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Analysis of the two speeches in juliud caesar
Mark antony's speech rhetorical devices
Ethos pathos and logos for brutus in julius ceasar
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Playwright, William Shakespeare, in the play Julius Caesar, utilizes many instances of rhetorical devices through the actions and speech of Caesar's right-hand man, Mark Antony. In the given excerpt, Antony demonstrates several of those rhetorical devices such as verbal irony, sarcasm, logos, ethos, and pathos which allows him to sway the plebeians. The central purpose of Mark Antony’s funeral speech is to persuade his audience into believing that Caesar had no ill intentions while manipulating the plebeians into starting a rebellion against their new enemies, Brutus and the conspirators.
To start off, for Mark Antony to fully manipulate the audience into supporting Caesar, he must first be able to connect with his audience. Antony does exactly
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this by beginning his speech with, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lent me your ears; / I come to bury Caesar, not praise him” (III. ii. 74-75). From this intro statement, Antony places himself on the same level as his audience and refers to them as all united “Romans.” Once he established common grounds with the plebeians, Antony exhibits the use of verbal irony as he informs everyone that his intentions at this funeral were not to praise Caesar. However, as his speech progresses, the reader can clearly see that Mark Antony was praising Caesar to change the minds of his audience. Further down in the excerpt, verbal irony is demonstrated again as Antony constantly reminds the plebeians that “Brutus is an honorable man” (III. ii. 83). He continuously repeats this phrase which as a result, shows sarcasm and allows the audience to fully question whether or not Brutus and his conspirators were honorable people. This constant questioning was one of the key factors that led to the plebeians turning against Brutus and the conspirators. Then, Mark Antony uses the persuasive method of logos as he gives his audience concrete facts about Caesar.
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
wanted. In the next part of the excerpt, Antony utilizes ethos to inform the crowd about the events that occurred during the murder. He recalls back to the time when Brutus, who was “Caesar’s angel,” stabbed Caesar (III. ii. 182). As a first-hand witness, Antony claims that Brutus’ final cut “was the most unkindest cut off all’ (III. ii. 184). Once he established credibility as a witness, Mark Antony then transitions from ethos into pathos. He fills the plebeians with rage and anger as he describes the “Ingratitude, more strong than traitors’ arms,” that Caesar had felt when he saw that even Brutus wanted him dead (III. ii. 186). By describing the pain and betrayal that Caesar had felt right before his death, the audience is then able to develop a strong sense or anger and revenge for their fallen leader. This built up anger from Antony’s funeral speech would ultimately lead to an uncontrollable rebellion against all the members of the conspiracy. Finally, the last section of the excerpt contains multiple instances of verbal irony used by Mark Antony to fully set the rebellion into motion. One of the ironic statements made by Antony was when he addressed his audience, asking them to “let me not stir you up / To a sudden flood of mutiny” (III. ii. 211-212). However, Antony wanted to start a rebellion amongst the plebeians since the start, and this statement only fuels the angry crowd seeking revenge for Caesar. This quote not only stirs up his audience, but it also allows Antony to seem peaceful and rational. He then reminds the plebeians again that Brutus and the conspirators “are wise and honorable” (III, ii. 215). This final statement about the conspirators being honorable is extremely sarcastic and acts as a reminder of how Brutus and the rest of the murderers were able to trick all the plebeians into justifying the murder of their beloved Caesar. As a result, the crowd would do the exact opposite of what Mark Antony asked for, which started a sudden flood of mutiny. In conclusion, Mark Antony was able to successfully utilize verbal irony, sarcasm, logos, ethos, and pathos to change the crowd's opinions on Caesar while starting a rebellion against all the people involved in Caesar’s murder. Antony usage of verbal irony and sarcasm throughout this excerpt allowed the audience to question Brutus and the conspirators’ sincerity. Furthermore, the application of logos made it possible for Antony to show how Caesar wasn’t ambitious while ethos and pathos allowed the plebeians to feel anger towards the conspirators. All these different rhetorical strategies allowed Antony to prove that Caesar was good willed while starting a mass rebellion against the ones who killed Caesar.
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.
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
Mark Antony’s speech, whose aim is to counter Brutus’ speech, enlightens the crowd on the unjust murder of Caesar. Though he never directly communicates to the crowd of his feeling towards the conspirators, Antony was able to effectively convey to the crowd, through the use of verbal irony and other stylistic devices/techniques in his speech, his true views of the assassination. Moreover, Antony was able to shrewdly emphasize his belief of the undeserved assassination of Caesar through the wide use of epiphoral and anaphoral structure in his speech. Antony emphasizes the wrongdoings of Brutus and Cassius through the ingenious use of the epistrophe along with verbal irony as he notes that “I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong” (III, ii, 125). Moreover, he stresses the importance of punishi...
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
In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Mark Antony—a loyal friend to Julius Caesar, the former emperor of Rome—gives a speech to the Roman commoners in order to persuade them to turn against Brutus, for Brutus and the conspirators had slain Caesar. Antony’s uses rough and sharp diction, a scornful tone, and honest anecdotes in order to achieve his purpose of manipulating the common people to take his side.
