Question

MARK ANTONY [adresses the crowd as he stands on stage] 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 honorable man; So are they all, all honorable men— Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me. In this speech, Marc Antony is speaking to the characters (the crowd) in the play allowing him to share his ideas with them while they listen. What MOST LIKELY motivated Shakespeare to deliver this type of speech? Question 5 options: His monologue allows him to share his ideas to the crowd without interruption. His monologue allows him to share his innermost feelings. His monologue prevents him from interrupting other characters while they are having an aside during the speech. His soliloquy allows him to share his ideas to the crowd without interruption.

Answer 1

The correct answer is “A. His monologue allows him to share his ideas to the crowd without interruption.”

This speech where Marc Antony is speaking to the crowd is an important one because of the information being presented, both, to the crowd and readers/audience members.  Because of its importance, a good way to ensure the most is taken from the speech is to not have the speaker interrupted in order for the message to make the most impact. Thus, this is most likely what motivated Shakespeare to have this information conveyed as a speech/monologue.   (Note:  We know it is not a soliloquy because a soliloquy is where a character speaks only to himself or herself.)