Figurative Language In Julius Caesar Essay

Oscar Wilde once said that “a thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.” This statement proved to be true in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Caesar was well loved by the people of Rome until, one day when, Cassius and Brutus decided he would be dangerous to Rome and killed him. In the play, we see a struggle between Brutus as he stands in the middle of the cross fire undecided of killing Caesar or not. We also see Cassius trying to convince Brutus to take action against Caesar later leading to Brutus trying to convince himself Caesar must die. While both Cassius and Brutus use diction and figurative language, Cassius uses repetition to compare and Brutus uses figurative language to compare. Cassius uses these style elements to convince Brutus to take action against Caesar and Brutus uses them to convince himself Caesar must die.

Pathos, is persuasion using emotion and a lot of people use pathos to persuade someone into doing something they want. When Cassius tries to persuade Brutus into thinking that he is just as good as Caesar, he announces that he is going to forge signatures from several citizens, in his soliloquy. Soliloquies reveal inner thoughts and feelings out loud, when no one else is able to hear. Doing this will let Brutus to see that he, himself, is just as good as Caesar and any other Roman. Having that would build the confidence in Brutus, allowing him to stand up to Caesar and plan the attack on him much more easily. Cassius uses pathos, by building up Brutus’s arrogance because he doesn’t think that Caesar is a good ruler for

Most of this play centers around the conspirators in the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar, and the main conspirator was Cassius. During the first half of the play Cassius’ main goal was to convince Brutus to betray his best friend Caesar and join the conspiracy. Cassius’ best skill in speaking skill was manipulation; in order to get Brutus on his side Cassius lies and manipulates Brutus by telling stories about Caesars weaknesses and praising Brutus on his honor. Cassius boosts Brutus’ on many occasions, starting his story about Caesar stating, “I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus,/ As well as I do know your outward favor./ Well, honor is the subject of my story” (1.2.92-94). In saying things like this Cassius

MLK, Jr. once said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends” (Goodreads). In the play Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare, actions and words are used and spoken against a friend and a rival contributing to the assassination of their fellow friend Caesar. Two people that were very close to Caesar speak out against each other during their funeral speeches. Brutus, who is a “friend” and also a conspirator against Caesar, and Antony who is a very loyal friend to Caesar, use several rhetorical and literary devices as they create tone of proud assertive and defiant manipulation to get the Roman citizens on their side.

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.

While Calpurnia relies more on superstition and signs from the gods to support her assertion, Decius relies on the knowledge that the crown appeals more to Caesar than message from the gods and focuses on a logical argument. Calpurnia states that the reason for her concern is that Caesar’s life may be in danger however this has little appeal to Caesar who does not fear death and knows that his fate lies beyond his hands as seen when he states that ‘Seeing that death, a necessary end/Will come when it will come’ (Shakespeare.II.ii.26-27). Decius, on the other hand, is well aware that Caesar is consumed in his confidence and believes himself to be untouchable. Playing on this Decius re-envisions the dream to make it seem as though Caesar has revived Rome. He also uses a variety of positive diction in addition to a praising tone to appeal to Caesar’s prideful nature using phrases such as ‘smiling Romans,’ ‘great Rome,’ ‘Reviving blood’ and ‘cognizance’ to describe how the dream sees Caesar and his rule to empower the Roman Republic (Shakespeare.II.ii.48-51). Furthermore Decius appeals more to Caesar as his listener and acknowledges this by continuously using second person point of view to capture his attention. Reoccurring use of this second person can be seen as in ‘Your statue,’ ‘from you,’ ‘If you shall send,’ and ‘to your proceeding bids’ and the use of this styling aids Decius in influencing Caesar’s opinions (Shakespeare.II.ii.47-65). Calpurnia instead focuses on the use of imagery in an attempt to invoke fear in Caesar which proves to not interest him. Calpurnia relied on the belief that danger was a possibility without any tangible proof while Decius provided Caesar with an incentive he was aware the power-hungry Caesar would fall for. Ultimately Decius proves to be more successful due to accommodating to his audience

Intro: “Belief can be manipulated. Only knowledge is dangerous” as Frank Herbert once said. People may manipulate others to do their biddings in order to achieve their personal goals. No matter how hard it is, manipulators eventually reach their prey. This is the plan Cassius uses to initiate his final plan, to kill Caesar. Cassius wants Brutus to think that if Throughout the play Julius Caesar, written by William shakespeare, Cassius uses manipulation to form his group of conspirators and make them perform his biddings. Most importantly, Cassius turns Brutus, one of Caesar’s greatest friends, to his side through various creative tactics.

