What cause withholds you then to mourn for him? You all did love him once, not without cause. I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept.Īmbition should be made of sterner stuff. The good is oft interrèd with their bones. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.įriends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s, to him I say that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less than his. Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses that you may the better judge. Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor that you may believe. Romans, countrymen, and lovers! Hear me for my cause, and be silent that you may hear. Why did Shakespeare use these different styles? Compare the speeches, and the reactions they generate, and draw your own conclusions. Interestingly Brutus’ speech to the people after Caesar’s murder is delivered in prose, but Antony’s is verse, the more sophisticated style. In Julius Caesar the comical Casca’s story of Caesar’s refusal of the crown is given in prose. The majority of The Merry Wives of Windsor is written in prose because it deals with the middle-class. However, some times important characters can speak in prose. These are characters such as criminals, servants, and pages. When a character in a play speaks in prose, you know that he is a lower class member of society. Shakespeare’s audiences would recognize the speech as their language. Prose is the form of speech used by common, or comic, people in Shakespearean drama. In Julius Caesar prose is used very rarely. One idea that may help is to remember that his plays are written in two forms: prose and verse. However, if you understand more about his language, it is easier to understand. They accuse him of not speaking English and refuse to believe that ordinary people spoke the way his characters do. Many students-and adults, for that matter-find Shakespeare difficult to read and hard to understand.
“It is the bright day that brings forth the adder/and that craves wary walking.” - Brutus 2.1.14-15 Shakespeare’s Language: Prose vs Verse Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune Īnd we must take the current when it serves They fall their crests and, like deceitful jades, Make gallant show and promise of their mettle.īut when they should endure the bloody spur, There are no tricks in plain and simple faith.
Identify these examples of Figurative Language:Ī hot friend cooling. Then take we down his load and turn him off, He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold,Įither led or driven, as we point the way.Īnd having brought our treasure where we will, To ease ourselves of divers slanderous loads, “Octavius, I have seen more days than you.Īnd though we lay these honors on this man He uses a simile comparing Lepidus’ usefulness to that of a donkey. Later Antony speaks with Octavius about their ally Lepidus, who he does not respect. “Mischief, thou art afoot./Take thou what course thou wilt!” 3.3.249-250 “Fortune is merry, and in this mood will give us anything” Antony 3.3.255-256 Here Antony speaks of the thing, Judgment, as a person, claiming that it has fled, and left humans for animals. “O judgment thou art fled to brutish beasts.” Antony 3.3.103 They especially use the images of animals, storms, and water. Both Antony and Brutus use a great deal of figurative language as they speak of revenge, justice, and battle. Recognizing when his characters are speaking figuratively helps to understand what they are saying. Shakespeare uses many types of figurative language like metaphor, simile, and personification.
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