Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis

In Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar, Portia uses repetition, rhetorical questions, and parallelism in order to persuade Brutus to tell his secret. Portia uses repetition to get Brutus’ attention and to show him how much she wants to know the secret. Pleading, Portia urges, “I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus. / Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus” (2.1.301,302). By using repetition she gets Brutus’ attention so he knows she is talking to him. If Portia did not repeat his name, Brutus would not be as inclined to listen to her. With Portia stating his name more than once he is focused on her and knows that what she is saying is vital. In this part of Portia’s speech she uses pathos. She persuades Brutus by bringing up their

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.

Brutus’s main goal in his speech was to justify his action of killing Caesar in hope that the citizens would be in agreement with him and understand that he had Rome’s best interests at heart. Brutus attempts to persuade the people through ethos, pathos, and logos. He mainly uses ethos. He continuously says that he is an honorable man who loved Caesar but loved his country more. He uses an example of ethos when he says, “Hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honour, and have respect for mine honour, that you may believe.” In this quote, he uses restatement to show his credibility as an honorable man. Because he approached the people in this way, they think, “Why would an honorable man, such

...Then none I have offended. The question of his death has been enrolled in the capital.” He supports the argument that he and the conspirators killed Caesar for honorable reasons, because the ethical thing to do would be to give the reasoning and tell the capitol about it. Antony here uses Ethos in a different manner: “He was my friend, faithful and just to me: But Brutus says he was ambitious; but Brutus is an honourable man. ” Antony was using reverse Psychology by saying Brutus is honorable, who of which says Caesar is ambitious, and therefore it must be true that Caesar’s friendship and trueness with him must be void. The commoners obviously don’t think lowly of Caesar, so this began to change their view of Brutus and the other Conspirators in killing him. Brutus’s use of Ethos was more effective because he used it to further prove his actions were for the good of Rome and honor, which finally swayed their opinion in favor of his actions at

In Brutus’ speech he uses many kinds of rhetorical strategies to convince the audience of Rome he did it for them. One of the types of rhetorical strategies he uses is ethos. Brutus states that if Caesar was still alive, they would have lost their freedom. Brutus states, “believe me for mine honor, have respect for my honor, that you may believe” then after he admits that he was one of the killers and the did it for Rome and the citizens. He also talks about how Caesar was becoming a king like figure and how he killed Caesar for Rome and if his death is needed he to is willing to die for Rome.Another strategie Brutus uses is pathos to touch the angry emotion of the citizen by stating, ¨Mark Antony,who thought he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefits”and “a place in the commonwealth; as which you shall not.”

The plebeians loved Caesar before his murder and praised Brutus after it. Antony was trying to remind the citizens about the great accomplishments Caesar had done for Rome before he passed because the citizens turned on him. In (III,II,CI) Antony cries "What causes withholds you then to mourn for him?" The citizens seemed to forget how generous Caesar was and stopped praising him. Brutus's use of pathos was more of him trying to convince the citizens that Rome would go downhill if Caesar ruled. In (III,II,XXII) he says "Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?" He wanted to make himself out as a hero by saying that killing Caesar was best for the community of Rome. Antony's use of pathos was more convincing that Brutus's because it sounded more as if it was coming from the

Some might say that the ability to effectively persuade people to do things is one of the most useful qualities a person can possess. However, it can also be one of the most dangerous. In Julius Caesar, a play by William Shakespeare, a group of conspirators were plotting to overthrow Julius Caesar, who was poised to become the leader of the Roman Empire. Because doing this was a mission that would require a larger group of people, the conspirators attempted to convince people to support their plan and join the group. In doing so, the conspirators used tactics that appealed to both the logic and emotion of others.

When Antony says, “ My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, and I must pause till it comes back to me”(Shakespeare) he wants the citizens to believe that Caesar was a noble and trustworthy man. This makes the citizens question Brutus when he said, “ Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses that you may be the better judge… not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more (Shakespeare)”. Brutus underestimated how powerful of a speech that Antony was able to deliver without breaking his

Mark Antony and Marcus Brutus from the play of “Julius Caesar” written by William Shakespeare, both try to persuade their audience if Julius Caesar is ambitious or a noble man. They both use rhetorical devices and persuasion very well, but unlike Brutus, Mark Antony is more persuasive in convincing his audience because he appeals to the audience’s emotions by embedding rhetorical questions, physically displaying emotions and sympathy, and capitalizing on his relations with Caesar throughout his funeral speech.

