Rhetorical Devices In Julis Caesar

In the play, Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, one of the main characters, Brutus, shows the use of all of the rhetorical devices, logos, pathos, and ethos, in his funeral oration. Brutus shows more pathos than the rest of the other rhetorical devices. In his speech he mostly describes how much he loved Caesar and that the reason why he was one of the conspirators who killed Caesar was because he thought about Rome more than Caesar.

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.

He uses Caesar’s dead body to appeal to the emotions of the crowd and convince them that Caesar’s death was unjustified. Antony appeals to the citizens’ emotions, when he states, “If you have tears, prepare to shed them now…Here is himself, marred, as you see, with traitors” (III.ii.163-192). In this passage Antony focuses the crowd’s attention on Caesar’s body and tells them how his murder was a product of treason. In telling the romans that Caesar was killed by his friends, whom he trusted, Antony appeals to the emotions of the crowd. The citizens of Rome are clearly affected by Antony’s use of pathos when they respond with “O piteous spectacle” (III.ii.192), “O Woeful day” (III.ii.193) and “We will be revenged” (III.ii.195). The citizens realize it is a sad day and feel pity for Caesar indicating an effective appeal of pathos. Antony effectively appeals to the Roman’s emotions because they are starting to want revenge for Caesar’s unjustified

By contrast Antony from Julius caesar heavily relies upon the power of language and its ability to exploit the human flaw that is emotion, and by doing so manipulate ones perception through a emotionally (pathos) driven argument. Antony has a greater understanding of the people and knows that they are passionate people who will be swayed by such talk. Also Antony unlike Brutus uses iambic pentameter this shows that he has a higher authority which would make the audience listen more carefully. After each argument Antony produces in Caesar’s defense, he uses irony through the lines “But Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man”. This line is repeated a number of times creating an anaphora. As well as slowly dismantling Brutus’

First, Antony continually uses dramatic irony all throughout his speech to make people question how easily they believed Brutus’ speech a few minutes earlier. He does this in a subtle manner to seem like he is innocently questions Brutus, shown in the speech when Antony states, “I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious (Julius Caesar, 3.2.24-26)”. This directly contrasts Brutus’ statements that Caesar was ambitious and deserved to die for the good of Rome. Antony is using dramatic irony to make the citizens think that Brutus was wrong with evidence that Caesar was not ambitious. J.M. Pressley supports how Antony uses dramatic irony to sway the citizens by saying “Antony’s prime weapons at the beginning are his conspicuous ambiguity regarding Caesar and Brutus, and feigned intent “(Pressley).

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.

He defends himself by giving facts about how Caesar refused to receive the crown from him after many attempts to prove he wasn’t ambitious when he announces to his audience, “I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?” When Antony informs the audience that he tried giving Caesar the crown, he mentioned that Caesar denied to accept it. The use of this fact provides support for Antony’s position proving Caesar was, in fact, not ambitious. Along with using rhetorical questions, he also uses repetition to reassure his point by asking the same question, “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?” However, Brutus also utilizes rhetorical questions to put the audience on their feet. He asks, “Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” in order to reason with the audience by appealing to them logically and to allow them to think on their own. He did not indicate any facts to show Caesar was ambitious or not. Despite the fact that Cassius told Brutus Caesar was incapable of ruling Rome, Antony is more persuasive because he uses more facts rather than “what if’s” and knows more about Caesar than Brutus

Brutus and Antony use pathos in their speech to get to the people's emotions. They think by using that strategy that the people will follow them. For example, in Brutus’s speech he uses pathos by stating, “If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s to him I say, that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less than his.” Brutus is trying to establish common ground with the audience. The

Antony uses repetition to impair Brutus' credibility. Anthony says in the beginning of the speech that “The noble Brutus/Hath told you Caesar was ambitious./If it were so, it was a grievous fault,/And grievously hath Caesar answered it” (III, ii, 76-79). Antony continues to call Brutus honorable, and brings attention to his claim of Caesar’s ambition. This seems counterproductive, until Anthony consecutively disproves Brutus's claim, bringing up examples of Caesar’s selflessness. The plebeians respond to this logic and begin to sympathize with Caesar. Antony uses repetition again, to put blame on the conspirators for killing Caesar. Antony pleads with the crowd, saying that Caesar “is himself, marr’d, as you see, with traitors./Let not a traitor live!” (III, ii, 191-193). As Antony calls the conspirators traitors, the crowd is forced to think of them as common criminals, who should be punished according to the Roman law code. Hearing this, the crowd falls into a mutinous rage, calling for the death of the traitors. It is in this moment that Antony has true control of the people, and has won revenge for

“Persuasion is often more effectual than force.”-Aesop. In the play Julius Caesar, by Shakespeare, Brutus and a group of senators have recently killed Caesar, and Marc Antony is furious about it. He seeks revenge, so when Brutus allows Antony to speak at the funeral, he thinks of a plan to avenge his closest friend. (Define logos, pathos, and ethos). In this play, Marc Antony delivers a more convincing speech than Marcus Brutus through his use of pathos, logos, and ethos.

