Words have a way of making people feel different emotions. The way words are said have such a huge affect on society. During the civil rights era speeches made all the difference and could make or break how people would react to the cause you brought up. Still today public speaking is used in many ways from elections to marketing. Mark Antony and Brutus are able to make speeches using ethos, pathos, and logos to convince Rome for their reason of action and how they are experiencing grief and anger over the loss of a friend. In William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar he displays how convincing people can be in order to get that they want and change an audience’s emotion. Mark Antony and Brutus although both talk about Caesar’s …show more content…
death approach the audience and speech in different ways. Starting off Brutus is already demanding people to listen to him which sets the mood for his speech as commanding. “Believe me/for my honor and have respect to my honor”(Shakespeare,3.2.16-17) Brutus reminds the people how noble and cherished he is within the community, but does it in such a way where he is demanding the people to have respect towards him and his honor. However Mark Antony addresses the audience as “Friends, Romans, Countrymen”(3.2.75) this draws the people in and make them feel more connected to his speech. During Brutus’ speech he starts listing reasons why he killed Caesar “but as he was ambitious, I slew him.”(3.2.28-29), shows why he killed Caesar and thought he was helping the Romans. Antony decides to touch on how Brutus addressed that Caesar was ambitious “But Brutus said he was ambitious; and Brutus is an honorable man”(3.2.88-89), him saying this catches the audience to realize Brutus really is not noble and talking down on Caesar rather than saying that he had done good. In the article “Julius Caesar” Anne states “Shakespeare is pointing up the contrast between Brutus' idealized conception of Caesar as a "hero" and the real Caesar, reminding us that it is this discrepancy which is responsible for Brutus' tragic fall.”(Paolucci) this supports the fact that Brutus disagrees with Caesar’s way of ruling and really felt like he was going to ruin Rome. Both speakers use pathos to draw in the crowd and make them sympathize either for the loss or why he felt he needed to kill Caesar. Brutus says “--Not that I love Caesar less, but I loved Rome more”(Shakespeare, 3.2.22-23) here the crowd gets drawn in because they realize Brutus cares about Rome and is a noble man. Mark Antony though says “Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral/ He was my friend faithful and just to me”(3.2.86-87) he supports the fact of how loyal Caesar was to him and only treated him with respect and kindness. While saying this it makes the people sympathize for the loss and realize what a mistake Brutus and the conspirators made. Speakers use different ways to get the main point across in their speeches. Mark Antony focuses on the pathos side of it, while Brutus goes for a more ethos approach to get approval from the Romans. “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept”(3.2.93) Mark Antony says this and it shows sympathy to the poor and once again he brings in Caesar to show he was a good man and did not deserve to be killed. Brutus although uses ethos which becomes a lot less effective in the long run for his speech “Who is here so base that would be a/bondman”(3.2.30-31) provides his eulogy with a rhetorical question for the audience. This question however backfires on him and makes him seem like he is talking down on Caesar and providing the city with false information on how he would rule. Another thing Brutus does is speak in prose the whole entire time instead of regular pentameter. This can be determined that he knows what he did was wrong and is so shaken up about it, causing him to not even be able to speak in regular poetic form. Mark Antony although does speak in regular pentameter which makes him sound more official and shows power over the Romans which they do not mind since they admire him so much. “That lowliness is a young ambitious ladder”(3.2.13) Brutus says this as more of a metaphor like Caesar was working his way up the social ladder about to become king, but on the inside he was low and selfish only in it for the title and not anyone else. “He is afraid that Caesar will become cruel, merciless, disjoining "remorse from power".”(Anne Paolucci). Paolucci states as well that Brutus is afraid of Caesar becoming cruel to back up a reason for why they killed him, making them look better to the people. Brutus also could just be making up excuses to convince himself that what he did was right. Antony also touches on this in his speech when he says “I thrice presented him a kingly crown,/ Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?”(Shakespeare, 3.2.98-99), here he makes the people think about what Brutus said and contradicts the fact that he only wanted to be king and nothing more, that he was only in it for the title and the name. According to Agnes Heller “Could it really have been political freedom that led this poet to sympathize with Brutus--”(Heller) shows the fact of how Brutus was the main contributor to this play and it really revolved around his actions and motives. People speak to get a reaction.
