Question

Using your notes about loyalty in the first act of Julius Caesar, describe the character Antony as either a betrayer or a patriot. Your opinion of this character may change as you analyze the other acts, but your response to this question should focus on Act I only. Write one paragraph of three to five sentences to support your observation of Antony. Use proper spelling and grammar.

Answer 1

A friend of Caesar, Antony claims allegiance to Brutus and conspirators after Caesar's death in order to save his own life. Later, however, when speaking a funeral oration over Caesar's body, he spectacularly persuades the audience to withdraw its support of Brutus and instead condemn him as a traitor. With tears on his cheek and Caesar's will in his hand, Antony engages masterful rhetoric to stir the crowd to revolt against the conspirators. Antony's desire to exclude Lepidus from the power that Antony and Octavius intend to share hints at his own ambitious nature.