The Famous Speech By Mark Antony

(from Julius Caesar, spoken by Marc 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 interred 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 answer’d 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.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
He hath brought many captives home to Rome
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.

Scene Explanation:

After Julius Caesar was stabbed by a group of  conspirators( Brutus, Cassius etc..), Mark Antony urges them to allow him to give a speech in Caesar's Funeral after his handshake with the group. Cassius warns not to allow him to do so but Brutus allowed him thinking that he has no power to make a change. In the funeral speech Brutus justifies the assassination of Julius Caesar is simply for the goodness of Rome, he says that he loves Caesar but loves his country even more in order to catch the minds of the Rome crowd. After this Antony gives the most famous speech to the crowd, at the beginning the part of the crowd is not ready to hear his words but the rest of them are interested in.  

Why the Speech is So Special

Shakespeare has showed in excellence in the rhetorical irony form. The one speech that can change the entire crowd must be so powerful than anyone can imagine, that work has been exceptionally carried out by the Bard of Avon. It has illustrated one of the greatest moment in the Roman period. He played with the words so well that every reader impressed to the words in deep. 

Julius Caesar is a famous historical play written by William Shakespeare in the year of 1599 approximately. 

           

The Most Famous 50 Works in English Literature

The Most Famous 50 Works in English Literature are presented here in the chronological order with the author name. These are absolutely great works done by the writing wizards of all time in the English Language.

1. The Canterbury Tales - Geoffrey Chaucer
2. The Faerie Queen - Edmund Spenser
3. A Valediction - John Donne
4. Doctor Faustus - Christopher Marlowe
5. Julius Caesar - William Shakespeare
6. The Spanish Tragedy - Thomas Kyd
7. The Alchemist - Ben Jonson 
8. The Duchess of Malfi - John Webster
9. Utopia - Sir Thomas More
10. Paradise Lost - John Milton
11. The Changeling - Thomas Middleton
12. The Temple - George Herbert
13. To His Coy Mistress - Andrew Marvell
14. The Way of the world - William Congreve
15. Mac Flecknoe - John Dryden
16. Gulliver's Travel - Jonathan Swift
17. Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe
18. The Rape of the Lock - Alexander Pope
19. She Stoops to Conquer - Oliver Goldsmith
20. The French Revolution - William Blake
21. Tom Jones - Henry Fielding
22. Dictionary of English Language - Samuel Johnson
23. The Daffodils - William Wordsworth
24. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - S. T. Coleridge
25. Ode to a Nightingale - John Keats
26. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
27. Ulysses- Alfred Lord Tennyson
28. Andrea Del Sarto - Robert Browning
29. Scholar Gypsy - Mathew Arnold
30. The Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
31. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
32. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
33. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
34. Lord Jim - Joseph Conrad
35. The Invisible Man - Herbert George Wells
36. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
37. Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
38. The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
39. Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
40. The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling
41. 1984 - George Orwell
42. Lord of the Flies -  William Golding
43. A House for Mr. Biswas - V. S. Naipaul
44. The Tower - W. B. Yeats
45. The Waste Land - T. S. Eliot
46. Arms and the Man - George Bernard Shaw
47. The Importance of Being Ernest - Oscar Wilde
48. The Birthday Party - Harold Pinter
49. Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett
50. Look Back in Anger - John Osborne 

All You Want to Know About D. H. Lawrence

The English poet, novelist, essayist, playwright and critic David Herbert Richard Lawrence (D. H. Lawrence) was born in Nottinghamshire, England in 1885, he is one among the influential writer of twentieth century. His works was banned until 1959 in United States. Lawrence's collected work is a masterpiece which exposes the dehumanizing nature of the modern world,in the second half of his life he had face many issues that causes more enemies to him because of his creative and bold writing. E. M. Forster addressed him as  "The greatest imaginative novelist of our generation". 

Born	David Herbert Richards Lawrence 11 September 1885 Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
Died	2 March 1930 (aged 44) Vence, France
Occupation	Novelist, poet
Nationality	British
Alma mater	University of Nottingham
Period	1907–1930
Genre	Modernism
Notable works	·         Novel: Sons and Lovers The Rainbow Women in Love John Thomas and Lady Jane Lady Chatterley's Lover ·         Short Story: Odour of Chrysanthemums The Virgin and the Gypsy The Rocking-Horse Winner

Facts

• D.H. Lawrence's first book The White Peacock was published in 1910.

• His second novel was The Trespasser, published in 1912.

