“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” This is an excerpt from Julius Caesar, an opening line said by Mark Antony when talking to the mourning people of Rome. Attempting to sound as if he is only there to say goodbye, however in reality Mark Antony is there to assemble the population of Rome against the conspirators for murdering their beloved Caesar. Persuasion is Antony’s key to win the people’s minds and hearts, he practices the techniques of Aristotle’s Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.
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.
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Another one of Aristotle’s terms of persuasion is Pathos, it is the use of emotion in a persuasive speech to evoke people to lean towards the side wanted.
“You all did love did love him once, not without cause: what cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?”. Mark Antony wants the population of Rome to be emotional by saying the Ruler that they love and honored is now lifeless. “If you have tears, prepare to shed them now”. Antony is actually telling the community to be emotional about the current situation they were bombarded into. Copious examples of Pathos appear in the speech of Mark Antony considering it is an effective way of grasping people’s
attention. The last of Aristotle’s form of persuasion is Logos. Logos means to be reasonable or it is an explanation as to why something happened. “Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me”. This excerpt from the text is a form of Logos in that Antony is explaining to the citizens of Rome why he is speaking to all of them. “When comes such another?”. This is the last line of dialect that Antony delivers to the population, he is trying to evoke the people to consider if Caesar has done anything extremely dreadful. Mark Antony is challenging the crowd to think deeply about if going to the extremes of assassinating Caesar was a necessary action. In persuading speeches, Logos is frequently referred to, whether it is the speaker’s reasoning about what is going on or the receiver challenged to reason. Antony successfully convinces the crowd to revolt against the conspirators by using Aristotle’s forms of persuasion Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. The objection of Ethos is to use morals to win somebody’s undivided attention. A personal favorite technique of Mark Antony’s was Pathos, which activates people’s emotions to persuade them. Providing reasoning is often referred to as Logos. Antony knew exactly what he was doing while talking to the confused crowd gathered in Rome, he knew how to urge them to rise against the conspirators and attack them for executing Caesar.
Pathos: "This was the unkindest cut of them all". Antony creates an emotional connection with the crowd when he makes them look at the stab that Brutus and the conspirators had done to him , this makes the people angry because the conspirators had killed a great person ( in the people's eyes ) making the people starting to rebel the conspirators and wanting to kill all of
... Antony also mixes Logos and Pathos when he says that “when the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept” (873) to show that Caesar was a noble and caring leader of the public and would never try to hurt or harm their liberties. Unlike Brutus, Antony’s logo requires the people to think on what he says, which only helps in winning his argument. He continues this mix when he says that “[they] all did love him once, not without cause” (873) in order to put guilt on the crowd for switching sides on the man they loved and admired so dearly. Antony, with full support of the crowd, uses his sense of loss and anger to guilt the public says that “[his] heart is in there with Caesar”(873) and after reading the contents of Caesar will to the public which gives each citizen 70 drachmas and various other gifts he asks “when comes another [as great as Caesar]?”
