William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar - Mark Antony Proves to Be the Most Skilful Politician in the Play. Do You Agree?
William Shakepeare's Julius Caesar
Mark Antony proves to be the most skilful politician in the play. Do you agree?
Power is the ability to influence the behaviour of others - whether this is achieved with or without resistance, for good or for bad. Some would go as far as to say that all human behaviour is propelled by the want of power. One can conclude, however, that power is inevitable in the human society. It’s natural. William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, is brimming with humans fighting for power, and the one who stands out as the most skilful of these is not the play’s tragic hero Brutus, but Mark Antony, Caesar’s confidant and friend.
During Lupercal, Caesar shows his keen insight by remaking to Antony that Cassius “reads much; he is a great observer and he looks quite through the deeds of men.” However, Caesar is not fearful of Cassius because he believes himself to be beyond the reach of mere humans. He explains his incapability to experience fear by saying “for always I am Caesar.” However, in that same scene he makes a reference to his deafness, and we see through his vain conceptions that the man who believes himself to be godlike is in actual fact an aging man in imminent danger of assassination. This faith in his own permanence eventually proves Caesar’s undoing. He ignores the many people, including his wife, who try to warn him of danger. On top of this, his arrogance and pride offset his ability to reason. When Decius comes to persuade Caesar to go to the Senate (and to his assassination), he ignores all the signs not to go because of Decius’ challenge to his sense of pride and ambition. So perceptive in his analysis of Cassius, he is unable to look “quite through the deeds” of a calculating deceiver.
In response to Caesar’s remark that Cassius is dangerous, Antony replies, “Fear him not, Caesar; he’s not dangerous, He’s a noble Roman and well given.” In this statement he expresses the general sentiments that were surrounding
Mark Antony proves to be the most skilful politician in the play. Do you agree?
Power is the ability to influence the behaviour of others - whether this is achieved with or without resistance, for good or for bad. Some would go as far as to say that all human behaviour is propelled by the want of power. One can conclude, however, that power is inevitable in the human society. It’s natural. William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, is brimming with humans fighting for power, and the one who stands out as the most skilful of these is not the play’s tragic hero Brutus, but Mark Antony, Caesar’s confidant and friend.
During Lupercal, Caesar shows his keen insight by remaking to Antony that Cassius “reads much; he is a great observer and he looks quite through the deeds of men.” However, Caesar is not fearful of Cassius because he believes himself to be beyond the reach of mere humans. He explains his incapability to experience fear by saying “for always I am Caesar.” However, in that same scene he makes a reference to his deafness, and we see through his vain conceptions that the man who believes himself to be godlike is in actual fact an aging man in imminent danger of assassination. This faith in his own permanence eventually proves Caesar’s undoing. He ignores the many people, including his wife, who try to warn him of danger. On top of this, his arrogance and pride offset his ability to reason. When Decius comes to persuade Caesar to go to the Senate (and to his assassination), he ignores all the signs not to go because of Decius’ challenge to his sense of pride and ambition. So perceptive in his analysis of Cassius, he is unable to look “quite through the deeds” of a calculating deceiver.
In response to Caesar’s remark that Cassius is dangerous, Antony replies, “Fear him not, Caesar; he’s not dangerous, He’s a noble Roman and well given.” In this statement he expresses the general sentiments that were surrounding