Julius Caesar - Manipulation - 1162 Words

A person of great power has a large amount of control and influence over the vast majority of the population that they lead. Often times, their leadership position was gained through manipulation of the people as they try to sell themselves to them. This manipulation also affects any competition for that leadership position because a common technique to sway someone’s opinion is to make the competition look bad which then makes the people look down on the competition, causing the opposing side’s chances of success to plummet. William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar demonstrates this as a tale of manipulation leads to the downfall of the weaker link. Cassius, Mark Antony and Julius Caesar have perfected the art of manipulation as they are†¦show more content†¦Shakespeare also demonstrates that the manipulation of a large amount of people increases the manipulator’s power because there is power in numbers and Brutus was not able to manipulate anyon e. Antony’s manipulation of the plebeians makes him stronger but it also makes Brutus, who had just as much of a chance as Antony did at latching them onto his army, weaker. Brutus’ speech is rather weak because he doesn’t go that extra mile when trying to engrave his points in the plebeian’s brain. His speech is very basic, and because the plebeians are so easy to sway, he is able to initially grab hold of their minds. After this, Antony comes up and uses many tactics for a more effective process of manipulation. First, he shoots down any positive points that Brutus made by counteracting them, and although Brutus went first, he could have tried to cover himself better, for he had to have some kind of idea where Antony would be coming from. For example, Antony mocks Brutus by saying â€Å"But Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man,† (Act III Scene II 95-96) and this, as well as his points counteracting Caesar’s ambitiousnes s, voids out Brutus’ idea of the common good in the plebeians’ minds. Antony also uses visualization as a tactic when he picks up Caesar’s mantle to show just how violent Caesar’s murder was, which again reiterates the fact that it couldn’t have been done completely for the commonShow MoreRelatedManipulation in Shakespeares Julius Caesar Essay612 Words   |  3 PagesManipulation in Shakespeares Julius Caesar William Shakespeares tragic play portraying the life in ancient Rome is one that closely follows many elements that make a drama interesting. The murders and the conspiracies behind the killings add to the plot of jealousy and patriotism. Within Julius Caesar also lies a twisted tale of attempted, actual, and forced manipulation. 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