Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is a tragedy that takes the reader on a short adventure of Julius Caesar’s rule, death, and the aftermath of his death. Caesar was a great ruler until he, in the minds of Cassius, Brutus, and several others, inevitably became over-ambitious, which, in turn, led to his downfall. The aforementioned who believed that Caesar had become over-ambitious began to conspire his assassination. After his assassination, the people of Rome were left very confused and it was up to them to decide whether Caesar’s death was just or unjust. Two of Caesar’s closest confidants, Brutus and Marc Antony, both deliver a speech to the people: one for how Caesar’s death was justified, and the other for how Caesar’s assassination

Antony used it in his speech when he made it clear that, “[He was speaking] not to disprove what Brutus spoke, but [that he was there to] speak he [knew]”(3.2.28-29). He used this rhetorical device to make it clear that he was not speaking to say anything against what Brutus said, but rather to just get his point across. This is helpful for him because it, again, makes his audience more likely to listen to what he has to say than if he said something to offend the people concerning Brutus. Brutus also used antithesis in his speech when he said that the reason that he killed Caesar was, “Not that [he] loved Caesar less, but that [he] loved Rome more” (3.2.12-13). His usage was very effective because, in the eyes of the Roman people, it showed that Brutus loved them so much that he was willing to kill someone that he cared so much about for their well-being. Brutus’s application of the rhetorical device of antithesis was the more persuasive of the two because he uses it to appeal to the emotions of the Roman people, and by his doing so, everything that Brutus said thereafter had a personal attachment to them so they related more to what he had to

Antony used it in his speech when he exclaimed, “O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts and men have lost their reason” (3.2.32-33). Antony uses personification to dramatically emphasize his point that the only possible reason that the people would have not to mourn Caesar’s death is a complete lack of judgment. Brutus also used personification when he said of Caesar that, “The question of his death is enrolled at the Capitol, his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offenses enforced, for which he suffered death”(3.2.28-31). Brutus uses personification in this quote to give Caesar’s actions a life of their own to make them seem as if they were big enough to play such an integral part in his death. Antony’s application of personification was more beneficial to his overall message than Brutus’s was. Antony’s application forces the people think more and consider what he had to say even after he finished speaking. By saying that their judgment had fled them, Antony gave the people an opportunity to reflect upon the speech that they had just