The process of swaying a majority can and will be highly facilitated by taking advantage of the ideals of those to which you are speaking. Applying appeals through the use of rhetoric is inevitably prominent in most, if not all speeches that look to persuade, with Mark Antony’s speech to the Plebeians from shakespeare's famous play, “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”, being no exception. As Antony plans to discredit and punish the conspirators for wrongfully slaughtering Caesar (The ruler of Rome earlier accused of possible corruption and latent tyrannical intentions), emotional and logical appeals to the crowds psyche are put into play. This was in the hopes of conjuring an effective opposing ideology to Marcus Brutus’ speech given prior, and …show more content…
ii. 89-92). Not only is Caesar being augmented for his empathy of the people, but all the while is Brutus’ idiosyncratic reputation being pilfered from the credit needed to make his explanation of the murder conclusive to the plebeians. This shot fired from Antony serves the two purposes of re-crediting Caesar after he was slandered by Brutus just moments before, and allowing the Plebeians to have initial recognition of the idea that Brutus’ honorability may be questionable. In attempt to drive the thoughts of the plebs even moreso down this path, Antony puts into question the reasoning behind the conspirators actions: “They that have done this deed are honorable. What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, that made them do it” (III. ii. 208-210). This statement’s purpose is to provoke the logical thinking process of the plebeians, and make it easy for them to deduce that Brutus’ claims about killing Caesar for the good of the general public could very well harbor complete and total false dichotomy in nature, and only be intended to save face and hide the true, more sinister intentions of the killing. The thought provocation Antony summons upon the people lays the foundation to ease further persuasion with rhetoric used in later parts of the
In William Shakespeare's, Julius Caesar, rhetorical devices are used throughout Decius Brutus’s speech to Caesar to persuade him to attend the senate, and ultimately meet his demise. Decius Brutus uses repetition to directly play into Caesar’s ego and convince him to show at an event he was previously very unsure of. Decius first uses repetition to make Caesar feel as if he were an irreplaceable addition to the senate. He addresses Caesar as, “most mighty Caesar…” (2.2.74) multiple times throughout his oration. The repetition of “mighty” draws Caesar’s attention away from the fact that he really must not go to the senate and instead focuses on why he must. Caesar is known to be easily persuaded by the promise of attention or rewards. Decius
Rhetorical devices have been around for many centuries, and they are used to convince and persuade people to believe in their cause. These strategies exploit individuals by influencing them to feel sympathy or trust the speaker. In Julius Caesar, a historic tragedy written by the prominent Shakespeare, Antony’s brilliant rhetorical strategies are used to trump Brutus and prompt the Roman people to unite with his rebellion against the unjust butcher of the beloved Julius Caesar.
“Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” (3.2.24) This quote reflects the motive of Brutus for the assassination of his friend, Caesar. I believe Brutus killed him not out of disrespect, but in a selfless act to protect Rome from the decree of Caesar yet to come. I also believe that he did this out of force from the manipulation from his “friend” Cassius. In Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar”, Brutus’ two most significant characteristics are virtue and unconscious hypocrisy. In order to fully understand these characteristics, it is necessary to analyze all other contributing characteristics, the manipulation of friendship that Cassius uses against him, and the motivations for
Rhetorical devices can be seen being used in history, such as William Shakespeare’s dramatic play “Julius Caesar”. In Shakespeare’s play Brutus and Antony conspire to lead a group to assassinate Caesar. Rome is in a panic as they find out that their first emperor Octavian who went by the name Julius Caesar has been stabbed to death. Brutus and Antony in an effort to achieve Rome’s support use rhetorical devices to try to receive support for their actions. You can see how they use ethos, pathos, and logos to eventually achieve their goal of persuading the citizens of Rome.
Antony also played on the people’s greed, to influence them to his side. “I found it in his closet; ‘tis his will/and they would go kiss Caesar’s dead wounds…” (III, ii, 129, 132-133). Antony is very smart in the way he does this. He knows how to talk to the people to get them to believe his side of the story and revenge Caesar’s death. Likewise, Antony is conniving. He uses this strength by flattering Brutus, and falsely befriending the conspirators into letting him speak at Caesar’s funeral. “I doubt not of your wisdom. Let each man render me his bloody hand.” (III, i, 200-201). Antony presents his case in such a way that Brutus and the other conspirators think that he is on their side, when in fact he really is going to turn the common people against them to revenge Caesar’s death by creating a war. Furthermore, Brutus is an honorable man giving him the chance to be a great leader. Brutus is an idealist man, who is optimistic about assassinating Caesar. “Grant that, and then is death a benefit. So are we Caesar’s f...
