Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis

In William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, two speeches are given to the people of Rome about Caesar's death. In Act 3, Scene 2 of this play Brutus and Antony both try to sway the minds of the Romans toward their views. Brutus tried to make the people believe he killed Caesar for a noble cause. Antony tried to persuade the people that the conspirators committed an act of brutality toward Caesar and were traitors. The effectiveness and ineffectiveness of both Antony's and Brutus's speech to the people are conveyed through tone and rhetorical devices.

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

In the play Julius Caesar written by the whimsical, sophisticated William Shakespeare both beloved Brutus and noble Antony deliver their most thorough attempts to win over the delicate citizens of Rome into what they believed was correct. Brutus gave it a valiant effort in trying to convince the citizens that murdering the noble Caesar was the best thing to do for the people. In the end Brutus’ effort was not enough because Antony was able to turn every Roman against Brutus and the other deceitful conspirators during his speech with his extraordinary use of logos, pathos, and ethos.

The Roman senators all took part in betraying Caesar by murdering him. One of the main people involved, Brutus, held a funeral service for the deceased Caesar along with a brief speech. One of Julius Caesar's main companions who loved him dearly, Antony, also gave a speech that lasted much longer. After looking through the ethos, logos, and pathos mentioned in this story, it is obvious that Antony is more persuasive.

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.

Brutus gives a speech before Antony, but misunderstands the way he is supposed to use the rhetorical devices, especially pathos (Anderson 831-835).  Pathos, which is the appeal to emotion, is the most effective rhetorical device out of them all. Antony mainly uses pathos to persuade the crowd, meanwhile Brutus mainly uses logos and ethos.  Antony's speech succeeded to convince the crowd in his favor, because most importantly, he succeeded to capture the crowds emotions. The comparison of Brutus’s and Antony's speech proves that the use of rhetoric can influence a person's power, and the way that person achieves such power, but only if it is used

In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, speakers Antony, Brutus, and Cassius try to persuade an audience using rhetorical techniques and appeals. Brutus and Antony are good speakers, since they completely swayed their audience and used correct appeals, but they didn’t need to put in much effort. Cassius is the most skillful speaker because he focuses on emotional appeals knowing he cannot outsmart Brutus in logic. Cassius makes Brutus feel inferior to Caesar while aiming to gain his trust and get him onto his side. Cassius’s purpose is to get Brutus to join the conspiracy that was created to kill Caesar. Brutus is very educated, logical, and takes great pride in his honor. Also, he’s close to Caesar, which makes him a great figure to have on

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.

Other major factors played important roles in determining the final outcome (Brutus’s naivety). However, their different uses of rhetorical appeals is an important part in the success of Antony. While Brutus displays a more straightforward and effective use of logos and ethos, Antony ultimately convinces the crowd with his twisted and more impressive use of ethos and pathos.

After bringing out Caesar’s dead body, describing what an “honorable” man he was, and reading his will to the people, he convinces the people of Rome to avenge Caesar’s death with him. In Act 3, Scene 3, the Plebeians are so overwhelmed with the urge to kill every man that had a hand in killing Caesar, they kill an innocent man, simply because he has the same name as one of the conspirators, Cinna. The chaos that ensues in Rome may not look nor seem like a “positive” reaction to Antony’s speech, but it is actually the deceitful reaction he intended upon, according to his soliloquy. The lack of a true reaction to Brutus’ logical and ineffective speech, shows that it is obvious Antony’s speech has a much more of an effect over the people of Rome. Overall, these two speeches demonstrate that the elements of rhetoric can be designed for an emotional speech to become more effective than a logical, unemotional

And Brutus did not use all the rhetoric analysis so that made the crowd give on a different view on him. Although the crowd is briefly convinced by Brutus trying to get them to agree with him. In the play Mark Antony’s speech is more effective because he was able to convince the audience of who was against him first. He talks to the crowd in a way that would get the people of Rome on his side. He was able to make the word honorable turn into dishonorable. In his speech Anthony won the crowd over when he said “Lovers, Romans, and countrymen”, which made people see the significance of how he feel and what was important to him. Another way Antony won the crowd is by telling them how he really felt about Caesar and Brutus. Antony played on the crowd’s emotion by saying “And they would go and kiss dead Caesar’s wounds.” Antony had the crowd’s emotions mixed up by questioning if he should read the people the will or not. Antony was effective in rhetoric because he used all rhetoric words to get the crowd more on his side. In the conclusion Antony was more effective because he got the crowd’s attention more than Brutus did because Antony speech touched peoples’ hearts and the crowd could connect to Antony’s feelings towards losing a friend he was very close

The year was 44 B.C, when a group of Senators, feeling lowly, decided to murder the renowned almost-emperor , Julius Caesar. The motive behind this act of violence? Caesar’s prideful and ambitious nature. Immediately following the horrid act, two men gave vastly different funeral speeches. One, Marcus Brutus, used logic and charisma or logos and ethos, while the other, Marcus Antony, relied on the emotions of the people or pathos. Antony’s speech was also filled with rhetorical devices such as paralypsis and rhetorical questions. Brutus’ speech may have been more effective towards intellectuals; however, Antony’s speech resonated more with the general.

While Brutus’ speech operates purely on logic, Antony uses both logic and language skillfully to turn the crowd to his side.

When a rhetorician speaks towards an audience, their main goal is to appeal to sociology and the fundamental speaking ideas that grab the attention in multitudes of people. In order to obtain a successful speech, leaders and lecturers often accommodate to ethos, logos, and pathos and work to have a strong balance of each element. By incorporating these ideas, listeners are more than likely to be conveyed and persuaded into believing or investing in the speaker’s words. As a result, the speaker is then able to incorporate a deeper effect on the listener, and conduct various long lasting outcomes. In the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Antony is able to create a greater effect and convince the crowd of his beliefs by focusing on all aspects of a sturdy speech.

In the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare asserts that men are quick to believe in what they wish to be true. Shakespeare supports his claim by illustrating two speeches with contrasting views using logical, emotional, and ethical appeals. The author’s purpose is to use these different appeals in order to create a choice for the audience of who to follow. Shakespeare addresses a widespread audience to demonstrate the power of rhetoric in his play by epitomizing how quick an audience can change views with a strong argument.