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Crowd vs Mob
Crowd Psychology
Mob Rule
How does Crowd Psychology and
Mob Rule apply in Julius Caesar
AGENDA
We have discussed the importance of the main characters in the play
Caesar, Brutus, Antony, Cassius, Casca etc.
But what we have not yet examined is another entity that is just as if not even more important
These characters are the ones who control the ones who rule Rome and the ones who don’t
WHAT IS IT THEY WANT?
Every political character is always trying to
win this entity over
Caesar does it
Cassius is jealous because Caesar can do it
Cassius convinces Brutus to be afraid of
Caesar’s control of it
Brutus controls it (for a while)
Antony controls it for a little longer before he
unleashes it
WHAT IS IT THEY WANT?
That’s who Caesar, Brutus, Antony,
Cassius and all the other politicians are
fighting for
The crowd are the Roman citizens
If the politicians can win them over, they
gain control of Rome
So what is a crowd?
THE CROWD
What’s crowd psychology?
It is the study of crowd behaviour
Individual Crowd Members vs The Crowd
Crowd behaviour is heavily influenced by
the loss of responsibility of the individual
and the universality of behaviour, both of
which increase with the size of the crowd
CROWD PSYCHOLOGY
Summary:
The bigger a crowd, the less responsible
people feel they need to be
The easier it is to incite the crowd
toward certain actions (Positive or
Negative)
CROWD PSYCHOLOGY
CROWD PSYCHOLOGY
Play video on Pavlov’s experiment
The Crowd: Gather to celebrate Caesar’s victory (Act 1)
‘We make holiday to see Caesar and rejoice in his triumph’ (1.1.33-4)
The people support Caesar
Listen to Brutus’ speech after Caesar’s death. (Act 3)
‘Live Brutus! Live! Live!’ (3.2.48)
They quickly forgive Brutus for killing Caesar when he offers the Crowd his life
CAESAR - CROWD
Listen to Antony’s speech (Act 3)
‘Methinks there is much reason in his
sayings’ (3.2.109)
‘Poor soul! His eyes are red as fire with
weeping’ (3.2.116)
They’re still a peaceful, thinking crowd
… at least at first.
This will change very quickly.
CAESAR - CROWD
The Crowd becomes a Mob when they are
manipulated and directed to do certain,
specific actions:
Caesar’s manipulation of the crowd
during the crowning ceremony (1.2.237-
250)
He manipulates them so thoroughly
Casca even says that the Mob would
forgive him even if he ‘had stabbed their
mothers’ (1.2.275)
CAESAR - MOB
Antony’s mastery of the Crowd (just like
Caesar at the start of the play) is shown
when he directs them to ‘rise and mutiny’
(3.2.232) ‘revenge his death’ (3.2.247)
Through Antony’s words and manipulation,
Antony is able to direct the Mob to attack
the conspirators and revenge Caesar’s
death
All without taking any direct action himself
CAESAR - MOB
As shown, the Crowd (the Roman
Citizens) appear to be unintelligent as
they are called (by Marullus):
‘You blocks, you stones, you worse than
senseless things!’ (1.1.38)
But just because the Crowd (as an entity)
are not intelligent, it does not mean that
they are not dangerous
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE
CROWD/MOB
After all, as shown through Antony’s
speech, when the Crowd becomes a Mob,
nothing can stop them from doing
violence upon the one directing them
(eg. Antony against the conspirators in
this case)
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CROWD
Under the right circumstances (Julius
Caesar and Mark Antony), it is possible
to influence the Mob and lead them to
act against their enemies
They are source of Power and Influence
in Julius Caesar that all Politicians seek
to control
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CROWD
1. What is the Importance of the Crowd in Julius Caesar?
2. How is the Crowd manipulated and controlled?
3. In what episodes and instances in the play are they manipulated and controlled?
4. How does the analysis of the Crowd change our understanding of the play: Julius Caesar?
QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT