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Analysis of caesar character in shakespeare's play julius caesar
Julius caesar literary analysis essay tragic hero
The tragedy of julius caesar character traits
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Since the beginning of time, man has used persuasion in speeches to convince
their audience of adopting a new point of view. As Jim Bennett says, “...all magnificent speeches...’reads [themselves]’,” meaning that providing smooth, fluid delivery will capture audiences attention. In William Shakespeare’s tragic drama, Julius Caesar, the characters use persuasion in their speeches by applying pathos, ethos, and logos to butter their words. Persuasion plays an important role, being used by the conspirators, Brutus, and Antony to convince their audiences.
Jealous of Caesar’s rule and unwilling to relinquish their power, the conspirators
utilize persuasion to draft assistance in assassinating Caesar. Cassius, despising of Caesar’s rule and determined to overthrow him, approaches Casca with conspirator’s plan. Cassius uses a
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form of logos to convince Casca by giving reasons that support the claim that accused Caesar of tyranny. After several points are exchanged, “...Casca has not only accepted Cassius’ very different views…[but] he has agreed as a result to join the conspirators…” (Barton). Casca’s joining of the conspirators marks the beginning of the downfall of many, including Brutus. Cassius wants Caesar dead and will take an measure to accomplish this, even recruiting Caesar’s right-hand man, Brutus. To convince Brutus, Cassius uses pathos, telling him, “Like a Colossus...we petty men walk under his huge kegs and peep about to find ourselves dishonorable graves,” (Shakespeare, 1, 2, 145-147). Brutus agrees to join them leading the way to the death of Caesar and his own personal downfall. Brutus, an honorable man indeed, has gotten himself wrapped up in the conspirators’ mercenary work and must justify his decisions through persuasion.
Before anyone else, Brutus must justify his actions to himself and persuade himself that he is in the right. In desperation to find a reason for his decision, Brutus utilizes ethos referring to himself as a noble man, saying, “O Rome, I make thee promise, if the redress will follow, thou receivest thy full petition at the hand of Brutus!” (Shakespeare, 2, 1, 58-60). Believing himself of the title savior of Rome, Brutus prepares to fight on what he believes the right side of this debate. Next, all he will need is the support of the people of Rome so they will side with the conspirators. After the assassination of Caesar, Brutus must appease the people of Rome so they will side with the conspirators. Brutus uses a similar tactic with the Romans that he used on himself, taking advantage of his honorable position to use ethos on the citizens of Rome. He informs them, “Believe me for mine honor and have respect to mine honor…” (Shakespeare, 3, 2, 15-16). For a moment, it would seem Brutus has won over the Romans. However, he did not count in his opposition, Mark
Antony. Mark Antony, a master persuader, arrives behind Brutus to defend Caesar and reveal the conspirators for the crimes of treason they have committed against Rome. Mark Antony, well aware of the conspirators plan and actions, must convince Brutus that he remains a friend to all the men. When Antony appeared on the scene of the crime, he fell next to Caesar, crying out, using pathos to convince the conspirators. He weeps to the men, “I doubt not of your wisdom. Let each man render me his bloody hand,” (Shakespeare, 3, 1, 199-200), offering the men his honor. With the men under the guise that Antony has sided with them, Antony can now undergo his plans undetected. After Brutus makes his claims to the citizens of Rome, Antony takes the stage to persuade the Romans that Brutus is truly a traitor. Antony takes a friendlier** approach to his speech than Brutus, using pathos by manipulating the people’s love for Caesar to his advantage, making claims about Caesar to create remorse for Caesar’s death and hatred for the conspirators. One example of this includes Antony revealing Caesar’s will to the people, saying, “Moreover, he hath left you all his wills. His private arbors and new-planned orchards, on this side of the Tiber; and to your heirs for ever…” (Shakespeare, 3, 2, 267-270). Agreeing with the will and moved by Antony’s love for Caesar, the people of Rome side with Antony, planning mutiny against the conspirators. “In the Rome of Julius Caesar, language is power and characters rise or fall on the basis of their ability to wield words,” (Greene). Some communicate better than others, however all the characters speak powerfully and with purpose, persuading their audiences with great skill.
In the beginning of the Book Cassius uses anecdotes of Caesar’s weakness and faults, argumentum ad antiquatum, and ethos on Brutus to persuade him to join the conspiracy to kill Caesar, this works on Brutus and shows that anyone, even people as stoic as Brutus, can be persuaded by appealing to their motivations. Cassius, a very suspicious character thru ought the play tells Brutus to “be not jealous on me” (827), in the quote he tells Brutus to not be suspicious of him because he is just a friend who genuinely cares. Cassius does this to put himself on Brutus’ side and not seem like a distant person, this allows him to criticize Caesar and suggest that he is a bad influence on Rome which appeals to Brutus’ desire to keeping Rome safe. After setting himself up as a friend to Brutus, Cassius uses harsh anecdotes on the weakness of Caesar to show that he isn’t fit to rule Rome. Cassius recollects on a time when he and Caesar went swimming in the river Tiber and Caesar screamed “Help me, Cassius or I sink” (828) to de...
