In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the character Cassius wishes to convince Brutus to join him in conspiring against Caesar because he and his co-conspirators believe Caesar is unfit to rule Rome. In this passage, Cassius persuades Brutus through his pathos, ethos, and logos.
Brutus uses rhetorical questions, faulty reasoning and hyperboles to create the tone of persuasion while convincing the Roman people to be on his side. To start off his funeral speech, he wants the citizens to trust and believe what he has to say about Caesar, Brutus announces; “Believe me for mine honor, and have respect for my honor, that you may believe me”(Shakespeare 42). In this case, faulty reasoning is shown because Brutus has done nothing to prove him honorable to the citizens. Given that, he has no evidence that he is trustworthy, Brutus still try’s to persuade the crowd to believe what he has to say about Caesar is true, which is
In the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare Rome is struck with utter disorder after certain characters use ethos, pathos and logos to manipulate the people of Rome. One character who uses ethos, pathos and logos is Cassius to manipulate Brutus into joining the conspirators. Brutus also uses ethos, pathos and logo to justify his killing of Caesar. Last, Mark Antony uses ethos, pathos and logo to manipulate the Plebeians against Brutus and the conspirators. Thus, Cassius, Brutus and Mark Antony all use ethos, pathos and logos to manipulate one another and bring the people of Rome to their sides, resulting in total chaos.
After Cassius presents the idea of murdering Caesar to Brutus, he begins to take his manipulation a step further by sending Brutus forged letters from other senators. The letters leave Brutus to believe other senators
Brutus is without a doubt the most noble character in this play. Nonetheless, his impeccable sense of morality also blindfolds him to other people’s sordid motives and makes him easy to be manipulated. Indeed, Brutus is easily manipulated by Cassius in Act 1, Scene 2. In hope to convince Brutus to join the conspirators, Cassius says “Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings” (1.2.150-152). As a result, Brutus starts to believes that it is his job to murder Caesar, as he says in Act 2, Scene 1: “It must be by his death: and for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general” (2.1.14-16).
(II, i, 53-55) which allows to say that he wants Rome to be just and do whatever it takes to maintain it away from any threat. Indeed, Brutus states this very clearly when he says, “If it’s for the good of all Romans, I’d do it even if it meant my death. Let the gods give me good luck only as long as I love honor more than I fear death.” (I, ii, 86-88), he explicitly says that the good of the majority is over any feeling or personal benefit which in this case is the love of Caesar for him and viceversa, and the throne. To conclude, Brutus is a complex character that is characterized by three recurrent traits: his well-intention, his hypocrisy, and his naivet.
This is powerful in manipulating Brutus, because Brutus is an honorable man, and he is always concerned with what the most honorable decision is. Moreover, Cassius distorts Brutus' view of Caesar by telling Brutus that, "[Caesar has] become a god," and that Cassius "is a wretched creature," that if, "Caesar... [nods at] him," he, "must bend his
While the reader has been led to believe in Brutus' strength of nobility, there is a touch of weakness in the self-delusion he must create before he can join the conspirators: Brutus feels that murder is wrong and so must find a way to justify his actions. It's not for personal reasons that he will do it, but for the general; that is, for the good of the people of Rome. He generalizes about the effects of power and ambition and anticipates the damage that Caesar will do when he gains the crown. He has to admit, however, that Caesar has not yet committed any of these wrongs.
Brutus believes that Caesar will do more harm than good to the people, and reap benefits for himself. Brutus has already said this, but had said it in his own words, (II, i, 12-14). He has no clue if Caesar will use his power for the good and betterment for the people, or use it for his own needs and other
This rational method of comparing Brutus and Caesar serves to emphasize Cassius’s argument through a logical method of persuasion. As evidenced by the techniques of pathos, rhetorical questions, and compare and contrast, Cassius uses persuasion in a skillful way in order to convince Brutus to overthrow
Brutus has negatively affected the outlook of Rome and created more harm than good for the situation. Not only did it harm Rome, but it brought his own demise and hallucinations of Caesar’s ghost. Brutus’s speech to the plebeians after Caesar’s death, about his dilemma and his viewpoint towards Caesar, influenced the viewpoints of the plebeians and causes them to believe he is the best roman until Antony speaks to them. Brutus’s idealism led to his own death later on and brought him more misery than his idealism could
While Brutus spoke well, but had no real factual standpoint, Antony gave many examples of Caesar’s achievements. In his speech he uses Pathos, Logos, Ethos, and Situational Irony to sway his audience. He uses Brutus’ and Cassius’ precious honor and Caesar’s achievements against them, saying, “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept./ Ambition should be made of sterner stuff./ Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,/ And Brutus is an honorable man” (3.2.90-93). In this statement and many other statements following the same pattern Antony degrades the honor and the arguments of Caesar’s ambition that were made by Brutus and the other conspirators.
The conspirators loved Caesar but they loved Rome more and feared what he would become if given the power. They wanted an emperor not a king, a friend not a tyrant. “Liberty, freedom! Tyranny is dead!” (III, I, 86).
While the first societies were built by man, the rules of every society since have have dictated the actions and beliefs of each individual. In the Roman Society presented in William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, Julius Caesar is on the verge of being crowned king, and some of his fellow Romans are none too pleased with this. Julius Caesar takes place in ancient Rome in 44 b.c. At this time, Rome was the center of a large empire, but their society had its fair share of problems. Their society gives much of the wealth and power to a select few people while many power-hungry men vie to be absolute leaders. One of these power-hungry men is Cassius. Cassius is motivated by greed and a pressure, placed upon him by a society that values power
Marcus Junius Brutus and Mark Antony both deliver speeches to justify the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE and both use Logos and Ethos to convince the Roman citizens to join their sides. Both sides deliver their speeches with vehemence and start by elucidating why Brutus killed Caesar to begin with, why Antony’s desire for revenge is justified, and what the future of Rome will be because of his death. Antony teases the citizens of Rome with the will of Caesar that he holds in hand and claims it will dishonor Brutus and the other conspirators and is also one of his vital uses of Ethos in his speech. Most of the citizens, if not all of them side with Antony and will most likely help him accede to a great title of power in the future and also betray Brutus because of what Antony has them believe, i.e. an ignoble assassin. Brutus and Antony 's speeches were both compelling, although Antony´s speech was more successful, but it is because he was able to manipulate the people of Rome with