Cassius uses many rhetorical devices to effectively accomplish their intended purpose in the given audience. He does this by including rhetorical devices such as imagery. Cassius made Casca trust him and collaborate together with the use of imagery. Cassius spoke to Casca, he wanted him on his time and in order to do that he had to make him believe that Caesar was no good. The thunderstorm also plays a big role in this because Cassius makes Casca understand that the thunderstorm is occuring due to Caesar. Caesar states,

Brutus was the first to give his speech and express why he killed Caesar. So Brutus told the crowd that he killed Caesar because it was best for Rome and the people of Rome. He used an example of pathos when he explained that he loves Caesar and was a good friend and showing his emotions to make the crowd feel bad. Brutus expresses logos by stating what Caesar, which was turning the citizens of Rome into slaves. He asked the crowd how they would feel to be slaves, and they very well disagreed with the idea of them becoming slaves. He uses ethos by saying that he was Caesar’s friend and loved him and killed him for the better of Rome. Brutus also asks the crowd a rhetorical question, “ Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” He also states an example of repetition, “ If any speak; for him Have I offended, Who is here so rude that would

To keep the people from becoming too hostile during his eulogy, Antony refrained from speaking ill of Brutus and repeated multiple times "And Brutus is an honorable man," (). This repeated sarcastic remark proves how Antony did have the speaking skills he needed to slowly guide the townspeople towards his side. He used sarcasm to falsely portray that he has respect for Brutus when in reality, he knows just how to handle the crowd.

His logical ability to rationalize the conspiracy to kill Caesar, is weak, and a fallacy. Brutus says that he assisted in the murder of Caesar because Caesar was ambitious and that he would have become a tyrannical king. Although we know that Caesar did, in fact, want the crown, nobody can say for sure that he would have destroyed the Roman republic, or become tyrannical.In fact, we know that one of Brutus’s main reasons for killing Caesar was based off of the presumption that Caesar would become a tyrant. Brutus continues to say that he loved Rome more, but contradictingly he killed a leader that is very popular amongst the everyday citizen of

While reading the book The Tragedy of Julius Caesar it shows where many lines and the points people are trying to make during the story none as significant or as noticeable as the speech Mark Antony gives in Act III section II. In this scene he shows high usage of rhetorical devices using things such as nostalgia, repetition, and delayed sentencing. Using these rhetorical devices he changes ideas of the people from happy for Caesar’s death too convincing them to try and attack the conspirators. With theses rhetorical devices he draws a lot of rhetorical appeals from logos, and pathos to really convert peoples believes. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Antony uses irony, eulogy, and sarcasm to show Caesar was a great man and how they need revenge for Caesar.

Brutus, a conflicted senator obsessed with his civic duty, convinces the people of Rome that his motives in killing Caesar were just and noble by rhetoric. Brutus is the only conspirator to have impersonal motives in killing Caesar. In fact, his motives are trying to find the best solution for Rome, and in the end, he must make the hard choice of killing his best friend for his homeland. As early as Brutus’ conversation with Cassius in Act I, Brutus exhibits this deep love and respect for Rome and how this love is conflicting with his love for his friend, Caesar: “[P]oor Brutus, with himself at war, / Forgets the shows of love to other men” (I.ii.51-52). Brutus brings up this internal conflict again when he tells the crowds that although he did love Caesar, he loved Rome and its people more. After Brutus’ murder of Caesar, he realizes that the issue of the public opinion of Rome is of the utmost importance. Because of this love for Rome, Brutus uses rhetoric to persuade these plebeians to approve of him and his cause. When Cassius warns Brutus about “how much the people will be moved / By that which [Marc Antony] will utter[!]” (III.i.252-253), Brutus tells Cassius that letting Marc Antony speak “shall advantage us more than do us wrong” (III.i.261). In these cases, Brutus demonstrates his awareness of