Despite many seemingly unmistakable forewarnings of impending disaster, the inconceivable arrogance, displayed by key conspirators, Julius Caesar, and his supporters, hindered their ability to perceive and respond to those signs in Julius Caesar. Brutus’s arrogance, aided by Cassius’s equally prevalent arrogance, caused them to make the murder of Julius Caesar an acceptable idea. It took only a few weeks for Brutus to be completely convinced that there was nothing wrong with the murder of an innocent man. “Let’s be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius” (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar II, i, 166) This quote is Brutus explaining to Cassius that killing Caesar is fine, but killing Antony would be too much; that, if they were to kill anyone other than Caesar, they would become murders in the public eye.
In his play Julius Caesar, Shakespeare employs various rhetorical strategies such as direct address, repetition, and apostrophe in Antony’s eulogy to convince the crowd into believing that Caesar was a good ruler. His excellent use of rhetoric begins before he starts his speech through the establishment of familiarity. Before Antony begins his speech, he refers to the crowd as “friends, romans, [and] countrymen” to establish a personal connection, indicating the use of direct address (3.2.82). By referring to the crowd as “friends,” Antony removes any separation between him and the audience, establishing a close bond by choice. As it came first on his list, it emphasizes the importance of his friendship with the audience as friendship implies
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
After the assassination of Julius Caesar in the play Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, the people of Rome were left wondering why the conspirators killed Caesar. During the funeral, Brutus and Marc Antony were given chances to speak to the people. Brutus represented the conspirators and tried to justify the murder of Caesar, claiming that if Caesar was kept alive, the republic would be ruled by a tyrannical leader that would assume total control over the entire nation. On the other hand, Antony questioned the actions of conspirators and wanted the people to realize the consequences of the conspirators actions. Marc Antony makes the stronger argument because he uses questions, irony, and ethos to prove that the conspirators were wrong to kill Caesar.
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Marc Antony stands out as the most persuasive character in the play. During Antony’s speech at Caesar's funeral, he draws the crowd's attention with his use of different rhetorical questions. Antony can change the crowd's opinion on the conspirators and he persuades them to realize their wrongdoings. This makes Marc Antony the most persuasive character by using Logos to prove Caesar is not ambitious and by using repetition and verbal irony while saying Brutus is an honorable man. Marc Antony employs logos to argue that Caesar's intentions were not influenced by ambition, but rather a desire to benefit Rome.
In William Shakespeare’s historical tragedy, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony delivers a powerful speech shortly after Caesar’s death. In his stirring eulogy for the fallen leader, Antony uses powerful rhetorical devices such as ethos, logos and pathos to gain public sympathy for Caesar and to incite uprising against the conspirators. First, he builds credibility for himself by claiming that Brutus and Cassius are “honourable men” and he would “not do them wrong,” by stirring the crowd’s “hearts and minds to mutiny and rage.” This is his attempt to appeal to ethos and garner goodwill, making him morally and ethically likeable in the eyes and hearts of the public.
After the murderous confrontation, it was not too late to prevent the anger of Caesar’s allies and the citizens or, even, to avoid future civil war. But it was here that Brutus made his second and third mistakes. Marcus Brutus rose before the Roman populace and attempted to offer a justification of Caesar’s murder. His flawed judgment came when he deemed Antony trustworthy and allowed him to speak at Caesar’s funeral. Brutus naively let Antony draw the mob in his favor. No one could dare refute Antony’s impassioned pleas in behalf of Caesar.
Caesar’s death is explained as a necessary deed to the people. He tells the people, “But, as he was ambitious, I slew him.” (III: ii:25-6) This coerces the citizens to side with Brutus because they wish to remain a republic. Antony seizes the opportunity to prove that Caesar was not an ambitious man.
The success of an effectively motivating public speech is no doubt the most undeniable way to persuade a mass of people. A person’s confidence, persona, and suave can carry a nation. The speeches of Brutus, Antony, and King all had some form of effectiveness, no matter how long or short. The power of public speaking is a manipulative tool that can be used for good or bad, but if the motivation is pure, anything is possible.
... 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.