• D. H. Lawrence proposed to Louie Burrows, an old college friend. Soon after he met his old professor's wife Frieda von Richthofen and fell in love with her.

• D. H. Lawrence's first play The Daughter-in-Law was published in 1912.

• In 1913 D. H. Lawrence published Love Poems and Others, a book of poetry.

• D. H. Lawrence and Frieda married on July 13th, 1914.

• His next book The Prussian was a short story collection.

• In 1915 D.H. Lawrence's book The Rainbow was published but was condemned for its sexual content.

• With World War I, D.H. Lawrence and his German wife were banished from Cornwall and they traveled continuously, staying with friends. During this time he published four more poetry books including Amores, Look! We Have Come Through!, New Poems, and Bay: A Book of Poems.

• In 1920, in Italy, D.H. Lawrence published Women in Love, and in 1922 a book of short stories titled My England and other Stories was published.

• D.H. Lawrence traveled to America in 1922, and wrote Studies in Classic American Literature.

• D. H. Lawrence wrote Boy in the Bush (1924), St. Mawr (1925), and The Plumed Serpent (1926) while in the United States, on a ranch in New Mexico.

• He went back to Italy in 1927 after developing tuberculosis. There he wrote Lady Chatterley's Lover. It was published in Italy in 1928, but it was banned in the United States until 1958 due to its graphic sexual content. It was banned in England until 1960, until a jury ruled in favor of Penguin Books.

• D.H. Lawrence died in Venice, Italy at the age of 44, on March 2nd, 1930.

• Although he had been considered a crude writer during his lifetime, his works have become well-regarded and he is now considered to be one of the 20th century's greatest modernist writers.

Famous Quotes Of D.H. Lawrence

"But better die than live mechanically a life that is a repetition of repetitions."

"My God, these folks don't know how to love - that's why they love so easily. "

"I want to live my life so that my nights are not full of regrets."

"Life is ours to be spent, not to be saved."

"Love is the flower of life, and blossoms unexpectedly and without law, and must be plucked where it is found, and enjoyed for the brief hour of its duration."

"Never trust the artist. Trust the tale."

"Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically."

"Life is a travelling to the edge of knowledge, then a leap taken."

"Men! The only animal in the world to fear. "

"In every living thing there is the desire for love. "

Words Often Confused

Accept - to receive

Except- with the exclusion of

Advice - recommendation (noun)

Advise - to recommend (verb)

Adverse - unfavorable

Averse - opposed to

Affect - to influence (verb); emotional response (noun)

Effect - result (noun); to cause (verb)

Aisle - space between rows

Isle - island

Allude - to make indirect reference to

Elude - to avoid

Allusion - indirect reference

Illusion - false idea, misleading appearance

Already - by this time

All ready - fully prepared

Altar- sacred platform or place

Alter- to change

Altogether- thoroughly

All together- everyone/everything in one place

A lot - a quantity; many of something

Allot- to divide or portion out

Angel- supernatural being, good person

Angle- shape made by joining 2 straight lines

Are- plural form of "to be"

Our- plural form of "my"

Accent- pronunciation common to a region

Ascent- the act of rising or climbing

Assent- consent, agreement

Assistance- help

Assistants- helpers

Bare- nude, unadorned

Bear- to carry; an animal

Beside- close to; next to

Besides- except for; in addition

Boar- a wild male pig

Bore- to drill a hole through

Board- piece of wood

Bored- uninterested

Born- brought into life

Borne- past participle of "to bear" (carry)

Breath- air taken in (noun)

Breathe- to take in air (verb)

Brake- device for stopping

Break- destroy; make into pieces

Buy- to purchase

By- next to; through the agency of

Canvas- heavy cloth

Canvass- to take a survey; a survey

Capital- major city

Capitol- government building

Choose- to pick

Chose- past tense of "to choose"

Clothes- garments

Cloths- pieces of fabric

Coarse- rough

Course- path; series of lectures

Complement- something that completes

Compliment- praise, flattery

Conscience- sense of morality

Conscious- awake, aware

 Corps- regulated group

Corpse- dead body

Council- governing body

Counsel- advice; to give advice

Dairy- place where milk products are processed

Diary- personal journal

Descent- downward movement

Dissent- disagreement

Dessert- final, sweet course in a meal

Desert- to abandon; dry, sandy area

Device- a plan; a tool or utensil

Devise- to create

Discreet- modest, prudent behavior

Discrete- a separate thing, distinct

Do- a verb indicating performance or execution of a task

Dew- water droplets condensed from air

Due- as a result of

Dominant- commanding, controlling

Dominate- to control

Die- to lose life; one of a pair of dice

Dye- to change or add color

Dyeing- changing or adding color

Dying- losing life

Elicit- to draw out

Illicit- illegal, forbidden

Eminent- prominent

Imminent- about to happen

Envelop- to surround (verb)

Envelope- container for a letter (noun)

Everyday- routine, commonplace, ordinary (adj.)

