Julius Caesar Hero

938 Words4 Pages
Stories of heroes have been told throughout the ages. The one duty that they all have in common is the pursuit of truth and justice. Such is the same in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. In the play, the hero in question was Marc Antony, Caesar’s ally and devoted friend. I believe Shakespeare portrayed him as a noble and loyal hero because Marc Antony stood up for Caesar even in the face of possible danger from the conspirators and the enraged crowd, he was able to turn the crowd against the conspirators and restore Julius Caesar’s honor, and he continues to be an honorable man towards Brutus even after his death. The play begins with Julius Caesar’s return to Rome, victorious from the war against Pompey. Although Rome is prepared to receive…show more content…
Although this may seem identical to the first point I was trying to make, standing up for someone is different than turning a crowd against someone else. The best example in the text is also from the speech Atony gave in Act 3, Scene 2. During his speech, he never once directly accused Brutus or any of the other conspirators of committing senseless murder. In fact, he continuously stated that Brutus was “an honorable man” (Shakespeare, Act 3, Scene 2). By using real examples of Caesars noble deeds and manipulating the crown in the same way that Brutus did before, Antony was able to sway the crowd against the conspirators and onto a righteous, albeit vicious, path. Antony’s manipulation of the crowd was not only warranted, but restorative as well. The angry crowd was originally angry with Brutus and the others for the murder of Caesar, but Brutus manipulatively convinced them that it was a necessary death. Antony did the honorable thing by allowing the crowd to see the situation for what it really was. He cleared Caesars name in their eyes and targeted their anger towards the real enemy. Only an honorable man or even a hero could have been able to help such and angry crowd see the real truth. It takes a noble man to command such a force of…show more content…
Although he betrayed Brutus and the others, Marc Antony proves in Act 5, yet again, that he is a noble man. When Lucilius pretended to be Brutus in an effort to protect him in Scene 4, Antony ordered that he be spared because Lucilius is "no less in worth" than his leader, Brutus. Once more, in Scene 5, Marc Antony admires Brutus after his death, recognizing the integrity of the man. Antony states “This was the noblest Roman of them all. All the conspirators, save only he, Did that they did in envy of great Caesar” (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 74-76). Antony was expressing that Brutus seemed to be the only “conspirator” who did what he had done for the good of the nation rather than the good of himself. It takes a noble man to see his sworn enemy as selfless and recognize his humanity. In fact, it is very plausible that Antony saw Brutus as an enemy no matter how noble his cause because he was behind Caesars death and Antony swore

More about Julius Caesar Hero

Open Document