Julius Caesar Rhetorical Techniques

At Julius Caesar’s funeral, Antony questions the credibility of the conspirators and along with that, he expresses his love and admiration for Caesar. He then goes on to say,” he was my friend, faithful and just to me, but Brutus says he was ambitious, And Brutus is an honorable man”(Act 3, Sc.1, Ln.13-15). In this statement it is prevalent that from the beginning Antony’s motivation is to persuade the crowd to bring justice to Caesar’s murder and preserve the greatness of Rome. Then, Antony questions the judgement of the commoners as they had loved and respected Caesar and when his death came, they turned their backs on him. “What cause withholds you, then, to mourn for him?- O judgement, thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason!--Bear with me; my heart is in the coffin there with Caesar.

Secondly, Shakespeare uses the repetition of the word ambitious in Antony’s speech to instigate the plebeians, and fill their minds with enough doubts to get them to rebel against the conspirators. Talking about how Caesar refused the crown three times at the Luperical, Antony proclaims, “Which he did thrice refuse; was this ambition. / Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;” (3.2.95-96). Bringing up the Luperical is a strong point. It is still fresh in the memories of many

“To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful” is what Edward R. Murrow says about what persuasiveness is and how it is effective (“Persuasive” 1). Throughout the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, rhetoric is used not only to convince other friends to believe certain situations, but it is used against enemies as well. After Brutus and the other conspirators successfully execute their plan to murder Caesar, both Brutus and Marc Antony speak at the funeral in order to convince the audience to support their cause. While Brutus does make a compelling case about how he killed his best friend for the good of Rome, Antony ultimately wins the audience over through his use of sentimental appeals and repetition.

People agreed and supported him ,steps down he tells the Roman citizens to stay and listen to Marc Anthony ,who arrives with Caesar 's body. Anthony calms the crowd. down and begins his speech agreeing with Brutus , and then cry 's out ( his ambition) and calls the conspirators Honorable Men. starts to persuade the people by saying that the conspirators committed an act of brutality toward ceasar and we 're traitors. Anthony spoke to the emotions of the crowd by crying and talking about all the good things that Caesar did for Rome in a persuasive tone there 's a major difference between the two speeches Brutus was very honorable and Anthony was very persuasive and smart ,Brutus was Honorable in a way that he always told the people the truth ,his speech was real short to the point and spoke to the logic of the people in the crowd for example .Brutus spoke in a dettach way about Caesar 's death .

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.

In Brutus’ oration he answers the question of why he decided to kill Caesar. Brutus answers the question by saying, “this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more” (3.2.22-24). This answer from Brutus appeals to the Romans’ sense of nationalism. Brutus inflames the mob’s feeling of passion and pride for their country. This use of pathos is very powerful and well crafted; however, Mark Antony outsmarts him.

Antony’s Speech Using Rhetorical Appeals In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, after Caesar’s death, the Romans are conflicted about what should be done. After Brutus’ speech the Romans are ready to crown Brutus king and be on the conspirators’ side. Though Brutus then leaves the crowd while Antony delivers his speech, the crowd realizes what should be done of Caesar’s murder and Antony prevents the conspirators from getting away with the murder of Caesar.

In William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, Marc Antony appears to be a strong advocate for Julius Caesar’s triumphs and increasing power. However, like Caesar, Antony is extremely manipulative and powerful. After Caesar’s death, Antony manipulated the conspirators into believing he was on their side before requesting to speak at Caesar’s funeral. While Brutus and the conspirators remained fooled by Antony’s innocence, Antony took the initiative to inform the Roman citizens of the conspirator’s horrendous actions towards their beloved leader, Julius Caesar. Caesar’s funeral was a time of reflection for the citizens of Rome, as Marc Antony caused them to question their allegiance to Brutus.

Marc Antony is trying to persuade his audience that Brutus calling Caesar too ambitious is false, and Caesar was no more than laid-back. This logic is effective because it helps back up this claim, and his use of it here does that by acting as supporting evidence. He is saying if Caesar would have been ambitious, he

The truly puzzling significance of corrupting the boundaries pertains to the ability of Brutus to use his power in any way he sees fit to justify murder and manipulate the multitudes. Brutus, “the noblest of Roman of all,” arguably epitomizes a man devoting anything to the success of his homeland whether it be his life or that of another’s (Shakespeare 3.2.76). Furthermore, it can be inferred that passion and commitment overwhelms moral codes and principles.

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.

In the play Julius Caesar, Antony’s speech was more persuasive than Brutus’s speech. Antony persuaded the people of Rome not by what he said, but by how he said it. Pathos and logos were used as a means of persuasion throughout his speech. He also used lots of literary devices in his speech like irony, bandwagon, strawman, appeal to pity, and symbolism. The most common type of irony used was verbal.

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.

How would you persuade the common people to support the correct cause? During this time in Act 3 of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Caesar was recently assassinated by Brutus and other conspirators. Brutus first delivered a speech to try and gain people on his side, and Antony followed. Antony's speech was the most effective because he appeals to the peoples emotions and uses evidence. The first reason why Antony's speech was the most effective was because it appealed to the audience's emotions.

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.