Antony's Use Of Rhetoric In Julius Caesar

Humanity has become the most dominant species on Earth due to our high intelligence and communication skills but our communication can also be used to easily manipulate and convince. This manipulation is shown when, Mark Antony delivered a deeply passionate and articulate speech at Caesar’s funeral, altering the political dynamics of the Rome in William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. Antony uses his words to influence the Roman people. He effectively uses rhetorical devices to prove his point and gain the support of the citizens. Antony also uses the rhetorical device of Pathos to invoke emotion in the crowd and Ethos to use Brutus’ and the conspirator’s reputation against them.

In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Brutus and Antony attempt to persuade the audience of their position on the death of Caesar. While Brutus explains that his death was necessary, Antony claims that Caesar was not deserving of his demise. However, though Brutus does have ample credibility and taps into the emotional link with his audience to some extent, he does not convey as powerful of an argument as Antony, as he fails to provide sufficient factual evidence. Antony, on the other hand, utilizes logical argumentation with solid evidence, creates an emotional connection with his audience, and maintains credibility in order to support his own argument. Through this, it can be seen that Antony’s use of rhetorical appeals and devices is superior

What would you do if your friend was stabbed but you couldn’t tell? This was the exact situation Marcus Antony faced when his friend Julius Caesar was stabbed by many men called the conspirators. Antony has to give a speech to the Roman people at Caesar’s funeral where he talks about the great things Caesar has done for Rome and its people. He can not talk wrongfully of the conspirators or he will end up like Caesar so he has to effectively use his language to persuade the crowd into believing that the conspirators wrongfully killed Caesar without telling them that the conspirators wrongfully killed Caesar. In act three of Julius Caesar Antony uses so many rhetorical appeals in order to persuade the crowd such as, ethos to give an appeal to Caesar and Brutus, logos to get the Roman people to want to hear more of what he is not telling, and pathos to make the crowd feel sorry for Caesar and join Anthony’s side.

Throughout the play Julius Caesar, Shakespeare uses a variety of rhetorical strategies to articulate the points of many characters. More explicitly the use of different rhetorical strategies can be seen after the death of Caesar. Preceding Caesar's death speeches were given by Mark Antony and Brutus. In these speeches Brutus tried to justify Ceaser death with vague answers, while Mark Antony came to the support of Caesar and questioned why he really had to die. Brutus and Mark Antony's use of logos, pathos and ethos, allowed them both to give effective speeches. Although Brutus gave a strong speech, Mark Antony exceptional use of pathos and ethos provided him a slight edge over Brutus.

The most predominate and important aspect In the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare are the speeches given to the Roman citizens by Brutus and Antony, the two main charaters, following the death of Caesar. Brutus and Antony both spoke to the crowd,using the same rhetorical devices to express their thoughts. Both speakers used the three classical appeals employed in the speeches: ethos, which is an appeal to credibility; pathos, which is an appeal to the emotion of the audience; and logos, which is an appeal to the content and arrangement of the argument itself. Even though both speeches have the same structure Antony’s speech is significantly more effective than Brutus’s.

In Antony’s speech, he demonstrates his charisma and fine orator skills through the most powerful rhetorical device, pathos. This device is very impactful and is able to compel the audience by emotions serving as the most effective out of logos, and ethos. Therefore, the use of pathos greatly aids his claim. By impacting the plebeians through a sense of grief and pity. For instance, Antony recalls the great deeds by Caesar and exclaims the legacy of his life,

Mark Antony claims Caesar is not ambitious through the use of rhetorical questions, where Brutus rhetorically argues that Caesar's rule would leave Rome as slaves. " He hath brought many captives home to Rome/ whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:/ Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?" (16-18 IIIii). Antony rhetorically appeals to the logic of the audience by reminding them that Caesar sought to ensure the freedom and wellbeing of his people showing he was not ambitious. " Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves" (12-13 IIIii).

In the play Julius Caesar, Caesar’s funeral is very dramatic. Both Antony and Brutus give speeches, and both of them really connect with their audiences, especially Antony. Shakespeare often uses various literary devices in his plays, many of which are used in Antony’s funeral speech. Antony uses logos, ethos and pathos in his funeral speech to connect with the crowd.

In the tragic play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, the ruler of Rome, Julius Caesar, is stabbed to death by some of his so-called friends. Brutus, one of Caesar's best friends, is approached by some of the other senators to join the conspiracy to kill Caesar. Brutus weighs his options and decides to join the conspirators for the good of Rome. At Caesars's funeral, Brutus gives a speech to convince the citizens that the conspirators were right to kill Caesar. In contrast, Antony gives a speech to convince the Romans that there was no real reason to kill Caesar. Both characters try to persuade the audience, but they achieve different tones using literary and rhetorical devices. The tone of Brutus' speech is prideful, while the tone of Antony's speech is dramatic and inflammatory.

for him I have offended. I pause for a reply", which of course gets no

Shakespeare makes the speeches of Brutus and Antony dramatic and memorable with the use of melodramatic dialogue and rhetorical devices throughout the two characters’ speeches as well as the creation of dramatic situations and rivalries between competitors and the exhibition of powerful emotions from the characters. In Brutus’ speech, Shakespeare uses mainly ethos and pathos to persuade the crowd to accept Caesar’s murder. The dramatic mood of his speech is immediately shown when Brutus calls the Roman crowd “countrymen” and “lovers;” he does this after he bathed in Caesar’s blood and paraded through the streets, showing the reader that Brutus does not feel ashamed of his action. Brutus, a valiant soldier and a great friend to Caesar, assures the

In the Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the two speeches are alike, but also different. Mark Antony says that he will take Rome in the right direction through his eyes. Brutus says that he will take Rome in the direction and steer away from how Caesar wanted it.

In the speech delivered by Marc Antony at Julius Caesar’s funeral, he is able to turn the crowd’s emotions completely around; from devastated and inconsolable to angry and hostile. But the question is, how did Marc Antony achieve this? One method was through questioning what Brutus said in his speech. Another way was through the use of repetition, which occurs throughout Antony’s speech. He also made it appoint to bring up the fact that the people of Rome once loved Caesar.

In Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the difference between Antony’s and Brutus’s speeches are: Antony uses repetition, and Brutus uses rhetorical questions, Antony’s speech is defending Caesar while Brutus is defending the murder of Caesar, lastly, Antony is speaking to the emotions of the people of Rome, yet Brutus is speaking to the people’s logic. Antony uses repetition by repeatedly saying something relating to Caesar being ambitious. He says Caesar was ambitious in many different ways. One way was when he says, “Was this ambition?”; another time is when he says, “The noble Brutus hath told you Brutus was ambitious.’ (III.ii.79-80-99) Brutus uses a rhetorical question when he asks, ‘Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” (III.ii.23-24) Asking a question to an audience who cannot respond with disagreement is rhetorical.