Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis

       In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, although Marc Antony is allowed to make a speech at Caesar's funeral, he must not speak ill of either the conspirators or Caesar.  Antony was infuriated with Caesar's assassination, and wants to seek revenge on his killers as well as gain power for himself in Rome's government.  He must persuade the crowd that has gathered that Caesar's murder was unjust, and turn them against Brutus and Cassius.  He tries to stir his listeners' anger, rousing them into action and yet say nothing bad about his enemies.  Marc Antony uses several persuasive devices in his speech, which allows him to successfully convince the citizens of Rome to turn

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

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.

Murder can be defined as the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Brutus and his conspirators murder Caesar and convince the people of Rome that it was a justified act. Mark Antony, a friend of Caesar, seeks justice for his dear friend. In his funeral speech Antony uses rhetorical strategies to persuade the Romans that Caesar’s death was unjustified. Through persuasion, Antony uses the strategies: rhetorical questions, verbal irony and the appeal of pathos to sway the Romans to believe that Caesar’s murder was unjust. Furthermore, Antony’s use of rhetorical questions has an effect on the opinions of the citizens of Rome.

In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, an honorable man, Brutus, is planning to overthrow the soon to be king, Julius Caesar. Brutus is persuaded by Cassius that Caesar is a liar, too ambitious, weak, and not fit to be Rome’s king. Brutus soon believed Cassius, and they and the conspirators made a plan to kill Caesar. After Caesar’s death, Brutus planned to justify his actions of killing Caesar at his funeral in his speech to the people. After Brutus’s speech, the citizens of Rome were all in agreement that Brutus did the right thing for Rome. Brutus then decides to allow Caesar’s best friend, Antony, to speak in honor of Caesar. Antony speaks, and he convinces the citizens that Brutus’s actions were unjust and turned the people against Brutus.

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

One of the rhetorical appeals that Antony used to sway the crowd against the conspirators was pathos. Pathos is an appeal using emotion. In line 20 Antony begins to use pathos when he states, “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.” This quote is able to sway the crowd against Brutus and Cassius by showing what kind of good person Caesar was. He was compassionate to people. This quote shows what kind of good leader by helping out the poor. He knew what they were going through so he cried along with them. This quote is able to sway the citizens of Rome because it shows the opposite of what Brutus said about Caesar. If he would

Marc Antony’s eulogy wins the heart of his fellow Romans by undermining and destroying the conspiracy. The conspirators claim that it was necessary for the good of the republic to murder Caesar and convince the crowds of Romans to believe so. After he wins over the crowd, Brutus, a conspirator, allows Marc Antony to speak considering him as no threat to the conspiracy. However, Brutus is proven wrong when Antony’s oration manipulates the crowd into a mob thirsty for the blood of the conspirators. Marc Antony’s eulogy is more compelling to the crowd with his use of rhetorical appeals, ethos, pathos, and logos, compared to Brutus in the tragedy, Julius Caesar.

Plato once wrote that, “Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.” Rhetoric is the foundation of any solid argument, and any good speaker must learn to use it effectively. Creating a strong argument is a difficult task for any speaker, but Mark Antony’s eulogy for Caesar shows us that it can be done with the use of rhetorical strategies and arguments. Antony argues that Caesar was killed unfairly, and wants tells rome to revolt. He accomplishes this argument by using a combination of appeals to the audience's emotions, logic and facts, as well as reasoning and humility.

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 gave a more formal speech which appealed to reasoning. In his speech, he repeated constantly that Caesar had too much ambition. Brutus informed the crowd the main reason for killing Caesar. In ACT III, scene II, lines 20 to 21, Brutus announces, “It’s not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” This quote helped the crowd clarify another reason behind Caesar another reason behind Caesar’s death. His words also made the Romans feel cared about. Therefore, not only did Brutus defend himself, but he also showed the Romans that he is a good leader. Although Brutus had a few negative views toward Caesar, he did add some positive comments about Caesar. In Act III, scene II, line 25, Brutus said that he “honored him for being brave.” His reasoning for adding this comment was to show the crowd that he respected Caesar. Whereas Brutus’s speech appealed to reasoning, Antony’s speech appealed to emotion. Overall, Antony’s speech was sad. In Act 3, Scene 2, line 83, Antony said, “He was my friend, he was faithful.” This shows the crowd how much much Antony trusted Caesar. Throughout his speech he spoke highly of Caesar. In Act 3, scene 2, lines 86 to 87, Antony said “[Caesar] brought many captives home to Rome whose ransoms brought wealth to the city.” Antony follows that with asking, “Is that the work of an ambitious man.” Antony gave the audience a reason for being on his side. He

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.

Antony’s speech tells the citizens that they should not disapprove of Brutus and his actions, however they still should remember Caesar for the great leader and war hero that he was. He thought that Caesar had no wrongdoings and they didn’t give him a chance. The crowds reaction was to immediately go and kill the conspirators. Inside Antony’s speech, he uses three different examples of rhetorical devices. He uses repetition, pathos, and ethos.

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