Depending on the cause and how they speak is how an audience will react. The ending can make or break how it went, you always want to leave the crowd with your main point or something to get across to them. Brutus mentions Antony “Do grace Caesar’s corpse and grace his speech”(3.2.62-63), this leaves people in anticipation of Mark Antony’s speech and to give him respect and time. Agnes Heller says “Brutus is not a man without passions...such as friendship, courage, magnanimity, temperance, and justice.”(Heller) this can show that Brutus does not know any better than to tell the people about Mark Antony and support him because he is too kind hearted to purposely not give Antony a chance to speak. Mark Antony however ends his speech with pathos and emotion, “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar”(3.2.108) which makes the crowd sympathize for him. Also Antony makes sure to include a dramatic pause for his speech to sink in and for effect, this causes the people to go out into a riot. Antony got the reaction he was looking for by angering the Romans, seeing that Caesar is dead without good cause. In the article “The Tragic Hero of Julius Caesar” Paolucci says that “Marc Antony will be the key figure in the determination of the fate of Rome and of the conspirators/liberators.”(Paolucci). In the play Antony does become a key factor in their fate, this speech is part of it because he quickly turns the Roman citizens against them. The kind of reputation that you have in a community can also have a huge part in making people listen to you. Brutus was known as the nobleman throughout Rome that people would often listen to and trust. Mark Antony was known as Caesar’s loyal friend but also did not have to bad of a reputation in Rome, maybe not as good as Brutus but it was not bad. “Here comes his body mourned by Antony”(Shakespeare, 3.2.42) shows empathy to Mark Antony and makes the audience start focusing on Antony instead of himself and
does not even notice because he is just trying to help rather than device a plan to make Antony unsuccessful. Antony however says “I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke/ But to speak what I know”(3.2.102-103), makes Brutus then look like he was lying to the people because he did not know Caesar like Antony did. This is when it starts kicking into people Brutus is not noble or honorable, and Antony sees that his speech is getting through to the people so from here to the end he adds emphasis and jokes on Brutus. He never directly says Brutus’ name but from the “brutish beasts”(3.2.106), it comes to the conclusion he was talking about him and the conspirators that also killed Caesar. Overall it is seen that Mark Antony’s speech was more effective due to the fact of the use of pathos, his background with Caesar, and how he convinced the people Brutus was un-noble in his actions.Brutus however just set himself up for disaster by not being the last one to speak, speaking in prose rather than regular pentameter, and being very commanding rather than civil with the Romans. Although Brutus explained his reasoning for killing Caesar, Mark Antony came in and ruined everything he had to say for himself.
Since the beginning of mankind, humans always use their skills of persuasion in order to prove a point to an audience. John F. Kennedy and William Shakespeare, though it is a 362 year difference, wrote and announced work displaying persuasion values. John F. Kennedy, in his Inauguration Speech, and Antony, a character in the William Shakespeare play Julius Caesar, uses the tools of language and persuasion in order to deliver the audience their intended reasoning. In both of the speeches, some of the tools that make these speeches effective is the tone, the rhetorical devices, and persuasive appeals.
(877) in order to make the crowd feel complete and utter guilt for their betrayal and anger towards the conspirators who killed their beloved idol. Brutus and Antony’s use of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos throughout the novel are just examples of the everyday persuasion used around us daily, when reading the play it does look like one giant competition to see who is the most persuasive and influential character. Even in today’s economy, companies have to compete for the attention of consumers’ worldwide and politicians who argue their beliefs and views to millions of voters in order to get what they want, because the art of persuasion is just one big game. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The.
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
Brutus vs Antony 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 characters, 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. Both speakers used an ethical appeal to the crowd and established their credibility.
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
When thinking of famous oration, one speech in literature is a classic example that contains persuasive techniques. The speech given by Marc Antony to mourn Caesar in Shakespeare’s work Julius Caesar has been referenced for ages as an example of a convincing argument. Everyone recalls the opening line, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears,” and all know what follows the speech – war leading to the establishment of the final triumvirate (Shakespeare 3.2.82). However, in praising Antony’s words, audiences tend to forget the other convincing orations that make appearances in Julius Caesar. Aristotle first described these in his discourse on types of rhetoric in Ancient Greece. They are pathos, logos, and ethos and all are found in the
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.
& 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 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
The influential power behind words is often forgotten or misused, but when put together in a harmonious way; one’s words have the power to change the world. Anywhere from ancient Roman times to modern day America, public speaking has been an art form many have mastered and used for persuasive purposes. The most successful and effective of speeches often times have clear indications of the speaker’s motivation, approach, and purpose. These themes are very blatantly portrayed in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, as well as the famous speech of the great Martin Luther King Jr.
... been a totally different story. Cassius tries to turn brutus against Caesar and does turn out to be successful. Later, Brutus and Antony speak at Caesar’s funeral. Brutus appeals to logic and the crowd is initially on his side. Antony appeals more to emotion, and the crowd consents with him much more than Brutus. This leads to havoc and a mutiny against the conspirators. It is conspicuous that Antony is the most convincing character in the play because of his use of appealing to the mental state of others. He is also humble, yet deceptive. To conclude, persuasion and rhetoric are essential factors in the death of Julius Caesar and the events that trail the tragedy.
Actions at some moments in Julius Caesar speak louder than words. A prime example is when Cassius wants the men to make a pact to follow through with the murder, but Brutus speaks up and says that the pact is unnecessary. Brutus feels as though every man is a true Roman and each man is as trustworthy and noble as he. As for Antony's speech, this is a whole different story. The words Antony spoke to the public helped motivate the people to go against the conspirators. Thought the action of killing Caesar was a publicized one, Antony's speech was far from being unnoticed.