CBSE Class 9 Answered

Antony's Speech

Antony outdoes Brutus with his speech. He manipulates the crowd in a very clever manner to unveil the hollowness of Brutus’ argument. Antony exploits the loopholes present in Brutus’ speech and turns Rome against him and his conspirators. He starts his speech by saying that the evil deeds of men are remembered even after their deaths. But the good deeds they do are often buried with them. Caesar is a good example of the above-mentioned paradox. He states that Brutus is an honourable man and if his accusations of Caesar are true, then Caesar has dug his own grave. He then questions the validity of Brutus’ statements saying that if Caesar was indeed ambitious would he have cried along with the poor? He had also refused the crown three times. Had he been ambitious, wouldn’t he have been the emperor? He then shows the wounds inflicted on Caesar’s body by the conspirators to the crowd. He also shows them the will which enrages the crowd even more. With his deft rhetorical skills, Antony manages to turn Rome against Brutus and the conspirators.