Julius Caesar Essay: Marc Antony’s Power of Persuasion

Antony uses an abundance of pathos in his speech. One example is: “Caesar was my friend and just to me” (III, ii, 86). Using pathos helps the audience make connections with him. He also reads Caesar’s will which makes the people feel guilty about turning against Caesar during Brutus’ speech. He shows them the stabs wounds on Caesar’s coat and names which conspirator stabbed him. The Roman people now feel pity and anger towards the conspirators. Overall, Antony was smart with his words and won over the Roman people better than

After Brutus finishes his speech, Antony speaks about his opinion on the issue; unlike Brutus, Antony acts slyly and communicates a very manipulative tone to persuade the Romans to rebel. Because of Antony's use of parallelism, he creates vivid reasoning for his speech. He states, “ I come here to bury Caesar, not to praise him” (III.ii.44). By using this device, he shows the people of Rome that he isn't praising Caesar, he is putting the leader to rest. This particular line creates a very manipulative tone, because his speech is all about what great this Caesar has done and how he wants to rebel against the conspirators. Further more, Antony uses a lot of irony to slyly get his point across. One example that he uses throughout the speech is “Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is a honorable man” (III.ii.44). Because of the repitition of this ironic statement, the meaning of it changes and intensifies. At first, his tone was sincere, but as the speech progresses, you can see his sarcastic tone increases. Antony does this because he has to use this device to surpass the regulations of Brutus, as well as make the romans listen. Lastly, he uses personification to give life and further meaning to a word. Early in the speech, Antony says, “The evil

"Friends, Romans, and Countrymen lend me your ears"(49). In the play Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare, Mark Antony is given an opportunity to speak at Caesar's funeral. In his speech, Antony addresses the death of Caesar and draws attention to the foul play at hand. Not only that, but he also discusses the legacy that Caesar left behind. In doing so, Marc Antony uses verbal irony to being to light the conspirator's betrayal toward not only Caesar, but to the people of Rome.

One way Antony sways the emotions of the crowd is through his use of the will to his favor. For example, he first uses the will to just catch the interest of the people and gain their attention. This is done by flashing the will but then saying, he shall not read its contents to them. This in turn raises interest in the citizens of Rome and he will now have their complete attention. Next, he uses the will to his aid by speaking on what the people of

Brutus's speech was ineffective in giving them reasons for Caesar's ambition. This gave Antony a large gap to turn the people against Brutus. Brutus told the people to believe him for his honor , and to respect him for his honor, so that they may believe. He is telling them to believe him for his honor and not for the reasons he gives. Brutus repeated many times that Caesar was ambitious but never once said how or why. This left the people with a question in their mind.

In his soliloquy, Antony praised Caesar’s great personality but at the same time, he would keep saying positive things about Brutus. An example is when he says, “He was my friend, faithful and just to me; / But Brutus says he was ambitious, / And Brutus is an honorable man.” (3.2.85-87). The way in which he spoke and by telling the citizens the context of Caesar’s will, turned the mob against Brutus and the rest of the conspirators. The anger possessed by the countrymen can be shown when a plebeian says, “Most noble Caesar! We’ll revenge his death!” (2.2.244). This betrayal by Antony caused Brutus to break off their friendship.

He uses sarcasm again by mentioning “the honorable men” and establishing again that the citizen’s trust within Brutus and Cassius was wrong. “If I were disposed to stir / Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, / I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong, / Who, you all know, are honorable men. / I will not do them wrong. I rather choose / To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, / Than I will wrong such honorable men” (III.ii.118-124). He then uses logos to describe the remorse and gratitude the citizens would feel once they read Caesar’s will. “I found it in his closet; tis his will. / Let but the commons hear this testament, / Which (pardon me) I do not mean to read, / And they would go and kiss dead Caesar’s wounds / And dip their napkins in his sacred blood; / Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,” (III.ii.126-131). The citizens ask Antony to read the will, no, they beg him. But Antony denies and says that if they were to hear the will it would make them very

To make a strong argument, Antony must first make himself credible to the audience. The first time he does this in the text is in line one when he refers to the people of rome as his friends and countrymen. When he does this, he asks the people of rome to see him as a peer and trust what he says. He builds credibility again in the next line when he tells the audience that he has come to bury caesar, not praise him. After Brutus’ speech, the audience does not like caesar. In order to be able to make an argument, Antony must at first seem to agree with Brutus in order to build credibility with the audience. He does this more when he repeatedly says that Brutus is an honorable man. Antony builds his credibility yet again later in the speech when, in line 192, he refers to the conspirators as wise and honorable, saying that they must have reasons for committing such crimes, and telling the people not to

