Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis

Shakespeare is no where close to modern text but, he does know how to achieve a certain purpose in writing which is used today. The play, Julius Caesar, has two very important speeches that are uttered by the characters Mark Antony and Brutus while at Caesar’s funeral. Brutus’ speech, which shows what should be his sorrow for Caesar’s death that he allowed, uses the rhetorical appeal pathos in order to get his point across. This appeal provides emotion to persuade the audience into believing the speaker. In this case, Brutus is making an effort to get the people of Rome to believe that Caesar had to die. That’s why throughout the speech, he continues to state how he is mourning the loss of his friend. There are also rhetorical strategies

the help support pathos in Brutus’ speech. Rhetorical strategies along with the rhetorical appeal is what helps convince an audience to listen to the speaker and reflect on the statement that are given. These rhetorical devices help persuade and grabs the attention of spectators to believe in what the speaker has to say.
In the beginning of Brutus’s speech he repeats the words me and mine For example, “[ Romans, countrymen, and lovers!

hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that you may believe: and censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may the better judge.]” This repetition is used to get the audience to listen to what Brutus has to say about Caesar’s death. The type of rhetorical strategy is parallelism which is used to get the audience's attention. There is another example of this in Brutus’s speech when he says, “[Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended.]” Parallelism is used here in his speech to build up what he is trying to say and allows his audience to think about the statements that he continues to say. Since he keeps saying the same statement, it is going to stick into the peoples heads and make them think that it is an important statement since he said it so many times. This supports Brutus’s argument very

well.
When persuading people, antithesis is very effective to the audience.

Antithesis is when you take two contrasting ideas to emphasize the differences between the two. One example is, “[--Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.]” In this quote Brutus is using two words that are different from each other. For this case it is less and more. Another example of antithesis is when Brutus states “[If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s, to him I say, that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less than his.]” Brutus is speaking about himself in the third person which makes it have the emotional connection. The quote is implying that Brutus loved Caesar as much as Caesar loved him. Why this quote is an example of antithesis is because Brutus uses both love and less than making it more impactful on the crowd giving the audience

imagery.
For Brutus to get his point across he uses rhetorical questions. This rhetorical strategy is when an individual states a question that does not need an answer or does not have an answer but, is simpilly used to make a distinct point and to persuade the audience. There are two instances when Brutus uses this strategy to the crowd of Rome. One is when he states, “[Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?]” Brutus indicated this not for an answer but, for the crowd of Rome to think about this thoroughly and reflect on his statement.
With the help of these appeals, it makes it easier to grab the attention of spectators and to persuade listeners. Just like in Brutus’ speech at Caesar's’ funeral. One is parallelism does a good job with getting the audience to listen to the speaker. When something is repeated multiple times, it will eventually get into the listeners heads. When comparing two contrasting words, it makes the difference between them more significant. The strategy, antithesis, provides emotion and logic in order for the viewers to believe the individual. Along with rhetorical questions which allow the spectators to take in the information and processes it for them to believe in the point that the speaker made. Those strategies have helped improve the chances of a speaker to be more believable to the audience. Without these strategies, it would be incredibly difficult for a specific amount of people to stand by a statement.