“Persuasion is often more effectual than force” (“Aesop”). In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, after the succession of the assassination to Julius Caesar, both Marc Antony and Brutus give publics several speeches towards this mission. Speeches need three elements to maximize the effectiveness of them, which are the logic, emotional and ethical appeals. Marc Antony delivers speech that is more persuasive to the public after the conspirators slay Caesar through the usage of logos, pathos and ethos. First, Antony uses logos to prove that neither Brutus has any just reason to assassinate Caesar nor has he enough honorability to be trusted. In Antony’s speech, he mentions the evidence that shows Caesar is not ambitious, that Brutus claims Caesar is ambitious, and that Brutus is an honorable man alternatively. For instance, at the beginning of the speech, he mentions: “He was my friend, faithful and just to me, But Brutus says he was ambitious, And Brutus is an honorable man” …show more content…
(III, ii, 94-96). At this time, Antony is stating that Brutus is an honorable undoubtedly. As the speech continues, he then questions the honorability and credibility of Brutus as Antony saying: “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept; Ambition should be made of sterner stuff. Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, And Brutus is an honorable man” (III, ii 100-103). Later on Antony’s speech, he claims: “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” (III, ii, 105-108). This (expression) is sarcasm towards Brutus. Antony is questioning the public does Brutus have the honorability and just reason to execute Caesar after all the examples in the speech (“Pressley”). The crowd understands what Antony means by saying: “They were traitors. Honorable men?” (III, ii, 165). Second, Antony leads people’s anger towards Brutus step-by-step by his emotional appeals.
At the beginning of his speech, he says: “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, and I must pause till it come back to me” (III, ii, 116-117). The reaction of the public is not strong: “Has he, masters? I fear there will a worse come in his place” (III, ii, 120-121). Some citizens are questioning the authenticity of Antony’s speech. As Antony continues his speech, people become more fuming as they say: “Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay! Let not a traitor live!” (III, ii, 216-217). At the end of Antony’s speech after he says Caesar’s will, people’s anger reaches the climax, like what Antony describes: “Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot; Take thou what course thou wilt” (III, ii, 275-276). He is saying that the rebellion of people is now out of control. The crowd’s indignation is proliferated by Antony’s speech through the words he uses, finally creating an uncontrollable
outburst. Finally, yet importantly, Antony uses ethos to illustrate how unethical this assassination is. In the beginning of his speech, he claims: “I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, But here I am to speak what I do know” (III, ii, 109-110). He claims that he is a normal person who describes what happens at the senator without any bias and prejudice. “Look, in this place ran Cassius’ dagger through. See what a rent the envious Casca made. Through this the well-belovèd Brutus stabbed, And, as he plucked his cursèd steel away” (III, ii, 186-189). He implies to the crowd that how inhuman those conspirators are when they slaughter Caesar by showing the punctures on Caesar’s rope. Antony leads the crowd to feel remorseful about Caesar’s death through his description of the slaying. The uses of logos, ethos and pathos are well shown in Antony’s speech, which make his speech more persuasive than Brutus’ speech. Antony’s speech is responsible for the people’s rebellion towards Brutus. (Antony’s words have the power to incite the Roman citizens to revolt.) Persuasive words possess power.
Logos: "And Brutus is an honorable man". Throughout his speech, Antony keeps on making comments just before he remarks Brutus , H e says something he had something wrong
... 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]?”
Imagine yourself listening to a political debate, undecided as to which leader you agree with. One candidate begins to speak about unjust societal issues, such as the horrifying amount of people in the world that do not have food on their table. The candidate also begins to touch upon the topic of taxes and how he will lower them if he is elected. You find yourself being persuaded in the direction of emotions and morals. The power of language used to appeal others is not only present in the modern world, but also in the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, written by famous English playwright William Shakespeare. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar portrayed a story of how an aspiring leader, Julius Caesar, is assassinated by a group of schemers, lead by Marcus Brutus, who disagreed with Caesar’s decrees and ways of governing. Over the course of the text, it demonstrated the use of two rhetorical charms: ethos and pathos. While ethos refers to the moral and ethical appeal and pathos invokes to the emotional aspect, each one was evidently shown in the funeral speech for Caesar given by his best friend, Mark Antony. Prior to Antony’s speech, Brutus had given the plebeians a synopsis of what had occurred. However, Mark Antony knew that what Brutus had told the plebeians was false. In such manner, he allured the plebeians onto his side of the tragedy by touching upon ethical and emotional appeals.
