175
to inspire suspicion of Brutus and
respect for the late Caesar. Antony
accuses the public who so recently
celebrated Caesar’s triumph at the
Lupercal of being “brutish beasts,”
an echo of Brutus’s name. Antony
suggests that his enemy is a liar,
simultaneously touting Caesar as
a peerless hero. With this speech,
and with his reading of Caesar’s
will, Antony gains the support of
the civilians, thereby exploiting
their new hatred of Caesar’s
murderers to justify civil war.
With this support, Antony
unleashes havoc in the streets.
Rebellions and rioting lead to the
assassination of Cinna, the poet.
There is no accountability for such
violent crimes because the civilians
act out of anger and fear. Antony
understands this, but chooses to
spur on the people’s distrust of
the conspirators to further his
own interests. With persuasive
rhetorical flourishes, the senators
also manipulate one another. In the
THE LORD CHAMBERLAIN’S MAN
same way that Antony persuades
the people that the conspirators
are treasonous murderers, so too
Cassius convinces Brutus that
Caesar must be removed from
office. The most potent piece of
rhetoric is the cry made by the
conspirators after Caesar’s death:
“Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is
dead!” (3.1.77). Intangible ideals are
cleverly used to justify the horror ofA 1953 film adaptation by director
Joseph Mankiewicz starred Marlon
Brando as Antony. Brando received
coaching in declaiming Shakespearean
verse from co-star John Gielgud.
Caesar’s assassination. Rhetoric
and persuasion are integral to the
political tacticians in Rome, so
it is with a scathing voice that
Cassius declares, “For who so firm
that cannot be seduced?” (1.2.312).Women unheeded
The women in this masculine
political Rome are presented as
supportive, stoic wives. Both ❯❯Contemporary twist The director Gregory Doran
staged a politically provocative
adaptation of the play in 2012.
With a black cast and set in an
unspecified African country, this
production of Julius Caesar drew
inspiration from contemporary
political tyranny in its depiction
of a nation familiar with despots,
civil war, superstition, poverty,
and disease. The actions of
20th-century dictators such as
Idi Amin and Bokassa, and, more
recently, Robert Mugabe, together
with the unfolding of the Arab
Spring in 2010, collectively
informed this interpretation.Ray Fearon’s Antony was a
charismatic, manipulative
man whose speech to the
citizens was delivered on
a raised platform over the
bloodied body of Caesar, played
by Jeffery Kissoon. Brutus was
played as a fiercely honorable
but naive man by Patterson
Joseph. Caesar’s own tyranny
was skillfully echoed by a giant
statue of the leader, designed
by Michael Vale, resembling
icons of dictatorship in the
20th century. The production
was adapted for the screen
later that year.