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.

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

In Julius Caesar, one of William Shakespeare’s more well-known plays, Marc Antony finds himself persuading a crowd who believe Caesar’s death was for the benefit of the Roman people. Antony had implored “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears” in an attempt to sway the crowd to give credence to his belief that Caesar’s death is a tragedy to the Roman folk and create a mutual bond between him and the crowd. This bond created by Antony is one of the very few times his speech dips into the realm of ethical appeals. The crowd of Romans had been originally convinced by the three main conspirators, mainly by Brutus, that Caesar’s death was to the benefit of all the Romans by portraying Caesar as a tyrant. Robert P. Yagelski had stated in chapter 8 of his book “rhetoric is the art of identifying the available means of persuasion. Antony had found which avenue to take and predominantly used pathos to manipulate the simple-minded folk to seek revenge and give the same sentence to the conspirators and Caesar had received.

Throughout Brutus’ speech he uncovers his ethics and beliefs on Caesar possibly being crowned king. Brutus states, “It must be by death; and for my part I know no personal cause to spurn at him, But for the general” (2.1.10-12). Brutus elucidates the fact that Caesar needs to be killed for the help of Rome and how he has no personal reasons, related to their friendship, to kill him. Another example where Brutus shows his morals on Caesar is when he says, “But when he once attains the upmost round, He then unto the ladder turns his back; Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees By which he did ascend” (2.1.24-27). Brutus explicates that if Caesar were to be crowned king and obtain all the power he would turn his back against the Plebeians and not follow his word. Both of these are examples of ethos because

While Antony uses a pathos appeal, Brutus uses a logical appeal. For example on Antony says , “ 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. But here’s a parchment with the seal of Caesar. 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, And, dying, mention it within their wills, Bequeathing it as a rich legacy.” (lines 134-148, Page 125) “If then that friend demand why Brutus against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less,but that I love Rome more.” (Lines 21-24, Page 117) These quotes show the difference of how Brutus uses a logos appeal versus how Antony uses a pathos appeal. Brutus gives a reason why he did what he did and Antony talks about how he misses Caesar and how he won’t do anything wrong to harm the people who killed Caesar. The importance in this difference is that Brutus is trying to say he had a reason for doing what he did. Antony doesn’t necessarily forgive Brutus for what he did but he says that he will not retaliate on him, this shows that Antony is a nice person

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,

In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare’s characters Brutus and Mark Antony present eulogy speeches to the Roman masses. Brutus attempts to comfort the people by using logos and explaining that Caesar deserved his death as he became a tyrant. Antony, on the other hand, employs pathos when pointing out that Caesar was a just man and ruler who did not deserve death. Both of the men use ethos in their speeches to appeal to their listeners but Antony is far more successful in his application of this rhetorical strategy which sets the pace for what happens following the two speeches.

The conspirators convinced people to turn against Caesar was by telling them how much of a bad king he would be if they crowned him and everything that might change if hes in rulinng of Rome and also metion that they may not be safe either if hes also king so the need everyone to help because if everybody helps they get to keep there postions No one else is shown trying to persuade anyone to help, although the conspiracy is partially underway at the time Cassius makes a brilliant and forceful attempt to involve Brutus. It would appear that the assassination of Julius Caesar was Cassius' idea and that it was he who persuaded others to join him. No doubt the other conspirators have had secret conversations among themselves, but these are not

Brutus Rhetorical Analysis Essay William Shakespeare, a writer regarded as the greatest poet in history, wrote the play Julius Caesar about the first Roman dictator Julius Caesar in 1599. The play largely describes the struggle for power in the aftermath of Julius Caesar’s assassination; a Roman senator named Brutus, who was a leading contributor to the death of Caesar, aims to seize power of Rome by justifying his past actions (his murder of Caesar) and gaining the support of the Roman people. In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Brutus uses the rhetoric techniques of pathos, logos, and ethos to attempt to persuade the audience that his murder of Caesar was not traitorous; additionally, he seeks the crowd’s support for his leadership of Rome. Brutus utilizes the rhetorical appeal of ethos, as defined by the greek philosopher Aristotle, to persuade the audience of his credibility, when declaring that he killed Caesar for Rome. During the funeral speech, Brutus explains why he killed Caesar by proclaiming “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.”

In the play Julius Caesar, rhetoric plays an important role in the decision of the people of Rome on who to support. The decision they would make would affect Rome forever. Both of the speeches were well composed. Antony and Brutus both make very convincing arguments using logos, ethos, and pathos. Although their speeches have many similarities, they had drastically different outcomes.

In the play Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare uses a plethora of literary devices that are effective in its purpose. But I feel as if the usage of foreshadowing and rhetorical questions really have an impactful influence on the story line in the play. With the examples I'm going to state are going to show how the usage of these literary devices change and impact the play.

At the beginning of Antony’s speech, he introduced himself and attracted the audience's attention by telling them that he would be neutral throughout the speech and not be biased toward his best friend, Caesar. Then, Antony indirectly helps Caesar to oppose what Brutus said previously by providing evidence on the reason why Caesar’s actually not ambitious. For example, Antony stated “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept/...I thrice presented him a kingly crown,/Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?/Yet Brutus says he was ambitious”(3.2.83,88-90). These two pieces of evidence show Antony’s use of logos because he demonstrated proofs in his speech by stating how Caesar is caring for his people and have sympathy for them. Antony also shows how Caesar is not ambitious by informing people that Caesar actually rejected the crown three times, which means that Caesar is not that eager for power like how Brutus described him. After using the proof of logos in Antony’s speech, he continues to persuade the crowd by using the logic within the comfirmatio section. This was illustrated when Antony asked the people “You all did love him once, not without cause. What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?”(3.2.94-95) This shows how Antony used the logic of logos to convince people that since you all loved him before, there must be a reason to it, if the reason was strong enough for you all to support him, what is holding you people back from mourning him now? This would not only make the Romans doubt themselves, but also think back to the time when they actually loved Caesar, which will lead to them making a final decision based on Antony’s persuasion. Furthermore, Antony’s use of pathos, which appeals to the audience's emotions, also contributed to the power of his speech. In act III, scene 2,

Brutus used logos (logical explanations) and pathos to play with the Romans emotions. He was speaking as if he knew what he was talking about and all he was speaking was straight facts. He said they would never amount to anything but slaves unless the great Caesar fell (Act III, Scene 2.) He called himself a friend, a lover of Rome, and a heartbroken hero. Brutus told the people things that would ease their mind about the whole thing, speaking as if he was talking to a child who lost his teddy bear.

Brutus begins his speech by proving he is honorable. He starts by addressing the crowd as “Romans, countrymen, and lovers,” showing his belief that Rome is more important than

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