William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a tragedy that includes events leading to the fall of Julius Caesar, as well as the impact this has on the Roman citizens and conspirators. Following Caesar’s death, Brutus and Antony both deliver speeches in hopes of gaining supporters. Some readers believe that Brutus’ reasons for killing Caesar are more convincing due to his use of certain strategies. However, Antony’s speech is more successful since he uses a wider range of persuasion techniques and stronger supporting arguments. This information is important because it helps the readers understand how Antony and Brutus’ differences during the funeral speech can greatly impact the way people view Caesar’s assassination. Although Brutus effectively …show more content…
incorporates ethos and logos into his speech, Antony’s use of these rhetorical devices is more powerful as he provides evidence of Caesar’s good quality and uses clever techniques to appeal to the people’s emotions.
Brutus was able to incorporate ethos and logos during his funeral speech. When Brutus states, “ Believe me for mine honor,/ that you may believe…”(3,1,15) By stating this Brutus is saying that the people should listen to him and believe him because of his reputation as an honorable man. Due to the fact that Brutus used the word “believe” twice, this increasingly attract the crowd’s attention and makes them consider believing him. Although he makes the crowd think, he does not say anything about why they should believe, he makes the audience think if believing him is the right thing to do.Therefore, they might not believe Brutus because they do not think deeply about what he is saying. By using ethos, Brutus is showing that he is one of them, …show more content…
and he is showing that he understands the people. Brutus does not only use ethos but he also uses logos. When Brutus says, “Had you rather Caesar were living, and/ die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all/ freemen/” (3,1,24) Brutus says this to give proof to the audience that he was right to kill Caesar. If Caesar had lived, he would have enslaved every Roman citizen by taking over power and becoming a dictator. This is also a rhetorical question, by using this, Brutus is trying to make a point rather than getting an answer. Another example of how Brutus uses logical appeal is when is says, “... Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” (3,1,23) Brutus used “I” and “loved” twice which adds another layer to why killing Caesar was the right thing to do and this also makes the crowd believe the Brutus cares about them. Therefore, Brutus mainly uses ethos and logos to argue that Caesar’s assassination was the right thing to do. In contrast, Antony mainly uses logos and pathos to manipulate the individuals. When Antony says, “ He was my friends, Faithful and just to me.” (3,1,94) By saying this, Antony makes the audience feel sympathy. Antony does not only use pathos, but he also uses logos. When Antony says, “ But here’s a parchment with the seal of Caesar./I found it in his closet. ‘Tis his will. Let but the commons hear this testament,/ Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read.” (3,1,140) By saying this Antony is attempting to tease the people with Caesar’s will. By telling the citizens no, he is trying to make them desire more, which they do. Another example of logos is when Antony speaks, “I thrice presented him a kingly crown,/ which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,/ and sure he is an honorable man. (3,1,105) Here, Antony is contradicting what Brutus had previously said about Caesar. He does this innocently, but still in a way that takes away Brutus’ credibility. Here shows that Antony also repeats phrases to emphasize what he is trying to say. When Antony says “thrice” twice, he is showing that Caesar had a chance to receive the crown, then he adds that the reason why he rejected the crown was his ambition. Antony has a lot of depth in his speech. Antony was able to manipulate the individuals in a different was than Brutus did. Even though Brutus and Antony both have very persuasive speeches, Antony was able to persuade the people better than Brutus could despite Brutus for the most part only uses logos and ethos while Antony also uses ethos and his points were more persuasive.
Unlike Brutus, Antony had a lot of strong pathos points such as , “For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar’s angel,/ Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him! (3,2,193) When Antony said this, he did not directly say anything bad about the conspirators, this influences the plebeians to feel sympathetic towards Caesar and possibly somewhat, resentful towards Brutus and his accomplices. Antony is able to show his sympathy and he was able to get the conspirators to feel sympathy. Brutus was not able to manipulate the individuals in the same was as Antony. Antony was also able to use ethos as well as Brutus did. Just like Brutus, Antony was able to connect to the individuals by starting out his speech with, “Friends, Romans and countrymen…’ (3,1,82) Here he is showing them that he’s a common person. Brutus uses mostly ethos, this shows that he is straight to the point. But with Antony, he makes people think like when he says, “He hath brought many captives home to Rome,/ Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill./ Did this in Caesar seem ambition? (3,1,97) Mark Antony’s speech was more persuasive than Brutus’ simply because Brutus was only trying to persuade the audience that killing caesar was the right thing to do. Antony’s
goal was to rally up the commoners to revenge Caesar's tragic death. Antony mentioned how he and Caesar were really good friends and discussed how hurt he was that he lost such a good friend. Antony persuaded the audience by telling his promise with Brutus and that was to say nothing bad about him. Overall, Mark Antony cleverly appeals to the Romans through facts and emotions, helping him gain more support over Brutus. He uses Caesar’s will and body in a was to support his arguments and to emotionally trigger the people with pity, guilt, and anger. Some readers may consider Brutus’ speech as more powerful as he is more direct and forceful with his words. However, the forceful approach does not surpass Antony’s appeal to emotion. Although Brutus directly states his reasoning, his forcefulness towards the Romans causes him to cross the line. An example is when he asks if he has offended anyone, yet at the same time, he states that anyone who disagrees with him is “un-Roman.” Unlike Brutus, Antony subtly gets his point across by sitting up the crowd’s emotions and allowing them to freely make their own decisions. In conclusion, this scene largely expresses the role that rhetoric plays in Julius Caesar, as well as how it differently Brutus and Antony are in the way they speak and their personalities.
In Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, pathos, logos and ethos are evidently and effectively used to persuade the audience into believing Caesar was not ambitious and that he was an innocent man. Throughout the speech the citizens were easily persuaded, but Anthony’s intellectual speeches made the audience question and imagine what they have turned into. Anthony used these three rhetorical appeals to win back the citizens just like many people do today. The power of pathos, logos and ethos in a speech can change one mind in an instant and if successfully used can change a mind to be fully persuaded without confusion.
Antony asks rhetorical questions and lets the audience answer for themselves. Brutus uses ethos by stating that he a noble man and that is why the people should believe him but infact Antony questions his nobility by saying what Brutus said,” Brutus is an honourable man”(III.ii.79). In a way, Antony states what Brutus states to convince the audience by using examples that Brutus is wrong. Antony himself knows what kind of man Brutus is but lets the people figure it out on their own. In addition, Brutus uses logos by expressing that fact that Caesar died because of his ambition. This argument is severely under supported because his reasons are invalid and simply observations. Antony uses “did this in Caesar seem ambitious” to question Brutus’ argument (III.ii.82). Antony gives examples backing his argument like when Caesar refused the crown thrice to prove his humbleness. The way Antony convinces the people to rebel is by using pathos. He brings the audience in by stepping down to their level and showing them the body of Caesar. While Antony talks at Caesar's funeral, he pauses because” heart us in the coffin there with Caesar “(III.ii.98). When Antony becomes emotional, he reminds the audience about what injust event happened to the much loved
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.
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is a historic tragedy about the brutal murder of the Roman senator, Julius Caesar. Within the play, Caesar has two close friends—Brutus and Antony. Antony is a loyal friend, supporting Caesar and encouraging him in his climb to kingship; Brutus is a king-fearing traitor who leads the plot to murder Caesar. After Caesar is murdered, both friends make speeches—Brutus to justify his actions and Antony to passive-aggressively disprove his claims. In the speeches, they use three rhetorical literary devices: ethos, the appeal to gain the crowd’s trust; pathos, stirring the crowd’s emotions to influence behavior; and logos, the use of logic to reason with the crowd. By comparing the use of ethos, pathos, and logos in each speech and by
In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus is a skillful orator who makes use of rhetorical devices to convey his points. In his speech made after the death of Caesar, Brutus uses devices such as ethos, parallelism, and rhetorical questions to persuade the people to his way of thinking. Ethos is when a speaker gives an example of credibility in order to appeal to the listener’s ethics. When Brutus asks the people to “believe me for mine honor, and have respect for mine honor” (3.2.14-15), he is using ethos to appeal to their morals in order to make them consider his opinions. The use of ethos exhibits Brutus’ need for the people to approve of him, and by extension, the assassination of Caesar. Later, Brutus utilizes parallelism
Brutus also places his faith in the honor of others, refusing to take a group oath assuming the honor of the individual is the strongest thing there is. Brutus lives his life based almost entirely on the idea of honor, yet he somehow fails to see the dishonor in killing his close friend to prevent him from rising to power.
In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Mark Antony—a loyal friend to Julius Caesar, the former emperor of Rome—gives a speech to the Roman commoners in order to persuade them to turn against Brutus, for Brutus and the conspirators had slain Caesar. Antony’s uses rough and sharp diction, a scornful tone, and honest anecdotes in order to achieve his purpose of manipulating the common people to take his side.
