Read the extract from 'Julius Caesar' Act 3, Scene 2, given below and answer the questions that follow: Antony: Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them, The good is oft interred with their bones; So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus Hath told you Caesar was ambitious; If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it. Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest– For Brutus is an honourable man; So are they all, all honourable men– Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
Which one argument of Antony’s do you think had the greatest impact on his listeners? Give a reason to support your answer. What were the citizens’ feelings towards Antony before he began his speech? How do their feelings towards him change at the end of his speech?
Topic: Act 3 Scene 2 — effect on the crowd
Answer
The greatest impact came from Caesar’s will, with its seventy-five drachmas to every citizen and his private walks and orchards left to the people of Rome. Reason: the earlier arguments appealed to their judgement, but the will touched their own lives and made Caesar’s love for them personal and concrete. (Credit is equally given for the refusal of the crown, argued convincingly.)
Before the speech the citizens were hostile and suspicious. Brutus had convinced them the murder was necessary, and they were ready to crown Brutus himself; they warned Antony to speak no ill of the conspirators.
By the end their feelings are wholly reversed. They call Caesar a noble man and the conspirators traitors and villains, and they rush off with firebrands to burn the murderers’ houses.
This is a 4-mark question with three tasks, so budget roughly 2 + 1 + 1. The first part is an opinion question: any argument is acceptable if the reason is convincing, so state your choice plainly and justify it with textual evidence rather than hedging. For the change in feeling, show the movement — hostility, then wavering ("Methinks there is much reason in his sayings"), then fury. Marking the stages, not just the endpoints, is what separates a full-mark answer.