Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis

The ability to persuade and use rhetoric effectively is one of the most important themes in William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Several characters, such as Cassius and Brutus, employ rhetorical strategies. Cassius uses persuasive language to convince Brutus to support his effort to assassinate Caesar. Brutus uses logos in his speech at Caesar's burial to demonstrate rhetoric. The plan thickens as the play progresses, and Brutus, as well as some of the conspirators, become enraged with Julius Caesar. When Mark Antony learns that his best friend Caesar has been cruelly stabbed, he asks to speak at his burial. On the condition that he spoke first, Brutus consented. This was a significant disadvantage for Brutus, and he did not

He first shows his use of pathos when carrying the dead body of Caesar in his arms, as if he were a baby, and placing him right in front of the crowd. Pathos, which is the way a character shows persuasion, motivation, or information through emotion, was used by Mark Antony to make both Brutus and the conspirators think differently about if Caesar really should have been murdered. This type of rhetorical device is meant to get the audience to feel a certain way. Mark Antony does just this, and everyone is dead silent, since they are overwhelmed with the grief they are seeing before their eyes: a leader who was tragically murdered. Mark Antony also uses emotion to convey to the audience that they have just lost a great leader. This is evident when he says “[when] the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept.” (3.2.100) In other words, this quote means that when the people of Rome were in tough times, and when they were not at their highest, Caesar felt for them and wanted to do better for everyone. Mark Antony now talks to the people of Rome about the genuine care their former leader, Caesar, had for them and their families. In the long run, Mark Antony shows that Caesar was more than a leader; he was a good