Rhetorical Devices In Julius Caesar's Funeral Speech

    The play Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare in 1599, is about the murder of Julius Caesar, a great Roman general who conjured many lands, and helped to form the Great Empire that we read about today. Caesar was to be crowned king of Rome, but he was savagely murdered by a group of conspirators before he received the crown. After Caesar's brutal murder, Brutus a very honourable Roman, who helped in in Caesar's death, and Mark Antony, one of Caesar's closest friends, gave speeches at Caesar's funeral, trying to convince the crowd to agree with them and turn against the other. Brutus and Antony both made convincing speeches, but Antony came out on top, because Antony let the people make up their own mind, by appealing to their emotions.

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 steps out to the capitol and informs them about Caesars death and proceeds to give them an explanation on the reasoning of his death. During Brutus’s speech he appeals to the audiences emotions by stating “There is tears for his love, joy for his fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his ambition.” Brutus uses the strategy Pathos because this statement appealed to the audiences emotions and more than likely made them feel sad or maybe mad. Brutus also states that “Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men.” By saying this Brutus is trying to explain to the crowd that if Caesar was to had stayed alive then

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 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

In Brutus’ speech he uses many kinds of rhetorical strategies to convince the audience of Rome he did it for them. One of the types of rhetorical strategies he uses is ethos. Brutus states that if Caesar was still alive, they would have lost their freedom. Brutus states, “believe me for mine honor, have respect for my honor, that you may believe” then after he admits that he was one of the killers and the did it for Rome and the citizens. He also talks about how Caesar was becoming a king like figure and how he killed Caesar for Rome and if his death is needed he to is willing to die for Rome.Another strategie Brutus uses is pathos to touch the angry emotion of the citizen by stating, ¨Mark Antony,who thought he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefits”and “a place in the commonwealth; as which you shall not.”

In the tragedy, Julius Caesar, written by Shakespeare many opinions are spoken after the death of a character. The people of Rome are in a state of shock due to the assassination of their leader, Julius Caesar. Brutus, one of the many conspirators, who deviously planned the death of Caesar, stands on a platform to perform a speech at Caesar’s funeral. Mark Antony, a friend of Caesar, will speak of what he prepared after Brutus. Throughout Brutus’s speech, he portrays a persuasive yet a forthright tone throughout his speech by using one sided evidence, epimone, and antithesis, while Antony conveys a sentimental and sarcastic tone by using apostrophe, verbal irony, and rhetorical questions.

Brutus speaks to the citizens of Rome to tell them why he killed Caesar, so that they will not turn on him. He talks about how he killed Caesar, not for his personal wants, but for the good of Rome. He tells the people that allowing Caesar to rule and fulfill his

In Act II, Scene I of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, lots of rhetorical language is used as well as an aggressive, honorable tone, and a point of view from one main character, Brutus. Shakespeare paints Brutus as an honorable, fiery man, this is clearly shown in lines seven and eight when Brutus states “bear fire enough/To kindle cowards and to steel with valor”. Brutus shows that the conspirators his view that their ambitions are so strong, cowardly men and women could become strong again. He also proves his aggressive nature by stating “let high-sighted tyranny range on/Till each man drop by lottery” in lines five and six, Shakespeare used these extreme words to show Brutus’ strong-willed ethics. However, Shakespeare also used rhetorical

In the play by William Shakespeare, 'The Tragedy of Julius Caesar', the dictator Caesar is betrayed and murdered by his friends and fellow senators. Among these senators is Caesar's closest friend, Brutus. After Julius Caesar's assassination, Brutus and his co-conspirators are left with a problem. Much of Rome loved Caesar, and rioted in the streets for justice against their now dead powerful leader. To be able to continue on living in Rome, Brutus needed to make a speech explaining his reasoning and remorse to the Roman people.

Brutus’s main claims in this speech are that, the senators and Brutus had killed Caesar for the sake of Rome, Brutus is sorry if they had upset anyone or offended anyone by killing Caesar, and that if Brutus were to ever become like Caesar Brutus would have them do the same as they did to Caesar. Brutus says “Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free.” Brutus is stating that even though to the people’s eyes killing Caesar was wrong Brutus thought it was best for Rome and that Brutus had no personal reason for killing Caesar. After telling the people why he killed Caesar, Brutus apologizes for what he had done and said if he offended anyone. He asked the people of he had offended

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

In Brutus' speech, he claims that Caesar was ambitious and killed Caesar for the good of Rome. In order to convey his devotion to Rome Brutus states" not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" proving that Rome was more valuable to Brutus than his relationship to Caesar. To help the audience see the benefit of Caesar's death Brutus says that with Caesar the people would "die all slaves." He also asks a slavery rhetorical question" who is here so base that would be a bondman" to manipulate

After that, Brutus implores to the crowd that they are lucky that Caesar died, shown by, “Had you rather Caesar was living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?”(3.2.23-24) He wants the crowd to know that there could not be any uniting or wellness under Caesar’s total rule, as a king, or as a dictator. In the end, Brutus had a noble cause, and a compelling speech, but in the end, it’s not always about honor, it’s about way the speaker intertwines facts and lies in their speech, and the way the audience interprets

In Brutus speech Shakespeare had his speech focus on the reasoning behind Caesar's death, why the conspirators had to kill him. To advocate the conspirators reasoning Shakespeare included the rhetorical appeals of logos and ethos and very little of pathos for Shakespeare wanted Brutus speech to focus mainly on reasoning and his character more than to have an emotional appeal. The main argument for why Brutus killed Caesar was due to how as much as he loved Caesar, he loved Rome more. By stating this, instead of developing an emotional attach to Brutus it creates and admirable setting for him that identifies