Here, only two lines after Antony say he hasn't come to praise Caesar, he already slips in the backhanded implication that some good died with Caesar. The marked pronunciation of interréd (Middle English enteren, via French enterrer, which derives from Medieval Latin interrare meaning "within earth") is another trick to keep the meter strict in this line otherwise, he would have written it as interr'd. Oft is a common Elizabethan contraction for often Shakespeare often uses oft to avoid the extra unstressed syllable in his verse. Here is a case where the regular iambic rhythm following the more varied rhythm of the line above aids the contrast that Antony conveys. The good is oft interréd with their bones Also, while Antony is clearly referring to Caesar in the line and the one that follows, it's not hard to imagine him making a subtle innuendo here about the conspirators. Besides, the real subject of Antony's rhetorical parallelism is good and evil, not living and dying. While that isn't completely out of the realm of possibility, it's a bit of a stretch. The hardest word to scan is lives if you scan it as stressed, you have four consecutive stresses in a row, and the line scans iamb/ pyrrhic/ spondee/ spondee/ iamb. This is a line harder to scan than it might seem at first. This is a calculated tactic to disarm a crowd firmly on the side of Brutus when Antony takes the pulpit. Here's the first irony of Antony's speech, in that he is unequivocally here to praise Caesar. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.Īntony follows with a line of straight iambic pentameter punctuated with a feminine ending. Remember also that Antony has entered the Forum with Caesar's body in tow and will use the corpse as a prop throughout his oration. Antony also echoes the opening line that Brutus uses ("Romans, countrymen, and lovers!"), but conspicuously rearranges it where Brutus begins with "Romans" to reflect his appeal to their reason, Antony begins with "friends," which reflects the more emotional tact he will take throughout the rest of his speech. The succession of hard stresses is also Shakespeare's way of using the verse to help Antony cut through the din of the crowd. This entry was posted in Me, Theatre on 28 April 2006 by Andrew."Friends, Romans, countrymen." / / - / - / - /įriends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears įrom a rhythmic perspective, the trochaic feel of this opening immediately commands attention. In case that doesn’t ding your dong: the cast is very talented and I’m assistant directing (which generally involves trying to sneak as many cheap gags past the proper director as possible). Missing virgins, confused potions, cunning disguises, mistakes, fakes, rhymes, crimes… Comedy ensues, generally. There’s a frankly ridiculous plot: the slave, Pseudolus who wants his freedom the lovers, Hero and Philia, who want each other the great general, Miles Gloriosus, who wants Philia too Domina, Hero’s mother, who likes the look of Miles Senex, Hero’s father, who is generally trying to escape from Domina. Features a script by M*A*S*H writer Larry Gelbart (and Bert Shevlove, who didn’t write for M*A*S*H but evidently was still very funny), and some surprisingly catchy songs by the generally-dissonant Stephen Sondheim.Īnd, well missus, you don’t get many of them to the pound. It’s wall-to-wall with high-camp and low comedy. Think of it as a proto-Carry-on-Up-Pompeii… It literally was the prototype for Up Pompeii, and starred Frankie Howerd in the London stage version. It’s spectacularly funny and you should buy a ticket this instant. A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to The Forum opens on Tuesday 13 June at The Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow.
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