In the play Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, Brutus and Antony both display their sides of Caesar in hopes of getting the Plebeians to support them. Mark Antony, a friend of Caesars, effectively persuades the crowd that the conspirators are traitors rather than heroes while technically keeping his promise to avoid saying anything negative about them. Antony convinced the mob that Caesar cared for the common people by manipulating the definition of the words “honorable” and “ambitious,” and using props, thereby delivering the more effective speech in the end.
Brutus is classified as the tragic hero of “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare because he is blinded by single-minded focus on personal ethics that combined with a tragic flaw dooms him to make a serious error in judgment; however, he himself maintains his morals and his spirit lives on.
Antony exceeds Brutus in the matter of performance because he spells out his evidence without using words. His use of these nonverbal tools helps him draw the attention of the fickle audience. After Brutus finishes his plain and dull speech, Antony takes the stand with a bored and fickle audience not only by using clever speech tactics, but by keeping their fading attention by using nonverbal tactics. The use of these so-called props keep them listening as he explains himself. For example, right when the audience is about to leave in fury, he brings them back saying, “You have forgot the will I told you of” (3.2 252). This fickle audience is drawn back to Antony to listen for their share and this makes them even more upset. This explains that
Throughout his speech, Antony repeats the words “[Caesar] was ambitious” and “Brutus is an honorable man” to create a contrast between the two statements. (3.2.95-96). Through this repetition, Caesar successfully undermines Brutus. Everytime he calls Brutus an honorable man, he lists a positive trait of Caesar that contradicts Brutus’s claim that he was too ambitious. He tells the crowd about the times when Caesar showed compassion for the people and when he refused the crown thrice. Antony’s sarcasm about Brutus’s honor brings into question as to whether his honor deserved. This leads the audience to doubt their feelings upon Caesar’s ambition. Near the end of his eulogy, Antony uses apostrophe when he claims that “judgment ... art fled to brutish beasts” as a reason for why the Roman people believe Brutus. (3.2.114-115). Antony indirectly shames the crowd for their belief in Brutus in that Caesar was a tyrant. Fearing alienation of the crowd, he attributes this belief to a lapse in judgement that beasts have taken. Antony also makes a pun upon Brutus’s name when he comments “brutish beasts.” Antony implies Brutus has caused a lapse in judgement within the Roman people through his oration
The Shakespearean play Julius Caesar, tells the behind the scenes story of the conspirators plan to kill the influential ruler, Caesar. In the play Caesar makes a speech referring to himself and describes his method of ruling Rome while comparing himself to the North Star. Prior to the speech the conspirators have come to the Senate to convince Caesar to forgive and restore Cimber after his banishment. But Caesar responds with this speech about him being persistent about his decisions. The speech that Caesar makes about himself can be considered an Epideictic or a Forensic speech, for the reason that he commends himself while creating an opinion of his past actions. This excerpt from the play leads up to the devious conspirators plan unfolding and the upsetting death of Caesar. Rhetoric is used throughout the speech in order to manipulate and convey how invincible Caesar is as well as express the overall theme of the play, be means of delivery, disposition, and style.
...ns. This made Antony's speech more effective in the fact that he used detailed reasoning for why Caesar was not ambitious. This was why the people came to his favor in the end. The tones and rhetorical devices they used helped to capture their audience by appealing to their emotions and helping to move the views of Antony and Brutus's views across to their listeners. Comparing effectiveness and ineffectiveness of both speeches was important in determining which way the people would be swayed.
Antony’s goal was to persuade the crowd of plebeians that the conspirators acted impetuously and Caesar did not need to be killed. He uses many rhetorical devices to strengthen his speech and gain the support of the crowd. From rhetorical questions to the use of pathos, Antony masters the art of persuasion. His speech moves the crowd from believing Brutus’ reasoning for killing Caesar, to understanding that Caesar did not have to die.
... 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.
Antony, though he kept to his bargain, brought the audience to his side in a variety of ways. He used all three methods of persuasion to his advantage. He claimed the killers of Caesar to be honorable and noble, and in the very act of doing so turned Brutus' followers against him. This shows the true ability of Marcus Antonius, and that he is a far greater threat than the conspirators recognized. This power of words is well known, and Aristotle's three methods of persuasion live on in modern speechwriters. Ethos, logos, and pathos are just as effective in our time as in that of Shakespeare, the Roman Empire, and wherever there are people to speak and people to listen. Thus even today, this speech of Shakespeare through Antony shows the sheer impact that mere words can have.
Over time, speakers have developed different ways of manipulating their speech in a way which can persuade the reader or audience to side with their specific claim. This can be accomplished in many ways, commonly with the use of rhetoric. Within three speeches given by Antony and Brutus, fictional characters from Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, as well as Winston Churchill, the British prime minister during World War II, all of the speakers use ethos, logos, and pathos, forms of rhetoric, to persuade the audiences they are speaking to. Marc Antony made nearly exclusive use of the persuasive method of pathos, trying to cause a change to people’s emotions, but he also used the method of ethos, making people think that his way was correct