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Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears is the first line of a famous and often-quoted speech by Mark Antony in the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare. The speech is written in iambic pentameter. It is taken from Act III, scene II.

Contents 1 About the speech 1.1 Setting 2 Relevance and cultural impact 2.1 As an icon of rhetoric 2.2 Television

[edit] About the speech

[edit] Setting

In Antony's funeral oration, he abides by his agreement with Brutus not to place blame on the conspirators. However, he manages to turn the mob against the conspirators.

Antony uses many rhetorical tricks to persuade the people to go against the conspirators and support him and Caesar's goals. Mark Antony is a respectable man and is himself honourable, but most importantly he has mastered the art of rhetoric. Antony states in his speech that "[Brutus] Hath told you Caesar was ambitious", and then Antony retorts with "I thrice presented him [Caesar] a kingly crown which he did thrice refuse." By doing that, Antony carefully rebuts Brutus' statement that Caesar was ambitious and starts turning the crowd against the conspirators.

Throughout his speech Antony continues with his pledge to the conspirators by calling them "honourable men", but the crowd feels a sense of sarcasm each time he calls them that. He then says "You [the crowd] all did love him once, not without cause. What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?" This rhetorical question goes against Brutus by questioning his speech in which he so greatly demonized and demeaned Caesar. Now the crowd is starting to turn against the conspirators and follow Antony.

Antony then teases the crowd with Caesar's will, which they beg him to read, but he refuses. Antony tells the crowd to "have patience" and expresses his feeling that he will "wrong the honourable men whose daggers have stabbed Caesar" if he is to read the will. The crowd yells out "they were traitors" and have at this time completely turned against the conspirators and are inflamed about Caesar's death.

To refute Brutus' claim that Caesar was a heartless tyrant Antony recounts "how dearly he [Caesar] loved him [Brutus]". Next, Antony humbles himself as "no orator, as Brutus is" hinting that Brutus used trickery in his speech to deceive the crowd. After that Antony deals his final blow by revealing to the crowd Caesar's will, in which "To every Roman citizen he gives, to every several man seventy-five drachmas" as well as land. He then asks the crowd, "Here was a Caesar, when comes such another?", which questions the conspirators' ability to lead. Finally, Antony releases the crowd and utters, "Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot. Take thou what course thou wilt." After this the crowd riots and searches out the traitors in an attempt to kill them.

Even though in his speech Antony never directly calls the conspirators traitors, he is able to call them "honourable" in a sarcastic manner that the crowd is able to understand. He starts out by citing that Caesar had thrice refused the crown, which refutes the conspirators main cause for killing Caesar. He reminds them of Caesar's kindness and love for all, humanizing Caesar as innocent. Next he teases them with the will until they demand he read it, and he reveals Caesar's 'gift' to the citizens. Finally, Mark Antony leaves them with the question, was there ever a greater one than Caesar?, which infuriates the crowd.

[edit] Relevance and cultural impact

[edit] As an icon of rhetoric

The speech is a famous example of the use of emotionally charged rhetoric. Indeed, comparisons have been drawn between this famous speech and political speeches throughout history in terms of the rhetorical devices employed to win over a crowd; see, for instance, the 1935 essay by Kenneth Burke titled "Antony in Behalf of the Play," which ventriloquizes Antony's speech in order to reveal its manipulative devices (in Kenneth Burke on Shakespeare 2007). Bertolt Brecht has a demagogue trained in political rhetoric by an actor using this speech in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. It is also a demonstration of political populism.

[edit] Television

The famous speech is alluded to in the television series Rome, though the speech itself is left unheard. The character of Antony is later seen mocking Brutus, saying that maybe his speech was too "cerebral" for the crowd.

The portion of the speech "But Brutus was an honourable man" is referenced in the opening scene of the West Wing Season 3 episode 18 "Enemies Foreign And Domestic"