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
In act III, scene ii, Antony proves to himself and the conspiracy, that he has the power to turn Rome against Brutus. He deceived the conspirators with his speech during Caesar’s funeral. In this speech, Antony pulls at the heartstrings of the countryman by showing emotions and turning them against their beloved leader, Brutus. The scene takes place the day of Caesar's death. Leading up to this point the people loved Brutus because, reasonably he explains of them about Caesar's death and told them it was necessary. In Antony's speech he showed signs of hatred towards Brutus and the conspirators. He thinks for himself and deceives the people, when he explains how Brutus lied to the people . The plot depends on Antony’s speech.
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.
However, Antony’s small amount of logos is just as strong, if not stronger than Brutus’s excessive amount. While in the first of calming the crowd, Brutus inquires, “Would you rather Caesar live and die all slaves, / than that Caesar were dead and die all free men?” (JC 3.2.23-24). This is a botched logic; he does not ever present actual evidence of this tyrannical behavior in Caesar or his actions. However, in the minds of the king-fearing Romans, the words, flimsy though they are, are enough. In disproving Brutus’s claims that Caesar was ambitious, Antony uses many examples to prove the opposite. The following brings the welfare of the people into it, showing that with Caesar alive they were given much: “He hath brought many captives home to Rome, / whose ransoms did the general coffers fill; / did this in Caesar seem ambitious?” (JC 3.2.89-91). Antony provides solid evidence and a sound argument to explain that Caesar’s seemingly ambitious actions were rather to help the people of Rome, which is not ambitious in the
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
Firstly, Antony says a general statement that, “the evil that men do lives after them” (III.ii.74), when in fact he is subtly and sneeringly referring to the conspirators actions. The Roman commoners don’t realize that this general statement is swaying them, but the rest of Antony’s speech further convinces them of the evil the conspirators have done. Later, Antony talks about Brutus says that “sure, [he] is an honourable man” (III.ii.98), emphasis on the sure. Because he uses a scornful tone while sarcastically saying this statement, he is really beginning to show the audience his true feelings on the situation. Knowing that even Antony bitterly disagrees with the choices of the conspirators, it further persuades the common people of Rome to turn against Brutus and the rest of Caesar’s murderers. These occasions show Antony’s sour tone, especially towards the conspirators, and Antony’s tone also riles up the Roman citizens. His tone helps to exasperate the commoners with Caesar’s murder, and therefore assists Antony in achieving his purpose to manipulate the audience to turn against
The rising opportunities in the United States during the antebellum period, the 1820s to 1850s, had attracted thousands of immigrants to come every year, especially Germans and the Irish. With many immigrants seeking labor to make a living, industry and factory work were able to flourish. The Industrial Revolution that was happening in the United States caused the inventions of an improved printing press and the telegraph. Industrialization was the foundation for what encouraged several groups like women and abolitionists to push for their respective social reforms which provided the means to communicate their ideas with the rest of the nation during the antebellum period.
Antony reminds the plebeians about the time when he, himself “presented [Caesar] a kingly crown, / Which [Caeasar] did thrice refuse” (III. ii. 97-98). Using logic and reasoning, Mark Antony explains to his crowd that the fallen Caesar couldn’t possibly have been ambitious if he had refused the ticket to become King multiple times. Immediately afterward, Antony made sure to remind the plebeians that Brutus is an honorable man. This use of logos with verbal irony proves to be extremely effective. Since Antony presented the crowd with a compelling fact supporting that Caesar was not ambitious, the phrase “Brutus is an honorable man,” would be even more effective in allowing his audience to realize that Brutus and the conspirators may not be honorable (III. ii. 83). According to Brutus, the conspirator's sole reason to kill Caesar was because they believed he was ambitious, Antony’s statement would then be incredibly useful to turn the crowd against Brutus and his people. The plebeians would start to realize that noble Brutus and his conspirators might not be honorable and could potentially have their own, personal reasons to assassinate Julius Caesar. Once the crowd realizes that Brutus and the conspirators could have murdered their leader for no valid reason, they would begin to feel anger which are the building steps to starting a rebellion just like how 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.
...d saddened by Caesar’s death, this is also hyperbole. Antony is exaggerating his current emotions. He doesn’t truly need a moment before he goes on. He simply wants the crowd to react to his speech so far. In saying his heart died with Caesar, the pathos generated moves the crowd and gives them an opportunity to respond to Antony.