Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Julius Caesar is a play of tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It takes place in 450 B.C. in Rome, Italy. The play doesn’t begin until after Caesar defeated his ex-friend, Pompey, and returned to Rome. At his return, Caesar is offered the crown of Rome three times by his loyal friend, Marc Antony, but denies it each time. A group of people who were jealous of Caesarś success, the conspirators, wanted him dead. After building their side, the conspirators stopped Caesar from going to the capitol in Act III and stabbed him leaving thirty-three wounds in his body. At Caesar’s funeral Brutus, an ex-friend, and Marc Antony gave speeches that indubitably affected the people of Rome. Who gave the better speech using rhetorical strategies to

persuade the audience and also foreshadowed a change in attitude for the rest of the play?
Brutus is the type of person to be easily manipulated. In Act, I Scene 3, Cassius, the leader of the conspirators, tells Cinna to place three letters in Brutus’ house where he will find them. When the servant finds the letters in Act II Scene 1, Brutus reads and believes the lies Cassius told about Caesar. Brutus was manipulated because of his thought about honor. He believes honor is important, so when he reads the letter he thinks it’s because of his honor that Cassius came to him and asked him of such a deed. Antony, on the other hand, is passionate about what he believes in. However, that passion can lead to being impish. In Act IV after the funeral was over, Antony teamed up with Octavius and Lepidus to take names out of Caesar’s will, and also kill all conspirators. Their personalities had a big effect on the way they presented their funeral speeches.
The funeral in Act III was a big part of the tragedy.

This is where everything falls apart. Brutus used a lot of rhetorical strategies in his speech. He uses ethos to give himself credibility on being honorable and “saving Rome” from the rule of Julius Caesar. He says, “Not that I love Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” Appealing to emotion is what got the audience to see that Brutus wouldn’t lie and that he meant well for what he did. Brutus offers himself as a sacrifice to Rome if him killing Caesar offended and hurt them so much. Questioning and reasoning were also used in his speech. He asks the audience who has he offended and who would not kill for his country for the good of all. Antony’s speech was different in the way his words flowed together. The use of pathos and logos were a huge part of his speech. Fear tactics were used to reverse what Brutus said and say it effortlessly to get the people of Rome to see the truth. Words like honor and Caesar’s name were used throughout the speech. The word honor is used to show to that if you are honorable and true, why did you kill somebody. Caesar’s name held weight in Act III, so his name alone got the people of Rome to see the Caesar is indeed the victim, not Rome itself. Name calling was also used. With Antony calling the names of the conspirators that killed Caesar and showing where their sword went makes everyone see that Brutus tried covering for everyone and was willing to take the blame and his life, but this

made him a liar. This is the point where Shakespeare changes his feelings about Brutus. Shakespeare saw Brutus as someone that can be trusted and loyal, but in the end, he turned out to be so self-honored that he doesn’t realize when to say no to a challenge against his better judgment. Antony also states that he is blunt and not honorable like Brutus. He says this as a way of making it clear that he is going to tell the truth no matter what. Lastly, he asks the crowd, “But were I Brutus, and Brutus Antony, there were an Antony would ruffle up your spirits and put a tongue in every wound of Caesar that should move the stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.” He is saying if the names were switched, would they believe him any less and rise mutiny against Rome. The way of thinking presented in their speeches and the words they said, proclaimed a major change that was about to happen.
Over the course of the play from Act III to Act V, Brutus didn’t change as much.

In Scene 1 of Act III Brutus thinks that Marc Antony would be on their side in a way that Cassius had convinced Brutus to be on their side. After the talk with Antony about the death of Caesar in Scene 1, he confronts the people of Rome and tells them Caesar died for his ambition as Cassius told him in the letters from Act II. The speech Brutus gave reflected a change that Cassius gave him, not a change that he did himself. Act IV and V was a major downfall in Brutus’ life, literally. In Act IV Brutus tell Cassius about the death of his wife Portia who committed suicide with fire. This is where Brutus realizes that his whole life is in this battle he is about to have with Antony and Octavius. After debating with Cassius who has had more military experience than Brutus in Act IV, they march their troops on to fight Antony. In Act V scene 3, the death of Cassius hit Brutus bad. He blames the ghost of Caesar that visited him In Act IV Scene 3 the night before they head to Philippi. Encouraging the troops to keep fight was all that Brutus could do at the moment. His life was gone, his whole life was dead and he had nothing to live for at the moment. Committing suicide was the only option in his mind. In Act V Scene 5 was when Brutus committed suicide and took his last breath. Antony, however, changed dramatically throughout the play. In Act III Scene 1 Antony promises Brutus not to blame anyone for

the death of Caesar, but in his speech in Scene 2 he calls all the names of the conspirators that stabbed him. This change in attitude that Antony committed showed that he is not what he seems to be. At the beginning of Act IV, Antony agrees along with Octavius and Lepidus that all conspirators shall die. From the beginning of the play until now, Antony has changed from a caring and genuine person to a true savage. In Act V Scene 3, the soldiers of Antony’s army declared they have captured Brutus. It turns out that it was not Brutus but someone valuable to the war, but finding Brutus dead of alive was all Antony could focus on. In Scene 5 after the death of Brutus, Antony admires his dead body and calls him the noblest man of them all. Antony went from hating Brutus because he killed Caesar to admiring him and what he did out of honesty and not of greed and envy of Caesar’s success. Brutus changed his attitude in the way he accepts manipulation from people and from being happy and honest to being sad and dead. Antony changed from honest and caring to a savage and impish. The way that Brutus and Antony think and the way they foreshadowed a change in their speeches made them better, but who gave the better speech?
With all that has been said, Antony gave the better speech. His use of ethos, pathos, and logos got the crowd to agree with what he said and oppose the previous feelings of Brutus’ speech. Antony’s speech really foreshadowed the change he went through in Acts III, IV, and V. Brutus didn’t undergo much change until Act V Scene 5 and the rhetorical strategies he used didn’t compare to Antony’s. This speech captivated the attention of the plebeians and they acted accordingly. Brutus’ farewell to Caesar was good but Antony’s was better.