The Sunday News
WILLIAM Shakespeare demonstrates the fickleness of the crowd well in the play, Julius Caesar. The plebeians or mob is one of the main forces in the play. It is the underlying power that determines the outcome of the play as it is worked on by the leading characters like Caesar, Brutus, Antony and others.
In the opening scene of the play, we find the mob in joyous mood celebrating Caesar’s triumph. The character, Cobbler, as an individual then, tells Flavius that they have given themselves a holiday so that we can see Caesar, and rejoice in his victory. Marullus asks the crowd what is there to celebrate? He goes on to give them a strong tongue lashing, scolding them in the strongest terms. “You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!”
The crowd which was swelling in the streets suddenly disappears after Flavius tells them to go in order to undo their fault, gather on the riverside, and weep till the Tiber River, which is at shallowest may rise and touch its highest banks. The mob is in great fear after Caesar is murdered. Brutus manages to convince them that Caesar was a tyrant.
This just shows the fickleness of the mob rather than any change of heart. It does not require much effort from Antony to turn the tables and convince it that Caesar deserved their love and respect that they had for him when he was alive.
After the conspirators had killed Julius Caesar they needed to furnish the crowd with reasons for doing it. People do not usually follow what they hear hence Brutus saw it fit to address the crowd and settle their emotions. Obviously there were some who were against imperialism and would have accepted the murder of Caesar with no reservations. But there were others who loved Caesar and needed to be told why he had to die.
A throng of citizens following Brutus, clamour to hear the reasons for Caesar’s murder. Brutus makes a big mistake when he addresses the crowd. He shows ignorance of human nature. He completely misjudges the crowd, addressing them as if each individual were a highly trained philosopher. He says to the crowd: “Censure me in your wisdom that ye may better judge”.
Brutus appeals to the non-existent wisdom of the crowd and asks them to make a judgment. There is no reasoning among a crowd. He tells the crowd that he loved Caesar and honoured his great valour; but he loves Rome even more, and he slew Caesar because he was ambitious and would have made slaves of them all. Using rhetorical questions he asks if any of his listeners is “so vile that will not love his country” and pauses for reply.
The crowd shows that it has not understood Brutus. A member of the crowd is heard saying: “Let him be Caesar.” Brutus’s speech was meant to show the crowd that Caesar was evil but someone says he should be Caesar. Brutus spoke far above the level of ordinary men hence he was misunderstood. Plebeians need somebody who comes down to their level and take them up as well.
When Brutus ends his address the mob is convinced that Caesar’s death was justified and wish to bring Brutus “with triumph home into his house”. Brutus then departs, and as Mark Antony goes into the pulpit some citizens mutter that “It were best he speak no harm of Brutus here”. For now the citizens are going along with Brutus and the conspirators. Antony addresses the mob declaring that he has come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
Antony states that although Caesar had been his close friend, he had not been without faults. He says Brutus has said Caesar had a fault of ambition, and since Brutus and his friends are all honourable men, this certainly must be true. He continues: Caesar also brought great riches and honour to Rome and when the poor cried, Caesar used to weep — hardly the behaviour of a cruel man!
Moreover, at the Feast of Lupercalia, Caesar had thrice refused the crown which Antony offered him. Does that seem like ambition? Antony breaks off with a show of grief —“My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar”. At this juncture one of the citizens is heard saying: “Me thinks there is sense in what he is saying.” The citizens agree among themselves that there is much reason in what Antony says, and note how deeply he is affected — “his eyes are red as fire with weeping”.
Perhaps, after all, Brutus was wrong and Caesar was not so ambitious? A short while ago they were saying, “T were best he speak no harm of Brutus here!” Antony moves with the crowd as he addresses them. He stresses that he has no intention of wronging the conspirators since they are all such honourable men — instead, “I rather choose to wrong the dead, to wrong myself, and you”. He tells the crowd that he has found Caesar’s will, though he would not read it, yet, if he did, it would show them that Caesar had been their best friend.
The crowd is moved by compassion, curiosity, and greed and cry out for the will to be read. Antony tells the crowd what they want to hear but tactfully refuses their demand, for there will be mutiny and bloodshed once they hear that Caesar has made them his heirs. From the will Antony reads that Caesar has left 75 drachmas to each citizen and his private walks and gardens to be used as public parks.
After this there is no holding back the crowd. In a frenzy of mutinous excitement, they rush to burn down the conspirators’ houses while Antony mutters with satisfaction that his words have had the desired effect and mischief is on the rampage. The crowd has easily been swayed by Antony’s speech and have turned against the conspirators.
The mob changes its mind and sides five times in the play. When Brutus delivers his speech, they are all for Brutus.
“Live, Brutus! Live, live!” says one citizen. “Let him be Caesar,” says another.” “This Caesar was a tyrant”, says another. When Antony wins them over, “They were villains, murderers”, says one of the conspirators, “Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Kill! Slay! Let not a traitor live!” they say collectively after Antony’s speech. All this demonstrates the fickleness of the crowd.
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