The paranoia of the ideology that power completely corrupts has existed throughout centuries. This obsession can cause people to act in an irrational way or out of reasonings. So was the case with the senators in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. William Shakespeare centered his play around the Roman leader, Julius Caesar. Out of fear of his future political activities and his overconfident personality, the senators of Rome, including Caesar's best friend Brutus, created a conspiracy to assassinate him to stop him from obtaining absolute power over the Roman Empire.
Antony was determined to discredit the conspirators without
Unfortunately, instead of going to Caesar and discussing their concerns with him; they decide to end his life. Therefore, Brutus is a betrayer, for conspiring to kill his own friend. One of Brutus’s motivations for killing Caesar is that he believes it is what is best for Rome: “It must be by his death, and for my part I know no personal cause to spurn at him but for the general.” The group of conspirators all believes that Caesar’s ambition puts Rome in danger of becoming a monarchy.
The people of Rome along with the conspirators convinced him to kill his former friend, Caesar. His last words before killing Caesar were “not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” (III.II.19-24) This shows that he cared more about the society and people of Rome, than his friend. It also shows how they could influence him to turn against his friend.
The conspirators killed caesar before the shocked senators and spectators. In brutus speech he claims that he didn 't love cesar any less by killing him he just loved rome more. Brutus begins building his credibility to the roman people by using rhetorical appeals that persuade the audience to believe that he did the right thing by killing caesar. His use of logical appeals weakened his credibility because it seemed like he was putting the blame on other people instead of taking responsibility for his own actions. Through Brutus 's piece, he uses ethos appeals to build his argument as to why he did the heinous act of helping murder caesar.
“ who is so base, that would not be a roman”?- this makes his argument better because it get the people of rome to think. The people answer the same question the way he wants them to. Question- “Had you rather caesar were living, and die all slaves, than caesar were dead, to live all free men? Act 3 page
To get their point across to the Roman republic, Brutus and Antony use different kinds of logic, or logos. Brutus approaches the logos part of his speech by pointing out how oppressed the people of Rome would be, had he not killed Caesar; ¨Would you rather that Caesar be alive and you be slaves?¨ (III. ii. L 21-22). Being one of Caesar's best friends, Antony took the angle opposite Brutus; he displayed all the actions that Caesar took to benefit Rome. ¨He hath brought many captives home to Rome… When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept… I thrice presented him a kingly crown, which he did thrice refuse” (III. ii.
Second, Brutus is still apart of the government he loves so dearly. Lastly, what if Caesar made Rome even stronger than it was at the time? Caesar is loved by the people more than anyone in Rome.
Joining the Conspiracy A conspiracy is a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful. In William Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar” there is a group of people planning to kill Julius Caesar, in which Caesar was a powerful leader of Rome. Caesar's best friend Brutus, who was a respected, smart, and rhetoric individual was a part of the conspiracy.
In William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony wants revenge on the conspirators who killed Caesar. Following Julius Caesar's death, Mark Antony uses many different rhetorical devices such as pathos and ethos in his speech that help convince the Plebeians to go against the conspirators. Attempting to draw the emotions out of the plebeians, Mark Antony uses pathos to persuade them. Mark Antony says, “ My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, and I must pause till it come back to me” (3.2. 106-107). This statement emphasizes how much Antony loved Caesar and the grief he is now feeling that his closest friend is dead.
The Better Speech “A speech should not be just be a sharing of information, but a sharing of yourself.” This quote by Ralph Archbold is relevant in Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar when Brutus and Antony spoke to the people of Rome, after Caesar’s death. Although Brutus was an honorable man, his speech did not get the outcome he wanted. Antony was very cunning, concise and used pathos to influence the people of Rome. Overall, Antony knew beforehand how to manipulate the crowd with his speech more than Brutus.
Brutus and Antony speak in Caesar's funeral, they use ethos, pathos, and logos to get their point across. With the use of the pathos, logos, and ethos Brutus gets the attention of the commoners. He asks the commoners if what he is going to say is going to offend them, if it does he asks of them to leave there and they all tell Brutus no. Antony speaks before Brutus and gets his point across but fails at his point and just gets the crowd thinking. Brutus than uses his speech techniques to win over the commoner’s ears to listen to him.
Antony’s funeral oration is one of the most important speeches in Julius Caesar. Antony is the most skillful speaker because of his ability to turn a mass of uneducated plebeians once faithful towards the conspirators completely against them with emotional appeals. In Antony’s speech, one of his uses of emotional appeals is to create a kind and friendly relationship with plebeians. At the beginning of his discourse, he uses a synecdoche and asyndeton with his appeal.
Rhetorical Differences The reason Brutus failed to continue to have the citizens of Rome persuaded is simplified in this quote by Robert A Heinlein: “You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic.” Brutus failed while Antony succeeded because Brutus relied on logic whereas Antony relied on the emotions of the people. Despite the fact that Antony did it for the wrong reasons, he obviously was more skilled in rhetoric than Brutus.
The Character Brutus In the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Brutus is a character that has the most difficult decision in the play. To disobey his loyalty to Caesar, or to disobey his loyalty to Rome. At first we all believe that Brutus is a good guy and wouldn’t turn his back on Caesar.