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The tone changes from Antony grieving over Caesar’s dead body to an angry man ravenous for revenge this makes it compelling as this change happens fairly quickly giving a greater sense of the violence which Antony wishes to create. This soliloquy increases with anger and rage through the strong and violent language which creates images in your mind but as his fury grows it gives a picture of the movement on stage. It begins calm as Antony ‘pardons’ Caesars body but progresses to robust rapid movements which helps creates the images of total slaughter and ‘destruction’ which is about to take place.
Caesar is portrayed as the ‘noblest man’ according to Antony which is a contrast to Cassius’s views seeing him as a power hungry man. The ‘ruins’ suggests that the statue ‘colossus’ or a large object i. e. a building has been destroyed which implies it was disaster and it was a terrible thing that his important object has been wrecked as the Roman citizens were quite upset by this. The ‘noblest man’ implies he serves his country and is very honourable. Antony aggrandises Caesar having ‘costly blood’ making him seem expensive and valuable. His blood is sacred which adds to his high honour.
Antony foretells a ‘prophesy’, he becomes a soothsayer and predicts doom and ‘destruction’. This is given by ‘dumb mouths’ crying out for revenge upon Caesar’s murders, the ‘ruby lips’ suggest blood from the murders. The colour red is repeated getting more furious ‘ranging for revenge’ and ‘carrion men’ creates a sense that there is only blood and death awaiting the murders. He is mad for vengeance, he is ‘hot as hell’ gives an image of how infuriated he is with Caesar’s murders. The aggressive images continue through Antony’s soliloquy from his ‘prophesy’ reflecting the violent death of Caesar.
The murders are called ‘butchers’ which gives a gruesome image of Caesars death and how painful and brutal it must have been. He contrasts himself with the murders as he is ‘meek and gentle’ by decreasing his fury makes the assassins seem crueller and harsher. Antony’s fury grows to ‘blood’ and ‘destruction’ which progresses to total slaughter of Rome with a ‘monarch’s voice’. He gives very graphic imagery explaining that mothers will be glad their ‘infants quarter’d’ so that they do not have to witness and endure the ‘havoc’ Antony desires to bring.
He is relishing chaos upon Rome with ‘dogs of war’. Caesar’s body is on earth with other ‘carrion men’, Antony wants to bring the murders bodies to the earth. This could also be interpreted that the assassins must be below the earth and enter ‘hell’ as Caesar is the ‘noblest man’ and will always be higher than everyone so if Caesars body lay on earth everyone must be lower than him in hell. This theme of Caesar being higher and inferior to everyone continues even when he is dead, this makes it compelling as Antony is so driven to make Caesar greater as he is worth more with his ‘costly blood’.
He wants the murders to suffer. Antony wishes to create ‘war’ and is predicting a division within Rome, a ‘fierce civil strife’. He wants to tear Rome apart, Caesar’s supporters versus the Republic. This is compelling as Brutus wanted peace as he explains earlier that he did not want to be a ‘butcher’. This soliloquy is significant within the play as this extract predicts the future destruction and dooms upon Rome. Just as one plot ends with murdering Caesar another begins to divide a country and create ‘civil strife’.