Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

This Caesar was a tyrant. 

Nay, that’s certain.

 

First and Third Citizens

Julius Caesar         Act III, Scene ii, Line 73

Most days we have lines from scenes, sometimes whole plays, that most of you have never heard of. That is not the case today. This is the first scene after titular Julius Caesar has been killed. The scene starts with Brutus explaining to the crowd that the he and the others  killed Caesar to save Rome, and that Caesar would have become a dictator. Then Marc Antony speaks. Today’s Lines are from the crowd, who have been convinced by Brutus that Caesar was a tyrant. Marc Antony then begins with the pretty famous

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

That’s only a few lines down from the Today’s Lines. Anyway, Antony goes on, in a very clever way, to take the crowd from hating Caesar and praising Brutus, when he starts, to loving Caesar and wanting Brutus dead, by the end of his speech. It’s a classic example of the fickleness of the crowd, and a perfect display of the fine line between democracy and crowd rule. It's also a superb example of the power of a good speaker being able to own the crowd.

A few years ago, this play was staged in Central Park with the actors wearing modern day dress. Caesar was played by a guy with goofy hair, a blue suit, and a big red tie; yes, him. There was a big uproar that any theatrical presentation would show a sitting president being assassinated. I don’t think many of the people creating the uproar had any sense of what the play is all about. It occurs to me, however, that a more appropriate character in the play to put the red tie on would have been Marc Antony. He is the one who is able to manipulate the crowd. Also, by doing this, none of Mr. Red Tie’s supporters would have been upset in the least.

Pssst, Mr. Blagys – you promised to keep politics out of these posts.

You're right, Mojo. I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself.