Julius Caesar: Solo/Duet Acting

Act III Scene I: ANTONY (Lines 254-275)


ANTONY
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times.
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy,--
Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips,
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue--
A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy;
Blood and destruction shall be so in use
And dreadful objects so familiar
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war;
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds:
And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.


Context:
Antony is begging for forgiveness form Caesar's corpse after he had promise the Conspirators that he will befriend them. It's the Ides of March, Caesar has just been murdered and Antony is looking down at Caesar's body.

Significance:
This passage characterizes Antony and foreshadows what Antony is going to do in order to take revenge. Antony isn't just a playboy anymore, he turned into the leader of the pack that is going to plan out the revenge.