Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis

The art of persuasion is a hard talent to learn, and even harder to perform successfully. Convincing others to believe one’s argument is a key skill in life, and has been for centuries. In “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,” persuasion is used by most of the characters throughout the story for a variety of reasons, but one figure in the play gives multiple speeches with the same purpose. Decius Brutus sneakily and sharply uses rhetorical devices in all of his speeches to sway himself and his audience to believe that his rash decisions and actions regarding Caesar were justified.
Before Brutus can convince anyone else that his actions were logical, he must first convince himself. In one of Brutus’s soliloquies, he tries to reassure himself that

killing his dear friend Caesar is the right thing to do for Rome. Brutus does so by using ethos and stating, “I know no personal cause to spurn at him, But for the general” (Shakespeare 2.1.11-12). While saying this, Brutus is reminding himself that he did not murder Caesar for self-benefit, but for the good of the Roman people. Brutus knows that if he killed Caesar for a personal reason, he’d be much less than the respectable man both himself and Cassius take him for. Even though Caesar was supposedly Brutus’s best friend, Brutus still questioned and judged Caesar’s intentions when he says, “...How that might change his nature, there’s the question...Crown him that, And then I grant we put a sting in him That at his will he may do danger with” (Shakespeare 2.1.13, 15-17).

Brutus believes that crowning Caesar will only give him freedom to do significant damage to Rome

and its citizens, and by repeating this in his head, he is destroying Caesar’s credibility in it too. Not only does Brutus use ethos in this speech, but metaphors as well when he says,“It is the bright day that brings forth the adder…” (Shakespeare 2.1.14). Once again, Brutus takes a stab at Caesar’s integrity by stating that enthroning him will only bring out a snake in him. Brutus’s self-reassurance worked because he assumed their country will crash and burn if Caesar is put into power and found reasons to do so by establishing his own credibility and breaking down Caesar’s.
After successfully convincing himself that Caesar needed to be rid of, Brutus’s next task was to convince the people of Rome.

There is no doubt that Brutus thinks very highly of himself, and wants others to think so too. At Caesar’s funeral, he begins by asking the audience to “...believe me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour that you may believe…” (Shakespeare 3.1.14-16). This example of ethos was meant to remind the people that despite what he’s done, Brutus truly is an honorable man. He purposefully started with establishing his reliability to reassure the audience that he has their best interest at heart. Later on, Brutus tries to appeal to the plebians’ emotions by asking them, “Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” (Shakespeare 3.2.23-25). Brutus knew the answer to that question already, but he wanted to make sure the listeners knew the answer as well. Also, by asking this question alone, the plebeians automatically feel betrayed and taken advantage of by Caesar, and no longer want to mourn for him. Similarly, Brutus makes the audience feel angry and slightly pressured when he interrogates them by saying “Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply” (Shakespeare 3.2.33-35). Not a single person attending the funeral accepted this dare to speak out against Brutus. Someone listening to this might feel trapped and that their

decision about how they feel was made for them. After all, no Roman wants to be the one to publicly admit to hating his/her country. Lastly, Brutus goes on to say he would kill himself, “when it shall please my country to need my death” (Shakespeare 3.2.42-44). Here, a mix of pathos and ethos is used as one last attempt to gain the audience’s trust. Brutus proves himself as an honorable person by promising to rid himself if he ever turned out to be poison for his country, which makes the plebeians trust his character a bit more. At the same time, some heart strings were most likely tugged at the mentioning of Brutus’s voluntary suicide. Members at the service had no choice but to be grateful to have such a brave person looking out for Rome and all of its citizens. Brutus’s monologue to the funeral attendees definitely included more pathos than the conversation Brutus was having with himself earlier in the story.