![]() ![]() The double superlative ‘most unkindest’ (which would not have been considered bad grammar in Shakespeare’s time) reinforces the betrayal at the core of Brutus’ act, and this is why his was the ‘most unkindest cut’ carried out by all of the conspirators. Mark Antony speaks this line in Act 3 Scene 2, in reference to Brutus’ stabbing of Julius Caesar. ‘This was the most unkindest cut of all’. It’s a journey that Shakespeare and his fellow actors may well have made countless times, once they moved to their new premises in 1599, around the time that Julius Caesar was first performed! If a player wished to cross the Thames to reach the new Globe theatre, erected in 1599, and not get covered in mud, he would have to take the tide ‘at the flood’. However, if such a natural advantage is ‘omitted’, i.e., neglected, the rest of your voyage – the rest of your life, in fact – will be low and miserable.Ĭuriously, London’s theatres on the south bank of the Thames were on a tidal river. The essential gist of Brutus’ words here is ‘seize the day’: taking the tide ‘at the flood’ (i.e., at high tide) means taking advantage of forces which are beneficial, much like rowing a boat with rather than against a strong current is much more advantageous. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune Here, he appeals to his audience’s emotions, preparing them for the poignant story he will go on to relate concerning the cloak that belonged to Julius Caesar. Throughout Act 3 Scene 2 in particular, Mark Antony shows himself to be a gifted orator who is able to use rhetoric to influence the crowd. ‘If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.’ Mark Antony treads carefully, brilliantly going against their expectations and reassuring him that he is simply there to deliver a funeral oration, not to take sides. He realises that they still support the assassination of Julius Caesar and therefore ally themselves to Brutus and the other conspirators. One of the best-known speeches in Julius Caesar, Mark Antony’s ‘ Friends, Romans, countrymen’ address to the people of Rome, in Act 3 Scene 2, shows Mark Antony has ‘read the room’ and knows the mood among the crowd. The good is oft interred with their bones ![]() I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. Brutus is torn between his personal affection for Caesar and his political ideals, which are motivated by his abiding loyalty to Rome. ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears Brutus is a high-ranking and well-respected Roman, husband to Portia, and one of Caesar s murderers. ![]()
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