In his speech, Brutus appeals to the loyalism of his audience by making intertwining arguments of ethos, pathos, and logos. He begins by establishing his ethos by asserting his status as an honorable fellow Roman worthy of their respect. He expands on this ethos by dividing it into three parts: his love of Caesar, his loyalty to Rome, and his relationship to his audience. Brutus tells his audience that he was a “dear friend” to the man he murdered, invoking a pathetic sense of sympathy from his audience. However, as he says himself, it was “not that [he] loved Caesar less, but that [he] loved Rome more,” strengthening his ethos as a loyal countryman with the interests of his audience at heart. After establishing an emotional connection to his audience and earning their trust, Brutus explains his logic
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.
Cassius needed a reason to motivate Brutus to join the conspiracy so that the plan would develop. “Brutus, I do observe you now of late: I have not from your eyes that gentleness…” (1.2.34) Cassius is saying that Brutus hasn’t been as affectionate toward him as he typically is. Maybe he suspects something is wrong with Brutus and he thinks it has something to do with Caesar. But I think he didn’t really care about how Brutus was treating him, he was just “buttering him up” so to say. Brutus thinks that Cassius is just being his friend and trying to help, when in reality Cassius is manipulating him. This manipulation of friendship is what drives the rest of the play. Brutus has a hard time seeing through this manipulation of Cassius and it ends up driving him to assassinating his friend, Caesar. Cassius fabricated letters to make them seen like they were from the people of Rome saying that they wanted Brutus as their leader. These letters were really the controlling factor of the assassination because they gave Brutus another reason to assassinate Caesar. Cassius then realized how easy it was to manipulate Brutus. “Well, Brutus, thou art noble. Yet I see thy honorable mettle may be wrought from that it is disposed. Therefore it is meet that noble minds keep ever with their likes; for who so firm that cannot be seduced?” (1.2.320-324) Cassius is saying that even
Brutus put his trust in Antony to not turn on him at the funeral. He was lead to believe that Antony would only speak good of the conspirators and defend them for the actions they have made. He trusted Antony when he told him he would not express such hate and talk of the bad they did and then later turned against them for the vengeance of Caesar. Brutus told Antony, “You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, But speak all good you can devise of Caesar” (III.i.245-246). He told him that the only way he is going to be able to speak at Caesar’s funeral is if he speaks good of the conspirators. After Antony said his speech, the whole crowd immediately switched and sided with him against them. They wanted nothing more than for Brutus, Cassius and the other contributors to be dead. This reveals that Brutus is shameful for putting his trust in someone who was so close to Caesar. Brutus trusted that Antony wouldn't do anything and just imagined he would be to scared to step up and speak out. This leads to Brutus losing the trust he had for Antony and starting a war between the people and the conspirators. As the war was about to proceed, they all prepped for what was about to happen. Antony and his army completely dominated Brutus’ and lead to many of them fleeing for their lives. Many people died by genocide while other committed suicide. Brutus was among the ones of suicide. He no longer wanted to be alive and felt that he had lived and fulfill what he had wanted. People were dead and he knew he was going to be one of them. Brutus’ last words were, “Caesar, now be still; I killed not thee with half so good a will” (V.v.50-51). He wanted Caesar to know that he can now be at rest because the vengeance he was looking for has been given. Because of all the trust he put in the people that were taking advantage of him, he ended up finishing his life. This reveals that Brutus really did
Each ruler of Rome seemed to have made poor decisions, and this is exactly what occurred with Brutus. Brutus became very naïve. All of the conspirators confronted Brutus with the idea of killing Mark Antony. They believed he would continue Caesar’s legacy but Brutus thought differently. Brutus added, “And for Mark Antony, think not of him, for he can do no more than Caesar’s arm” (Shakespeare, 24). He proposed that Antony was too weak for them to worry about while this was actually what brought about his fall. When the murder of Caesar had concluded, Antony wished to speak in honor of Caesar. Brutus agreed with the idea but Cassius was hesitant. Cassius insulted, “You know not what you do. Do not consent that Antony speak in his funeral. Know you how much the people may be moved by that which he will utter” (Shakespeare, 44). Cassius feared that Antony’s persuasive speech would turn the citizens against the conspirators. Brutus continued to ignore Cassius’s warning, but was proven wrong immediately. The locals were influenced by Antony and led an angered march to end the conspirators. Brutus caused their arrangement to fail by lack of
As a “speculative man of high motives and refined sensibility”(Catherine C. Dominic) Brutus does have his confusion of motives. Act I, scene ii, is the first we see his weakness, “his concern with reputation and appearance, his subtle vanity and pride”(Gayle Green). Yet the main bases of Brutus’s bewilderment of motives takes place in Act II, scene I, with his famous soliloquy beginning with “It must be by his death”. This speech may be the turning point in which Brutus feels better about the assassination of his once called friend.
