Use of Rhetorical Appeals in Julius Caesar: Brutus vs Antony

According to picturequotes.com, “Words are powerful. They can create or they can destroy. So choose your words wisely.” In Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, conspirators slay Julius Caesar, resulting in anarchy in Rome. Some agree with the death, while others oppose the sudden and violent death of Caesar. Unlike Antony, Brutus uses emotion rather than fact to sway the Roman people that Caesars death is justified. Although Brutus puts rules in place so he can not talk disrespectfully of the conspiracy, Antony, Caesar‘s closest friend, uses his slyness and manipulation in his funeral speech to persuade the Romans. Although both characters use analogies, parallelism, loaded words and hyperboles, their speeches convey very different

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.

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.

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’

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.

Throughout the play Julius Caesar, Shakespeare uses a variety of rhetorical strategies to articulate the points of many characters. More explicitly the use of different rhetorical strategies can be seen after the death of Caesar. Preceding Caesar's death speeches were given by Mark Antony and Brutus. In these speeches Brutus tried to justify Ceaser death with vague answers, while Mark Antony came to the support of Caesar and questioned why he really had to die. Brutus and Mark Antony's use of logos, pathos and ethos, allowed them both to give effective speeches. Although Brutus gave a strong speech, Mark Antony exceptional use of pathos and ethos provided him a slight edge over Brutus.

Brutus used repetition the most to influence the crowd. He states about Caesar’s “tears, love, and ambition.” Brutus also asked the audience rhetorical questions that they could not answer, and he would take their silence as if they were agreeing when in reality they were probably too scared to answer. Antony also used repetition to sway the crowd. He often pointed out that “Brutus was an honorable man” and he said it with more and more sarcasm each time. Antony also took advantage of the crowd and used reverse psychology on them. He used Caesar’s will as a tool to accomplish this. He told the crowd about Caesar’s will, telling them that they would think twice if they heard what was in the will, but he doesn’t read it to them. That made them beg for him to read it to them. Not only does this get them to do what he wants, it also give the crowd a false sense of authority over Antony. Also, he asks the crowd if he can come down and join them, saying they give him permission, again giving them that sense of authority. Antony, in addition to the will, used Caesar’s body as a prop in his speech. He created a sympathetic attitude towards Caesar. The other pathos appeal Antony used was the contrast that he showed between the beginning and end of his speech. He opened, saying he was only to “bury Caesar, not to praise him” yet towards the end he had accomplished his goal in making the crowd feel sorry for Caesar and wanting to

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.

And Brutus did not use all the rhetoric analysis so that made the crowd give on a different view on him. Although the crowd is briefly convinced by Brutus trying to get them to agree with him. In the play Mark Antony’s speech is more effective because he was able to convince the audience of who was against him first. He talks to the crowd in a way that would get the people of Rome on his side. He was able to make the word honorable turn into dishonorable. In his speech Anthony won the crowd over when he said “Lovers, Romans, and countrymen”, which made people see the significance of how he feel and what was important to him. Another way Antony won the crowd is by telling them how he really felt about Caesar and Brutus. Antony played on the crowd’s emotion by saying “And they would go and kiss dead Caesar’s wounds.” Antony had the crowd’s emotions mixed up by questioning if he should read the people the will or not. Antony was effective in rhetoric because he used all rhetoric words to get the crowd more on his side. In the conclusion Antony was more effective because he got the crowd’s attention more than Brutus did because Antony speech touched peoples’ hearts and the crowd could connect to Antony’s feelings towards losing a friend he was very close

Brutus explained to the plebeians that he had only killed Caesar because of what Caesar’s will to turn Rome into; however, Brutus was going to make sure that he stayed noble and helped Rome. Brutus is able to create a strong ethos and connect with the audience when he states, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” (II.III. 23-24). Brutus wishes to prove to Rome that he stays true to his word and desires a better place for Rome because Caesar was making everyone his slaves. This had put Brutus at risk because if Rome didn’t believe his speech, they would kill him for Caesar’s justice. Hypophora was used in Brutus’ speech to supports Shakespeare idea of rhetoric altering reality when Brutus questions, “Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply”, (2.2.29-34). Brutus uses Hypophora when asking the plebeians if they wanted to be Caesar’s slaves and then answers his question for them. Hypophora was a critical rhetorical device used in Brutus’ speech because it connected the plebeians and Brutus’ feeling towards the Noble Caesar. Reality is altered through the acts of rhetoric in Brutus’ speech using hypophora and parallelism. The cold hard reality of Caesar wanting to rule Rome and treat the plebeians like slaves is quickly and forcefully shut down by Brutus who connects with the plebeians and promises for a traditional Roman leader. However Brutus does not want to rule Rome he assures that Rome's future isn’t traditional in the hands of Caesar and his will do revolve Rome around his own personal beliefs. Hypophora and parallelism impacted

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

plebeians in Act 3 Scene 2. He uses this in order to create a sense of

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