaphora	Repetition at the start
Epistrophe	Repetition at the end	“Brutus is an honorable man.” This is repeated at the end of several sentences throughout the speech.  “For Brutus is an honourable man; So are they all, all honourable men”
Anadiplosis	When the same language is used at the end of one sentence or clause and at the beginning of the next.	“So are they all, all honourable men”– You all did love him once, not without cause: What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?
Polyptoton	Repetition of the root with a different ending.	“If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it.” “Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious”

Structure-based rhetorical devices

Structure-based rhetorical devices work by maintaining, enhancing, or changing the normal structure of a phrase. For example, isocolon maintains a parallel structure for phrases or sentences that are in succession, whereas chiasmus repeats elements but reverses their structure. The table below provides definitions and examples. 

Rhetorical Device	Definition	Example
Chiasmus	Repeating elements with their structure reversed	“I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse”
Anastrophe	Inversion of words	“Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.”
Asyndeton	Leaving out conjunctions	“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears”

Dramatic rhetorical devices

Dramatic rhetorical devices focus on encouraging the audience to participate or making a show of allowing the audience to participate. The most famous example would be erotema or rhetorical questions. 

Erotema gives the audience the impression that you are engaging them in the speech. As mentioned earlier, Antony relies primarily on praeteritio in this speech as a dramatic device

Rhetorical device	Definition	Example
Praeteritio	Saying things without saying them	“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”  “For Brutus is an honourable man; So are they all, all honourable men–”
Aposiopesis	Breaking off in midstream	“Bear with me;  My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, And I must pause till it come back to me.”
Litotes	Rhetorical use of the negative	“I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, But here I am to speak what I do know.”
Erotema	Rhetorical questions	“I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?” You all did love him once, not without cause: What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?
Hypophora	Asking questions and answering them	"Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: Ambition should be made of sterner stuff"

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Cite this EminentEdit article

Antoine, M. (2024, November 10). Rhetorical Analysis Example: Mark Antony’s Speech. EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/rhetorical-analysis-mark-antony-s-speech