& respects the intelligence of the common people to understand a speech given in verse. Brutus's authoritative air is once again illustrated at the very opening line of his oration when he demands the attention of the people, "Romans, countrymen, and lovers, hear me for my / cause, and be silent, that you may hear. Believe me / for mine honor and have respect to mine honor, that / you may believe"(Act III, scene ii, lines 13-16). this one line, Antony uses Brutus's words to his advantage by changing them to make himself sound friendlier. By the very first word of Antony's speech, one can infer that he is about to give a humbling oration; he uses the ethical appeal to convince the people to believe in his cause rather than Brutus's. Finally, while the crowd is in awe of Brutus's raw power and booming authority, Antony uses sarcasm He is "an honorable man" (Act III, scene II, line 84) in a tone of biting mockery, therefore questioning Brutus's credibility. & nbsp; It is true that the Roman people have emotions that sway with the winds, but this is partly due to the great speaking skills of both Brutus and Mark Antony.
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.
In contrast, Antony’s speech subtly undermines Brutus’ claim of honor through the use of dramatic irony and emotional manipulation. By repeatedly referring to Brutus as ‘an honorable man’, Antony plants seeds of doubt into the minds of the audience. He then builds a strong emotional connection with the audience by recounting touching stories about Caesar, displaying Caesar's will, and highlighting his generosity(III,scene ii,181). Antony's ability to stir the emotions of the crowd, invoking their anger and grief, demonstrates a more persuasive use of rhetoric and Brutus's rational appeal. Mark Antony connects with the people on a deeply emotional level, using Caesar's cloak as a prop to physically show where the conspirators' daggers struck, turning Caesar's wounds into a silent but powerful testimony against Brutus and the others(III,scene ii,237).
Ethos is a model of persuasion that utilizes morals to receive the citizens’ attention. “For Brutus is an honourable man; So are they all, all honourable men”. This is one example of Ethos that Antony states early in his speech to the grieving people. He is trying to explain that Brutus was an honorable man that happen to make a disastrous mistake. “Bear with me; my heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, and I must pause till it come back to me”. An additional example of Ethos due to the way Antony is trying to explain that he himself is a fine man by showing sympathy for Caesar's assassination, nevertheless, various examples of Aristotle’s Ethos are present in Antony’s speech.
Brutus uses logos in his speech to earn the consciousness of the citizens to why he had killed Caesar. Brutus states, “Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men? (III.II. 24-26). ” In this statement, Brutus justifies his actions as he states that if Caesar was alive, then all the citizens would have been slaves. But, if Caesar is dead, then all would be free men. Brutus wants to trap the citizens by making them feel as if they only have two choices and having Ceaser be dead would be the only way to sense protection and security. Through this, he uses logos in a very ineffective way because he uses the terms “either”, “or” which also are known to be logical fallacies. In addition, Antony also uses logos in his speech to oppose Brutus point of view. He states “I thrice presented him a kingly/ Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious: And, sure, he is an honourable man (III.II. 105-108).” In this quote, Antony aspires to portray Caesar as a worthy man that only craved to construct a well-fortified city. He remarks that Caesar was offered the crown of kingdom for three times, yet he declined the offer. This displays the modesty of Caesar and that his objective was only to help the citizens. He has no
In William Shakespeare play Julius Caesar, Caesar is assassinated, and the city of Rome becomes enraged, demanding the death of the conspirators that murdered him. Brutus, one of the main assassins, talks to the mob and persuades them to understand that they are at an advantage without Caesar, the tyrant, as the dictator of Rome. He then leaves Mark Antony, who has meticulous orders to not try to pin the murder on the conspirators’ selfishness, but can speak numerous praises about his superior. Mark Antony then speaks to the persuaded crowd about Caesar’s endeavors and the benefits that Caesar gave to the kingdom, giving everything that was necessary and more. Mark Antony’s speech riles the citizens of Rome to mutiny without actually revealing his personal intentions of wishing to do so. In William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, Mark Antony’s speech is more persuasive that Brutus’ speech
Antony, though he kept to his bargain, brought the audience to his side in a variety of ways. He used all three methods of persuasion to his advantage. He claimed the killers of Caesar to be honorable and noble, and in the very act of doing so turned Brutus' followers against him. This shows the true ability of Marcus Antonius, and that he is a far greater threat than the conspirators recognized. This power of words is well known, and Aristotle's three methods of persuasion live on in modern speechwriters. Ethos, logos, and pathos are just as effective in our time as in that of Shakespeare, the Roman Empire, and wherever there are people to speak and people to listen. Thus even today, this speech of Shakespeare through Antony shows the sheer impact that mere words can have.