Political Cartoons

Kyra Lyons
March 17, 2014
Period 8

Political Cartoons

Featured above are two political cartoons based on the characters of Antony and Brutus from Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. The first shows that Antony is only manipulating the public, not truly persuading them. The second shows that Brutus is simply a man made up of other men's ideas and beliefs. Both of these men are unqualified to rule Rome for those reasons.

In the first political cartoon (left), Antony is shown using a Jedi mind trick on the public, telling them that Cassius and Brutus are not the rulers they should seek for Rome. As you may notice, Antony is far larger than Cassius and Brutus. He is pictured this way because before Caesar's death, he is portrayed as merely a limb of Caesar in Act II, i, 178, "For Antony is but a limb of Caesar." However, after Caesar's death, Antony grows in both importance and influence, even larger than Cassius and Brutus. This is stated by a Plebeian in Act III, ii, 128, "There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony." What Antony does with this influence is a completely different subject. During Antony's funeral speech, he does nothing but toy with the Public's emotions. He dances around calling Brutus and the conspirators traitors, while reassuring the Public that they were honest men. The Public becomes riled up, and Antony says almost sarcastically, "Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up To such a sudden flood of mutiny." (Act III, ii, 222-223) He plays tricks on the minds of the Public, but not in the good and healthy way a Jedi might. Antony is leading the Public down the path of fear, anger, hate, and suffering through pure manipulation, not to the path of peace and justice that Rome needs.

The second political cartoon (right) depicts several sections of different people pasted together to create one person. It also features the words "Not my ideas." This captures Brutus' essence. He always seems to be coming up with ideas that can be found to have been already created by another character. The caption says Brutus (aka Cassius, Casca, Cinna, etc) because who is Brutus, really? He is only the conglomeration of several other men's ideas put into action. This is clearly demonstrated in Act II, i, 49 when Brutus receives a letter stating, "Speak, strike, redress!" from Cassius, and then Brutus is found later stating in his address to the conspirators, "What need we any spur but our own cause To prick us to redress?" (Act II, i, 134-135) Brutus is contradicting what he is saying through his very action. He is telling the conspirators to act only because of their personal drive and spirit, while he is acting because Cassius told him to act in the letter. Brutus is merely a puppet to Cassius and the other conspirators. He is merely a reflection of the other Romans pieced together to make a man, and that is definitely not a quality you would want to find in a ruler.