Mark Anthony from Julius Caesar Essay Example

Mark Antony In the play ‘Julius Caesar’, William Shakespeare develops characters through their words and actions as well as through the words of others. William Shakespeare makes it known that even the minor characters are important to the play. Brutus is the protagonist of the play, yet Portia and Calpurnia were just valuable to the play as the men were. Mark Antony is portrayed as a foil in the play, Julius Caesar. He was Caesar’s friend who did everything and anything for him. Mark Antony was a true friend to Caesar and stood up for him whenever trouble occurred and remained loyal to him in any situation. However, after Antony receives soldiers to fight his battle, his character begins to change. The fair and faithful Mark Antony transforms to a darker and a more deceitful character. Mark Antony is not suitable to rule Rome because he holds a grand desire of great power, his conceit restrains him from seeing other's opinions and he possesses the dangerous of persuasion. While Antony defends Caesar against the charge of ambition, the same trait exists in him. In Act IV, Scene I, Antony casually agrees to sacrifice his nephew; his own blood. From this action, the reader infers how much he would give up in order to maintain his power in the triumvirate. In addition, in Act V, Scene I, Antony tries to assert Octavius’ authority by ordering him to lead the battle on the left hand of the field. Antony orders Octavius to take the army to the left side, but Octavius does not want to obey, Antony then questions Octavius asking, “Why do you cross me in this exigent?” Antony is asking for respect due to his power, though Octavius does not want to obey Antony, he does so anyway. Antony is just as ambitious as Caesar was, and is letting all the power he has go to his head, and control him. Mark Antony hungers for domination, which is dangerous for Rome because he will go to any length to achieve his objective. The ability to alter a crowd's opinion through