Every day- each day, succession (adj. + noun)

Fair- light skinned; just, honest; a carnival

Fare- money for transportation; food

Farther- at a greater(measurable) distance

Further- in greater(non-measurable) depth

Formally- conventionally, with ceremony

Formerly- previously

Forth- forward

Fourth- number four in a list

Gorilla- animal in ape family

Guerrilla- soldier specializing in surprise attacks

Hear- to sense sound by ear

Here- in this place

Heard- past tense of "to hear"

Herd- group of animals

Hoard- a hidden fund or supply, a cache

Horde- a large group or crowd, swarm

Hole- opening

Whole- complete; an entire thing

Human- relating to the species  homo sapiens

Humane- compassionate

Its- possessive form of "it"

It's- contraction for "it is"

Knew- past tense of "know"

New- fresh, not yet old

Know- to comprehend

No- negative

Later- after a time

Latter- second one of two things

Lead- heavy metal substance; to guide

Led- past tense of "to lead"

  

Lessen- to decrease

Lesson- something learned and/or taught

Lightning- storm-related electricity

Lightening- making lighter

Loose- unbound, not tightly fastened

Lose- to misplace

Maybe- perhaps (adv.)

May be- might be (verb)

Meat- animal flesh

Meet- to encounter

Mete- to measure; to distribute

Metal- a hard organic substance

Medal- a flat disk stamped with a design

Mettle- courage, spirit, energy

Miner- a worker in a mine

Minor- underage person (noun); less important (adj.)

Moral- distinguishing right from wrong; lesson of a fable or story

Morale- attitude or outlook usually of a group

Passed- past tense of "to pass"

Past- at a previous time

Patience- putting up with annoyances

Patients- people under medical care

Peace- absence of war

Piece- part of a whole; musical arrangement

Peak- point, pinnacle, maximum

Peek- to peer through or look furtively

Pique- fit of resentment, feeling of wounded vanity

Pedal- the foot lever of a bicycle or car

Petal- a flower segment

Peddle- to sell

Personal- intimate; owned by a person

Personnel- employees

Plain- simple, unadorned

Plane- to shave wood; aircraft (noun)

Precede- to come before

Proceed- to continue

Presence- attendance; being at hand

Presents- gifts

Principal- foremost (adj.); administrator of a school (noun)

Principle- moral conviction, basic truth

Quiet- silent, calm

Quite- very

Rain- water drops falling; to fall like rain

Reign- to rule

Rein- strap to control an animal (noun); to guide or control (verb)

Raise- to lift up

Raze- to tear down

Rational- having reason or understanding

Rationale- principles of opinion, beliefs

Respectfully- with respect

Respectively- in that order

Reverend- title given to clergy; deserving respect

Reverent- worshipful

Right- correct; opposite of left

Rite- ritual or ceremony

Write- to put words on paper

Road- path

Rode- past tense of "to ride"

Scene- place of an action; segment of a play

Seen- viewed; past participle of "to see"

Sense- perception, understanding

Since- measurement of past time; because

Sight- scene, view, picture

Site- place, location

Cite- to document or quote (verb)

 Stationary- standing still

Stationery- writing paper

Straight- unbending

Strait- narrow or confining; a waterway

Taught- past tense of "to teach"

Taut- tight

Than- besides

Then- at that time; next

Their- possessive form of "they"

There- in that place

They're- contraction for "they are"

Through- finished; into and out of

Threw- past tense of "to throw"

Thorough- complete

To- toward

Too- also; very (used to show emphasis)

Two- number following one

Track- course, road

Tract- pamphlet; plot of ground

Waist- midsection of the body

Waste- discarded material; to squander

Waive- forgo, renounce

Wave- flutter, move back and forth

Weak- not strong

Week- seven days

Weather- climatic condition

Whether- if

Wether- a neutered male sheep

Where- in which place

Were- past tense of "to be"

Which- one of a group

Witch- female sorcerer

Whose- possessive for "of who"

Who's- contraction for "who is"

Your- possessive for "of you"

You're- contraction for "you are"

Yore- time long past

David Mitchell - A Versatile Contemporary Writer

There are many writers in the universe who are exceptionally well in analyzing the historical facts and narrate it. Many writers are very skilled in anticipating the future and write it in their typical style, but only very few writers can able to write on both and David Mitchell is one among them. David Stephen Mitchell was born in England on January 12, 1969, he is one among the successful novelist of the present era. Mitchell is an author of seven prosperous novels and two of them were shortlisted for The Booker Prize. And his very recent work "From Me Flows What You Call Time" will be published in the year of 2114. He is a man of past, present and future. 