With the use of pathos, Antony directly touched the emotions of the people by stating how greatly affected he was by the death of Caesar and how he did not deserve to die. Next, by the use of ethos, Antony reminded the people that they once loved Caesar and that he was a morally good
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 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
In the end, the characters of Julius Caesar all have more complicated relationships with honor than they appear at first glance. Brutus, while well intentioned and seemingly honorable, cannot see the line that separates honor from murder, Cassius who appears dishonorable in every way aims, at least in part, to protect rome and its people and Portia who appears dedicated loyal and honorable, commits suicide and believes the lies she is told about her self, beneath the surface of these characters, lies complex motives and twisted logic, which makes singling them out as honorable or dishonorable, nearly impossible, as they are very human, and humans are rarely one or the
“If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” (1) In this sentence he is using pathos to invoke the audience, trying to put them in his own shoes by telling them that he conspired against Julius for their sake. “As Caesar loved me, I weep for him. As he was fortunate, I rejoice at it. As he was valiant, I honor him. But, as he was ambitious, I slew him.” In this quote he uses words of emotion such as love, rejoice, and honor. Brutus is trying to influence the audience into giving him sympathy by making the audience feel what he wants them to
This appeal works best when made to those who possess high ethical or moral standing. Though audiences with which this is highly effective are difficult to find, Cassius succeeds with his appeal with Brutus as his audience. The example here is when Cassius is convincing Brutus to join his plot. Brutus is susceptible to ethos because he is constantly worried about the good of Rome and the plebeians, a trait that is seen and respected by Romans. “This was the noblest Roman of them all,” Antony remarks at Brutus’s death, proving that Brutus did not act for himself, but for the empire and for unselfish reasons (5.5.74). This makes ethos the most effective appeal for him, because Brutus’s morals are for Rome’s benefit, not himself. Firstly, in order to turn Brutus, Cassius reminds him of his dedication to Rome, “There was a Brutus once that would have brooked / Th’ eternal devil to keep his state in Rome…” (1.2.168-69). Brutus would do anything to keep his status and his home as Rome, claims Cassius. He would even make deals with the devil, and this solidifies Brutus’s relation to Rome. To be separated from Rome is unacceptable to Brutus. Cassius then proceeds about an underhanded plot to bring Brutus to his side. He writes letters posing as plebeians and pleads with Brutus in them to save Rome from the threat of Caesar. “Speak, strike, redress!” calls the plebeian Cassius has created (2.1.49). The plebeian asks Brutus to make known his
In Julius Caesar, Mark Antony performs a very touching and successful speech. After the conspirators kill Caesar, Antony carries Caesar’s body out onto the steps of the senate house in front of the civilians of Rome. Before the speech, the people are happy that Caesar has been killed and are completely
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 then Brutus.
Antony’s goal was to persuade the crowd of plebeians that the conspirators acted impetuously and Caesar did not need to be killed. He uses many rhetorical devices to strengthen his speech and gain the support of the crowd. From rhetorical questions to the use of pathos, Antony masters the art of persuasion. His speech moves the crowd from believing Brutus’ reasoning for killing Caesar, to understanding that Caesar did not have to die.
Mark Antony's Speech from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar Mark Antony’s funeral oration over the body of Julius Caesar in act three, scene two is the most important speech in the play and effects the development of the play as a whole in many ways. Firstly this speech falls in the play where we have seen Antony’s distraught reaction to the murder of Caesar and his letter vowing allegiance to Brutus in return for being able to live. Act three, scene one prepares us for Antony’s rhetoric as here he states that ‘Brutus is noble, wise, valiant and honest’ which fits in with him repeatedly stating ‘Brutus is an honourable man’. It becomes evident in this scene that Antony has an ulterior motive for forming this allegiance and asking to do the funeral oration when he is ‘swayed from the point by looking down on Caesar’ and then states that ‘friends am I with you all, and love you all’ but still wants to know ‘why and wherein Caesar was dangerous’. Thus we the audience are aware that Antony is not being honest with the conspirators especially when he speaks in a soliloquy of the anarchy he will create when he states ‘blood and destruction shall be so in use…that mothers shall but smile when they behold/
A later example occurs during the funeral oration by Mark Antony. Brutus logically gives his reasons that necessitated Caesar’s death. He informs them that he acted out of love of Rome and his desire to prevent tyrants from controlling her. The citizens embrace his words with cheers and understanding. However, their mood alters when Antony offers his interpretation of the situation. He passionately described the deeds Caesar performed in behalf of the citizens of Rome, which clearly contradict the opinion of the conspirators that Caesar was too ambitious. Antony carefully uses irony in referring to Cassius and Brutus as honorable men; the strategy wins over the citizens and they listen with growing anger to his words. He leads the citizens to the body and begins to show the brutal results of the murder while simultaneously influencing them to believe that the conspirators are murderers and traitors. Ultimately, Antony reads Caesar’s will, which leaves his parks, private estates, and newly planted gardens to the citizens of Rome.