While Brutus maintains noble intentions, Cassius goes into this scheme with every intention of leaving everyone else behind to claim the power for himself, as he has been compelled by their society to do. Cassius tells Brutus that Caesar “doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus” while convincing him that Caesar is accumulating too much power for one man, despite harboring the belief that all of that power should be his (JC I.ii.142-143). To further prove his point to Brutus, Cassius gives Brutus fake letters telling him that the common people would rather have Brutus in charge than Caesar. While this is just Cassius himself manipulating Brutus, Cassius is motivated by the pressures of their society and Brutus, motivated by the belief that his society wants him to, joins the conspirators in their plot to kill Caesar and take power for themselves. Caught in a vicious cycle of societal pressure, these men continue to fight for power even after they achieve their original goal as evidenced by the civil war that breaks out following the assassination of Julius

A quality all humans possess is questioning leadership. The reasons why we challenge or rebel against our leaders describe what kind of individual we are. Cassius and Brutus have different reasons for questioning Caesars power. Both characters have a common goal but exceedingly different values, thought process, and motives for killing Caesar.

Cassius exploits Brutus’s pathos in that he compliments Brutus to inflate his ego, as shown when Cassius says Brutus has “hidden worthiness” (1,2,57) and his worthiness earns him “many of the best respect in Rome” (1,2,59). Cassius utilizes these compliments in order to make Brutus see himself as a chosen one to aid Cassius in removing Caesar from the throne. Moreover, Cassius attempts to sway Brutus through his pathos by capitalizing Brutus’s fear for the future of Rome,

Through the use of pathos, Decius appeals to Caesar’s emotions and ultimately convinces him to go to senate. First, Decius refers to him as “Mighty Caesar (2.2.69)” to appeal to Caesar’s desire to be mighty and powerful. Decius convinces Caesar that a mighty man would not go into reclusion over a dream. Next, Decius appeals to Caesar’s insecurity that people view him as timid and weak. Decius says “Shall they not whisper “Lo, Caesar is afraid (2.2.100-101)”. Caesar fears people will talk behind his back and begin to view him differently. These two phrases appeal to Caesar’s emotions and insecurities through the use of Pathos.

Brutus begins his speech in Act III, scene ii, at Caesar's funeral, with an upset crowd questioning his motives for killing Caesar. The crowd’s initial reaction to Brutus is that he is honorable and venerated, but still needs to explain why Caesar was assassinated. Brutus tells the crowd that he did not kill Caesar because he didn’t care for him, but he killed Caesar because he loved Rome more. In addition, that if Caesar were still alive and king, all of the people would die slaves, and claims that he killed Caesar for the good of Rome. Brutus is able to persuade the crowd that he had honorable intentions for killing Caesar through the use of rhetoric-ethos, logos, and pathos. By using rhetoric and specific rhetorical devices, Brutus is able to convince the already easily influenced

Cassius has proven physical superiority over Caesar but he once more uses the Metaphor of his weakness in power as a wretched creature to represent Caesar as a dictator to Brutus. When Cassius speaks to Casca to convince him to be a conspirator he states “Now could I, Casca, name to thee a man most like this dreadful night that thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars as doth the lion in the Capitol.” (Shakespeare 1.3.73-76) Cassius uses metaphorical language to compare Caesar to a god, he uses the metaphor of a lion whose roar disrupts the entire capitol to show Casca that Caesar’s political might has risen to a Godly state has Rome has fallen into his hands. Lastly, in convincing Casca Cassius utters “And why should Caesar be a tyrant then? Poor man! I know he would not be a wolf But that he sees the Romans are but sheep. He were no lion were not Romans hinds. Those that with haste will make a mighty fire Begin it with weak straws.” (Shakespeare 1.3.104-108) Cassius uses metaphorical language here to show to Casca that it is of the fault of the Roman people that Caesar has become so godly. He compares the Plebeians to sheep and prey whilst Caesar is a wolf and lion easily feasting on their weak minds to fulfill his ambition

Calpurnia told Caesar that he was in danger and not to go to the senate. Decius then told Caesar that: “this dream is all amiss interpreted. It was a vision fair and fortunate. Your statue spouting blood in many pipes signifies that from you great Rome shall suck reviving blood, and that great men shall press for tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance.”(II, sc. 2, 87-88). This consummate deceit is indispensable to the play, because it convinces Caesar to come to the place where his murder took place. Decius interpreted the blood as “reviving blood,” this means the great Roman will learn the resurrection of new blood from his body, which represents the power and strength that people believed in Julius Caesar, thus making Caesar believes that Calpurnia’s dream was nonsense and foolish. Because of the fact that Caesar is overly ambitious, easily flattered, and he wants the crown so badly, he went to the senate and was killed by his conspirators. Without deception, Caesar’s death could’ve easily been averted. However, not just the conspirators, Anthony also used manipulation to achieve his

During the play, the conspirators attempt to predict what kind of leader Caesar will become after he gains the title of dictator. In the beginning of the play, Caesar notices Brutus speaking with Cassius at the race. Since Caesar is now such a powerful ruler, he starts to fear what may be occurring and voices his concern, “Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look / He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous” (I.ii.204-205). Caesar keeps up a facade throughout his leadership and rarely lets himself show unease. After stating his worry over Cassius, Caesar attempts to rebuild his facade of strength by claiming, “I rather tell