Mitchell's Works

• Ghost Written(1999)
• number9dream (2001)
• Cloud Atlas(2004)
• Black Swan Green(2006)
• The Thousand Autumn of Jacob De Zoet(2010)
• The Bone Clocks(2014)
• Slade House(2015)

           

Ghost written

This novel was written in an unique style and thoughts of Mitchell. The book is about nine parts of the world and the people who live in it. Each section is a new plot with a central character and also about few fellow humans and the beauty of this novel is having a connectivity among those nine different places in the world. David Mitchell introduced a new theory of coincidence and inter-connectivity to fictions. A well-structured book speaks about almost every problem and complications of the human kind.  

number9dream

number9dream has been shortlisted for the Booker prize, this plot is about a young nineteen year old boy Eiji, who search his father and also mourns for the death of his twin sister. It presents the complexity of understanding the identity and imaginative journey of one's own life. “Number9Dream, with its propulsive energy, its Joycean eruption of language and playfulness, represents further confirmation that David Mitchell should be counted among the top young novelists working today.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Cloud Atlas

Mitchell has showed his extra-ordinary excellence in this novel. This books has been adopted into movie and succeed as well. It has won British Book Award and shortlisted to Booker Prize in the year 2004. Six different stories in the six different period of time has been presented simultaneously with a deep connectivity. The book has been started in nineteenth century and traveled to the post-apocalyptic future. “Cloud Atlas ought to make [Mitchell] famous on both sides of the Atlantic as a writer whose fearlessness is matched by his talent.”—The Washington Post Book World

Black Swan Green

This book is a semi-autobiographical novel of Mitchell, it has 13 sections each one is the happenings of every month from January 1982 to January 1983, the story has been written in the perspective of 13 year old boy. This book has been long-listed for the Booker prize in 2006. “[David Mitchell is a] prodigiously daring and imaginative young writer. . . . As in the works of Thomas Pynchon and Herman Melville, one feels the roof of the narrative lifted off and oneself in thrall.”—Time

The Thousand Autumn of Jacob De Zoet

The Thousand Autumn of Jacob De Zoet is a historical novel of Japan. During the Dutch Trading with Japan and he described the state of the country and the measures taken by them inorder to protect themselves from the outsiders of Japan. Mitchell explains the pain and pleasure of the man in the Age of Exploration. “By any standards, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a formidable marvel.”—James Wood, The New Yorker

The Bone Clocks

David Mitchell's sixth book, this book has won World Fantasy Award in 2015. This title refers to the immortality of the characters in the book that compared with the normal mortal bones of humans. This story is about a woman who has an invisible eye and the war between two immortals. “Intensely compelling . . . fantastically witty . . . offers up a rich selection of domestic realism, gothic fantasy and apocalyptic speculation.”—The Washington Post

Slade House

Each Mitchell's novel has a specific and unique elements, Slade House is also one of its kind. This novel is a collection of twitts in Twitter by Mitchell himself. The plot starts in seventeenth century and ends up to the present year which means 2015 and its about a mysterious slade house. “Diabolically entertaining . . . dark, thrilling, and fun . . . a thoroughly entertaining ride full of mind games, unexpected twists, and even a few laughs.”—The Daily Beast

Other Works - Short stories

• "January Man", Granta 81: Best of Young British Novelists, Spring 2003
• "What You Do Not Know You Want", McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories, Vintage Books (Random House), 2004
• "Acknowledgments", Prospect, 2005
• "Preface", The Daily Telegraph, April 2006
• "Dénouement", The Guardian, May 2007
• "Judith Castle", New York Times, January 2008
• "An Inside Job", Included in "Fighting Words", edited by Roddy Doyle, published by Stoney Road Press, 2009 (Limited to 150 copies)
• "The Massive Rat", The Guardian, August 2009
• "Character Development", The Guardian, September 2009
• "Muggins Here", The Guardian, August 2010
• "Earth calling Taylor", Financial Times, December 2010
• "The Siphoners", Included in "I’m With the Bears: Short Stories from a Damaged Planet", 2011
• "The Gardener", in the exhibit "The Flower Show" by Kai and Sunny, 2011 (Limited to 50 copies)
• "Lots of Bits of Star", in the exhibit "Caught by the Nest" by Kai and Sunny, 2013 (Limited to 50 copies)
• "Variations on a Theme by Mister Donut", Granta 127: Japan, Spring 2014
• "The Right Sort", Twitter, 2014

DM's Quotes 

“My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?” 