First he questions the romans by saying “You all did love him once, not without cause. What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?” (III.ii.111-112) they used to love and praise him but now for some reason have betrayed him. It questions the audience and makes them think of their actions and if they have any meaning or are logical. Next he brings up that “...thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse. Was this Ambitious?” (III.ii.105-106). This argues the point the conspirators made, which was that Caesar was too ambitious. If Caesar was too ambitious why would he turn down the crown three times. He even asks the audience if Caesar’s actions were ambitious. This is the logical approach Antony used to defend Caesar. Next he attacks brutus in an indirect way when he says “For Brutus, as you Know, was Caesar’s angel. Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him! This was the most unkindest cut of all” (III.ii.198-200). By saying how much Caesar loves Brutus it undermines Brutus by making him look cold and harsh. Why would you want to be led by someone who betrays their best friend? Again we see a masterful usage of rhetorical devices and his persuasive argument taking over the

For example, Antony stresses the point, “Brutus is an honorable man,” to make the audience question the ethicality of Brutus. Antony utilizes logos in Caesar’s favor, but then retracts his statements, saying they must be untrue because the “honorable” Brutus said otherwise. He establishes this logic because he knows it unmasks the truth of Brutus’s intentions. Along with this, Antony also constructs rhetorical questions in his speech after he uses discusses of how Caesar wept with his country and refused the crown three times. After these statements, Antony asked if the examples he shared showed an ambitious man. By constructing these statements, Antony’s intentions of wishing to sway the audience in Caesar’s favor become evident. These statements also display his craving to convince the people of Rome that Brutus lacks the honor and valor to be their leader. By utilizing these literary appeals in his speech, he convinces the audience that Caesar’s death should not have happened. The audience begins to proclaim, “‘Methinks there is much reason to his sayings… I fear there will a worse come in his place. Mark’d ye his words? He would not take the crown; therefore ‘tis certain he was not ambitious.’” This confirms that Antony captures the audience’s attention, and they listen to his words. His strong argument causes the Romans to change their

Brutus’ speech to the people of Rome regarding Caesar’s death successfully utilized logos. In the wake of Caesar’s assassination, the people of the Roman republic were left confused and Mark Antony, Caesar’s good friend, claimed allegiance to Brutus and the conspirators so that he could attempt to persuade the Romans against the conspirators. Many of the conspirators were against this idea but Brutus comforted them by deciding to stand before the Roman people to give a speech explaining his reasoning for murdering Caesar before Antony, saying, “I will myself into the pulpit first, And show reason of our Caesar’s death” [III.i.250-251]. Throughout Brutus’ speech, he used the rhetorical strategy of logos to show his logical reasoning -- he said, “[A]s he [Caesar] was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I slew him” [III.ii.26-27]. Brutus makes sense of his unexpected action. He explains that as a good friend, he was happy when Caesar was fortunate, honored him when he was brave, and slew (or killed) him when he was ambitious. Brutus explains that Caesar had become a tyrant. He asked the Roman people a rhetorical question, “Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” [III.ii.23-24]. Brutus also continues to explain that Caesar became a tyrant, therefore the man that Brutus murdered was not his kind friend Caesar but the ambitious tyrant Caesar. By explaining his reasoning, Brutus is able to help the Roman public see his actions as understandable and even commendable. Brutus’ use of logos in his speech appealed to

Unable to see that Antony has plans to criticize him, Brutus uses ethos to show that the act of killing Caesar is honorable. He even starts his speech off by saying, “believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe”(3.2.15-17). Being a well respected man, Brutus rests on his laurels. He shows that he loves Caesar and kills him with a heavy heart. While not impressive, his ethos does build credibility for his actions, and this can be seen with the plebeians not bursting out into a riot. However, Brutus’s mistake of letting Antony speak is seen in full force. Antony begins by calling Brutus “a honorable man”(3.2.91). He repeatedly uses this line throughout his speech but in a increasingly sarcastic manner. Antony sprinkles in the good deeds of Caesar before using the line. He makes Brutus seem like a liar and a dishonorable man. As Caesar’s ethos grows among the plebeians, Brutus becomes more and more hated by the plebeians. Antony next brings up Caesar’s will. He shows that Caesar cares for his people even in death. He uses this time to sarcastically say once again that the men are honorable for killing such a great man. At this point, the crowd is in a fervor. Brutus has lost all credibility, and Antony has succeeded in making Caesar a god in the minds of the people. Brutus’s mistake is plain to see

To keep the people from becoming too hostile during his eulogy, Antony refrained from speaking ill of Brutus and repeated multiple times "And Brutus is an honorable man," (). This repeated sarcastic remark proves how Antony did have the speaking skills he needed to slowly guide the townspeople towards his side. He used sarcasm to falsely portray that he has respect for Brutus when in reality, he knows just how to handle the crowd.