Brutus used repetition the most to influence the crowd. He states about Caesar’s “tears, love, and ambition.” Brutus also asked the audience rhetorical questions that they could not answer, and he would take their silence as if they were agreeing when in reality they were probably too scared to answer. Antony also used repetition to sway the crowd. He often pointed out that “Brutus was an honorable man” and he said it with more and more sarcasm each time. Antony also took advantage of the crowd and used reverse psychology on them. He used Caesar’s will as a tool to accomplish this. He told the crowd about Caesar’s will, telling them that they would think twice if they heard what was in the will, but he doesn’t read it to them. That made them beg for him to read it to them. Not only does this get them to do what he wants, it also give the crowd a false sense of authority over Antony. Also, he asks the crowd if he can come down and join them, saying they give him permission, again giving them that sense of authority. Antony, in addition to the will, used Caesar’s body as a prop in his speech. He created a sympathetic attitude towards Caesar. The other pathos appeal Antony used was the contrast that he showed between the beginning and end of his speech. He opened, saying he was only to “bury Caesar, not to praise him” yet towards the end he had accomplished his goal in making the crowd feel sorry for Caesar and wanting to

The final demonstration of the theme is when Antony, a follower of Caesar, cleverly uses pleasant words against Brutus and the conspirators. In the scene where Antony speaks, Caesar is already dead and Antony could publicly speak only if he did not dirtied Brutus’s name or Caesar’s. He blatantly calls the conspirator honorable: “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 honorable man, / So are they all, all honorable men), / Come I to speak in Caesars’ funeral” (3.2. 912-13). The power of Antony’s speech and the manner her referred to his enemies was fabulous. He achieved the plebeians’ ultimate approval and will succeed in avenging Caesar’s death. He did so by using wise and well-chosen words.

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.

Throughout The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, multiple characters deliver persuasive speeches to change a character's mind, including Marc Antony’s funeral speech. His intention was to turn the people against the conspirators in a luring manner, so the Romans will not want to follow the conspirators rule. Antony convinces the crowd that Caesar should not have been murdered, but reasoned with and Brutus is not honorable. Marc Antony’s funeral speech was crafted by the playwright Shakespeare, who developed Antony’s persuasive speech using: verbal irony, repetition, ethos, and pathos.

In the play, Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, the author frequently uses figurative language to persuade the people of Rome to listen to a certain character. For example my character, Antony, has many places in the play where he uses the techniques; ethos, pathos and logos to persuade or draw the audience to his side. “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!” This is one of the most commonly known use of ethos in the funeral speeches. He uses this phrase to try to get into the Roman crowd’s hearts with his reputation as a trustworthy person. Antony uses pathos in his first speech saying that “He was my friend, faithful and just to me.” He shows that Caesar was a man who is trustworthy and was wrongfully killed. Logos is used to persuade someone. Antony uses a lot of facts throughout his funeral speech. One of them

In Act Three Marcus Brutus changes the people's opinion of the death of Caesar instantly. He convinces them that the assassination should not be considered evil, but seen as to the only way to survive while remaining free. The citizens of Rome trust and respect Brutus and believe him. Then Marc Antony convinces the people to come to a different conclusion than that portrayed by Brutus and his "honorable men". The crowd believes Antony that the conspirators committed this crime through jealousy, greed and the desire to limit Julius Caesar's growing authority. At first Marc Antony only plants a minor idea in the public's mind, allowing them to think about and discuss the new information presented to them. This method initiates the contemplation of serious issues for the crowd of citizens who need no more than this to come to their own opinion concerning what took place (III, 2, 62-106). Marc Antony then stirs his audience with emotions every person in Rome can relate to, focusing on guilt and anger. These passions intertwine, for when the crowd begins to feel guilty, they also start to become enraged. Marc Antony creates a dangerous situation with his riled audience and the possession of information that sets them over the edge into being an unforgiving mob (III, 2, 107-259). Having a serious effect on an audience is important when trying to be understood fully, however revenge is a dangerous topic especially when being