“A half-read book is a half-finished love affair.”

“I believe there is another world waiting for us. A better world. And I'll be waiting for you there.” 

“Travel far enough, you meet yourself.” 

“A book you finish reading is not the same book it was before you read it.” 

“Whoever opined "Money can't buy you happiness" obviously had far too much of the stuff.” 

“We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love.” 

“One fine day a predatory world shall consume itself.” 

“By each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.” 

“Writing is such a damn lonely sickness.” 

“Lying's wrong, but when the world spins backwards, a small wrong may be a big right.”

Tragic - Comedy in English Literature

Tragic-Comedy(Tragicomedy) is one of the genre in literature which often end up with a happy ending for a serious play and seldom end up with a tragic end for a humorous play. Both comedies and tragedies are incorporated in a single work, satirical elements also exist in this type of genre. The most important feature of this genre is stating the duality nature of human life - happiness and sadness. This is majorly used in plays, dramas and in theaters. This is also known as black comedy or dark comedy.

Most Popular Tragic-Comedies in English Literature

1. Shakespeare contributed to this genre in the early periods of the English history. His tragic-comedy plays are 

• The Winter's Tale
• All's Well that Ends Well
• Measure of measure
• The Merchant of Venice

These are the most popular works in this genre written by the greatest dramatist of all time. 

2. Samuel Beckett's Waiting for the Godot is a popular comedy which has a very serious theme in it. Throughout the play the scenes, dialogues and happenings are described in the form of comedy that leads to thoughtful matters. 

3. John Dryden's Marriage a la mode is a notable tragic-comedy which presents the hopes and regrets of a marriage life. 

4. The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, this book speaks about the nostalgic feel about the past and the necessity for the change. The author gives a wonderful message with the touch of comedy to reduce the seriousness of the play.

5.  Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is a successful novel which is also consider as a tragic-comedy for the elements presented in it.

6. The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling, one of the most popular and successful author in the contemporary period. It is a big novel about a small town.

Other Tragic-Comedies

            

English Renaissance

The word renaissance itself says it all, it is a time of rebirth or a new growth in society. During the period between the late 15th century and early 17th century of England is called as English renaissance period. In this particular time period the country faced many changes and developments in almost all the fields like religion, culture, arts, science, literature and so on. It is a remarkable period of changes and here listed the important happenings in literature during this period.

• Gutenberg Bible hits the first presses in 1454-1455

• William Caxton establishes first printing in 1476

• Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince in 1513

• Thomas More's Utopia in 1516

• Martin Luther publishes his thesis against the Catholic Church in 1517

• Nicolaus Copernicus's Revolutions of the Celestial Orbits in 1543 

• Queen Elizabeth on throne in 1558

• William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe are born in 1564

•  The London Stock Exchange is created, and the Battle of Lepanto makes for choppy waters in 1571

• The Theatre is built and first professional play house built  in 1576

• Francis Drake circumnavigates the world during 1577-1580

• Shakespeare begins acting in and writing plays in 1585

• The English fleet defeats the Spanish Armada in 1588

• Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queen in 1590

• Shakespeare's Globe Theatre is built in 1599

• Shakespeare dies in 1616

These are some notable events occurred in the renaissance period, the contribution to English drama and poetry is very high in this period because of the works of great poets of all time. There are major effects in literature and also it is called as golden period of literature particularly during Elizabethan age (1558 - 1603). Here is a list of great poets who contributed to English literature during the renaissance period.

The major literary figures in the English Renaissance include:

• Francis Bacon
• Francis Beaumont
• Francis Hubert
• George Chapman
• Thomas Dekker
  
• John Donne
• John Fletcher
• John Ford
• Ben Jonson
• Thomas Kyd
• Christopher Marlowe
• Philip Massinger
• Thomas Middleton
• Thomas More
• Thomas Nashe
• William Rowley
• William Shakespeare
• James Shirley
• Philip Sidney
• Edmund Spenser
• John Webster
• Thomas Wyatt
• William Tyndale