Cassius is the leader of the conspirators. He is jealous of the power that Caesar holds and wants for himself. Caesar says that Cassius"...Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks to much. Such men are dangerous.", meaning that he looks sneaky and is not to be trusted. The whole idea to kill Caesar begins with Cassius, he convinces the other Senators to do as he wishes. Cassius commits suicide because he is afraid of what will happen to him if Mark Antony and Octavius find him. Another reason for his suicide is because he believes that his men have lost the battle and he does not want to face the consequences.
Brutus’ leadership and compassion for others make him a popular figure amongst the Roman people, and it is his reputation that establishes him as an influential individual. For example, despite the fact that Brutus loves Caesar like a brother, he warily joins the conspiracy to assassinate him. He does this because he believes that Caesar’s ambition would become tyranny and that Caesar’s death is a necessary evil in order to preserve the liberties of the Roman people. In his own words Brutus claims, “It must be by his death; and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general.”(Act 2, Scene 1, Page 1116). In addition, Brutus takes the reins of authority from Cassius and becomes the leader of the conspiracy. He gains this prerogative because of his convincing tongue and powerful influence. His leadership is evidenced when he begins to challenge Cassius’ ideas. When Cassius asks the conspirators to “swear our resolution”(Act 2...
Brutus was a devious man, even though what he thought he was doing was right. Brutus told his fellow conspirators to kill Caesar “boldly, but not angerly.”(3.1.256-257) Brutus was one of Caesars right hand men, and yet Brutus kills his own friend. When Antony asks to speak at Caesars funeral, Cassius says no, but Brutus tell him that Antony will speak, but only what Brutus tells him to say. Brutus also embraces the fact that he just killed his friend, and also tells the senators who had just witnessed it to not be afraid, but to stay because ambition has paid its debt.
Brutus has several tragic flaws. One of these tragic flaws is how he trusts people a lot. Brutus says that he “know[s] that we shall have [Antony] well to a friend” (1140). He trusts Antony will be a friend of the conspirators, yet he seems to not realize that Antony is obliviously against them, because they killed his friend. Brutus trusts Antony so much, that he lets Antony speak to the public alone. Antony turns the people against Brutus and the conspirators, leading to the wars where Brutus takes his own life. Brutus also receives letters, supposedly from the people of Rome. As he reads the letter out loud, Brutus remarks “‘Speak, strike, redress!’ Am I entreated to speak and strike? O Rome, I make thee promise, if thy redress will follow, thy receivest thy full petition at the hand of Brutus” (1118).
In Julius Caesar two men, Antony and Brutus, make two different speeches but with the same concept of ethos, logos, and pathos at Caesar's funeral. Brutus claims that it is okay that he killed Caesar and makes a speech about it. Antony is the more persuasive speaker than Brutus because he uses ethos, pathos, and logos better than Brutus. Brutus has a way with the people. He is a politician, and he knows how to get the people on his side.
After the killing of Caesar, Brutus realized that it did not make him any happy, but more depressed. Brutus says goodbye to his friends and all the conspirators. He tells Strato to stay by and hold to sword out for Brutus, who says that it would be a good idea. Brutus’s last words to Octavius were, “Farewell, good Strato--Caesar, now be still; / I killed not thee with half so good will” (V.v.50-51). Brutus says goodbye to Strato and that he is a god man. Brutus tells him to turn his head and Brutus runs right into the sword and falls to the ground. Brutus commits suicide because he would rather be seen as a honorable man than a honorable man being dragged through the streets of Rome. Brutus loved the people and Rome and did not want to embarass himself by being dragged through the streets of Rome. This leads him to decide that he would be better just to kill himself. After the killing of Brutus, Antony and Octavius go into the room where Brutus lay dead. Antony, Caesar's best friend told Octavius Brutus did not want to kill Caesar, but was manipulated into doing it by the conspirators. Just like Antony all of Brutus’s friends become more friendly and liked Brutus’s much more when it is dead than alive. “This was the noblest Roman of them all. / All the conspirators save only he / did that they did in envy of great Caesar; / he, only in a general honest thought / and common good to all, made one of them. / His life was gentle, and the elements / so mixed in him that Nature might stand up / and say to all the world, This was a Man” (V.v.68-71)! Antony states that Brutus was the noblest man and the conspirators acted out of jealousy of Caesar. Brutus was the only man to be himself and do what he thought was right for the people of Rome. Antony states Brutus’ weak nature as to the reason for his nobleness. Out of all the conspirator Brutus was the only one to believe Caesar's death was for the good of
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.
While there are many main themes in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the use of manipulation and deception has the biggest impact. Many characters use deception and manipulation to strengthen their plot and to allow the outcome to turn out the way they want. Cassius, Casca and Decius are the characters that use this theme for their own benefit in the play.