The Power of Influence
As well-known storyteller Aesop once said, “Persuasion is often more effectual than force” (Brainyquotes.com). In other words, the art of influence is more effective than enforcing an idea. In William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, there are many occasions in which a character is trying to move its audience. Persuasion and rhetoric are the most important factors that Brutus uses to influence the people of Rome and his conspirators.
To begin, persuasion and rhetoric are very powerful methods of influencing an audience. They are mainly achieved using three key components. They are known as ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is an appeal to ethics and it is a means of convincing someone of the character
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Brutus uses rhetoric language and incorporates ethos, pathos, and logos into his speeches. When talking to his fellow conspirators, they come upon several issues. For example, letting Mark Antony live. Cassius and the group believe that they should kill Antony so that there are no witnesses or people who can foil their plan. Brutus disagrees and explains that they will just be seen as “butchers”. He claims that Antony will not be a problem “for he can do no more than Caesar’s arm/ When Caesar’s head is off” (2.1.182). In other words, Antony is but a limb. Once Caesar dies, Antony dies with him and he is essentially useless. Undoubtedly, Brutus uses logic and reason to persuade his group members to think that Antony is not a problem. Another instance in which Brutus influences his audience is when he is talking to the people of Rome. Here he is trying to let the people know why he and his members killed Caesar and why it was for good reason. He explains that it was for the greater good and for the people of Rome. He says he “rose against Caesar not that [he] loved Caesar less, but that [he] loved Rome more” (3.2.22). In saying this, Brutus makes it personal with the people of Rome and he appeals to their emotions. Unquestionably, Brutus successfully uses persuasive concepts and language to convey his message and create an impact on his
In Brutus’s speech he talked about how he loved Rome more than Caesar. Brutus was very gullible, stoic, and also easily persuaded. Throughout his speech he uses fallacies. One example of a fallacy he uses is the either/or. “Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men“ (III, i, 22-24). This makes the Roman people believe that either they going to be slaves or free men. One other thing Brutus uses are logos and ethos. He says, “As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honor him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew him” (III, i, 24-27). In that quote he tries to
In the Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the people of Rome have opinions that are very easily swayed. However, there is one man who does this best in comparison to the rest. This man is Marc Antony. He sways the crowd in favor of his ideas through his use of the will, his speaking techniques of ethos and logos, and by speaking directly to the hearts of the people of Rome.
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 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.
Persuasion is a concept that is at the very center of the play. Everyone is trying to convince someone of something. Cassius, a general and acquaintance of Caesar, is trying to win over men he believes would be valuable conspirators. Cassius’ persuasion wins Brutus over in a pivotal scene in Act II and Brutus states his intentions, “It must be by his death, and for my part I
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 by William Shakespeare, the dictator of Rome is assassinated by his senators. Among which was one of his closest advisors, Brutus. Another friend of Caesar, named Marc Antony, hears of this assassination and is grief-stricken. Together the two men speak to the citizens of Rome about their views of what is right. Firstly Brutus speaks, soon after Antony recites his side of the story. Although the crowd is swayed by both men, Antony is able to maintain the support of the people with his ideas and values. Antony was the better speech for a varying amount of rhetoric he used, among which are pathos and juxtaposition. Brutus uses these as well, but not as adequately.
In this world, few skills carry with them greater power than the skill of speaking to a crowd. A good speech can shatter the dreams or raise the hopes of millions. It can raise civilizations, or it can destroy them. The right speech can change the world. And the legendary writer William Shakespeare knew this well, as we see in one of his most popular plays; Julius Caesar. In the play, this power speech has is seen most heavily in the life of Brutus, who was not only manipulated by the words of others time after time, but tried to sway others with his own words, with some success even, but was often ruined by the even stronger rhetoric of others or perhaps by other events later on.
The idea of rhetoric came from Aristotle. This includes three means of persuasion or rhetorical devices: ethos, logos and pathos. Ethos is how well the person is known for their qualities such as reliability, demonstrated skill, authority etc. People will spend their time listening to a well known community leader about important issues but they would not
Modes of persuasion are rhetorical appeals used in writing to persuade an audience (Worthington 58). The rhetoric appeals are divided into three categories; ethos, pathos and logos. Writers and speakers alike must have the ability to use the three appeals within a text to persuade a particular audience. Ethos refers to the author’s or writer’s credibility. The writer or the author has to establish his or her credibility for the audience to consider his or her views. Pathos is appealing through the audience’s emotions. As an author or speaker, it is important to create a certain sense of curiosity and imagination in the audience’s minds in order to have them identify with the speech’s or text sentiments. Logos is the most important of the three
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.
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.
A person of great power has a large amount of control and influence over the vast majority of the population that they lead. Often times, their leadership position was gained through manipulation of the people as they try to sell themselves to them. This manipulation also affects any competition for that leadership position because a common technique to sway someone’s opinion is to make the competition look bad which then makes the people look down on the competition, causing the opposing side’s chances of success to plummet. William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar demonstrates this as a tale of manipulation leads to the downfall of the weaker link. Cassius, Mark Antony and Julius Caesar have perfected the art of manipulation as they are
The speeches given by both Brutus and Mark Antony in William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar are very persuasive to the audience that they are given to, but rhetorical devices were used in different ways in order for each to have an effect on the people of Rome. In Brutus’s speech, he uses devices such as rhetorical question and antithesis to convince the Romans that he and the conpirators did a good deed by killing Caesar. In Mark Antony’s speech, he sways them to believe that Caesar did not deserve to die, and that the conpirators were the real enemies by using rhetorical devices like rhetorical question and apostrophe. Both speeches were very
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