Rhetoric In The Tragedy Of Julius Caesar

“Character may almost be called the effective means of persuasion.” This was a quote written by Aristotle who also came up with the rhetorical principles. The rhetorical principles, also known as ethos, pathos, logos, is used as the key in effective persuasion. In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Cassius persuades Brutus original view on Caesar by using ethos, pathos, logos.

Many people know that Julius Caesar was betrayed and killed by many people who he had thought to be his friends. Some less common knowledge is that he did still have friends and others who stayed loyal to him. One man named Mark Antony was the most loyal of them all, even after Caesar’s death. When he found out Caesar had been killed, he began plotting to get on the traitor’s good sides and make it seem as if he had joined them so that he could convince the citizens to fight against them with him. He deceived the traitors and convinced them to let him speak at Caesar’s funeral, and in this speech he turned the citizens against them using very powerful rhetorical skills. After he had drove the traitors from the city, he took control of the city and led them to victory in a war against the conspirator’s armies. These are three telling examples that prove Antony’s skill and potential as a leader.

What would you do if your friend was stabbed but you couldn’t tell? This was the exact situation Marcus Antony faced when his friend Julius Caesar was stabbed by many men called the conspirators. Antony has to give a speech to the Roman people at Caesar’s funeral where he talks about the great things Caesar has done for Rome and its people. He can not talk wrongfully of the conspirators or he will end up like Caesar so he has to effectively use his language to persuade the crowd into believing that the conspirators wrongfully killed Caesar without telling them that the conspirators wrongfully killed Caesar. In act three of Julius Caesar Antony uses so many rhetorical appeals in order to persuade the crowd such as, ethos to give an appeal to Caesar and Brutus, logos to get the Roman people to want to hear more of what he is not telling, and pathos to make the crowd feel sorry for Caesar and join Anthony’s side.

Almost every successful orator, or public speaker, uses the art of rhetoric to influence his or her audience.  If it is used correctly, the use of rhetorical devices such as logos, ethos and pathos can be very beneficial while trying to persuade a large audience.   During The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Antony and Brutus both give speeches to a crowd of Roman citizens.  Antony uses the art of rhetoric correctly, therefore his speech was more influential than Brutus’s speech was.

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.

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 the Tragedy Of Julius Caesar, Caesar was soon to be crowned king, after defeating Pompey. Caesar becoming king wasn’t the best idea and interest in some of the people eyes in Rome because they don’t think he is worthy enough to hold that type of power. Cassius was mad at the idea of Caesar becoming king, so he began to plot a plan to kill Caesar. His plan to kill Caesar involved a good friend of Caesar, Brutus and other loyal men and conspirators to make his plan work. So Cassius began plotting by convincing Brutus to join him and it worked, which was all Cassius needed to get close to Caesar. When the day actually arrives for Caesar to be crowned king their planned worked as Casca was the first to stab Caesar, and Brutus being the last person to stab Caesar and to hear the last words spoken from Caesar. After all this went down, Brutus went and spoke to the crowd and explained what happened and why they killed Caesar before being crowned king. The crowd agreed at first about Caesar needing to be killed until Antony spoke which changed everything and the crowds reaction. Now that the crowd had heard Antony, they want to kill the conspirators and who ever had a part in Caesar’s death. So now that you know the moral of “ Tragedy Of Julius Caesar” I will now discuss some examples of ethos, logos, and pathos.

In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar main conspirator Cassius uses rhetoric and manipulation to convince Brutus and the other conspirators to brutally murder Julius Caesar. Caesar’s murder creates many conflicts between the people who admire Caesar and his killers, which leads to a full scale war. The battle between emotion and reason is exceedingly significant. Humans automatically have the ability to reason, or the power to think for themselves, but sometimes emotion masks reason. When emotion clouds reason humans tend to make unwise decisions. Omen imagery develops the idea that when people interpret events according to fear and desires, chaos results.

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 the tragic play Julius Caesar there is a leader everybody looked up to named Caesar. Although people looked up to him he was not always loyal,trustworthy, or honorable. Some seen it before others and want to make a change and within that change Caesar had to be kilt. Brutus being Caesar friend knew the games that he played and became one of the ones that put an end to his games. With him being his friend he honoured him for all the good but as he was ambitious Brutus slew him. Maybe Caesar knew he was no good to Roman because once he seen Brutus standing upon the conspiracy something switched in him he no longer fought for his life. Caesar last words were “Et tu, Brutus(you too Brutus)then falls Caesar”.

In Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", rhetorical devices are used when Brutus and Antony express their statements throughout the play. Brutus is one of the conspirators who fears Caesar for having too much power over Rome and its citizens. As a result, he assassinates Caesar. In comparison, Marc Antony is a close and loyal friend to Caesar who persuades the people of Rome against conspirators for killing Caesar. After Caesar’s death, the Conspirators make a visit to Rome and explain why they killed Caesar. Brutus appeals to Logos, to justify his actions at Caesar’s funeral, with the intentions to free Rome from Caesar's ambition. Antony appeals to pathos, to persuade the feelings of the audience and seek justice upon the Conspirators, and to reveal that Brutus and the others unjustly killed Caesar.

Julius Caesar is a play deeply concerned with the idea of rhetoric, or persuasion. The play is driven by persuasion. Cassius convinces Brutus that Caesar must die, setting the story in motion. The resolution of the plot is decided by Antony's speech to the plebeians. Shakespeare sees rhetoric as one of the most powerful forces in the world; able to topple kings and crown them. The play, Julius Caesar, examines what gives rhetoric its power by putting Brutus's speech against Mark Antony's. Shakespeare shows Antony's rhetoric to be superior by the effect he has on the plebeians.

In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, rhetorical devices are commonly used to persuade the audience. During the speeches many devices were effectively used to convince the Romans to choose the side of the argument being presented. Mark Antony’s speech ended up being more effective than Brutus’s due to his use of pathos throughout to help his point be made that Caesar did not deserve to

Cassius, Brutus, and Antony use rhetoric successfully in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, albeit each differently and for different causes. Each of these men uses his skills in rhetoric to convince each other and at some points the entire population of Rome to follow his beliefs. However, each of these men has different motivations to do so, as well as different characteristics and general worldviews.