Question

Read the passage. Then answer the question that follows.

ANTONY. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

The evil that men do lives after them;

The good is oft interrèd with their bones.

So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus

Hath told you Caesar was ambitious.

If it were so, it was a grievous fault,

And grievously hath Caesar answered it.

Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest—

For Brutus is an honourable man,

So are they all, all honourable men—

Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.

–The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,

William Shakespeare

Which details support the central idea that Antony is not being straightforward, but is criticizing the conspirators? Check all that apply.

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.”
“I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.”
“The good is oft interrèd with their bones.”
“For Brutus is an honourable man”
“So are they all, all honourable men”

Answer 1

Correct choices:
- “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” — Antony says he won't praise Caesar but goes on to do so, showing irony and indirect criticism of the conspirators.
- “For Brutus is an honourable man” — repeated with obvious sarcasm; Antony undermines Brutus while calling him “honourable.”
- “So are they all, all honourable men” — the repetition and tone extend the sarcasm to the other conspirators.

(“Friends, Romans, countrymen…” is just an attention-getter; “The good is oft interrèd with their bones” is a general observation, not a direct ironic attack.)