It takes a lot of things to prove those to have wit, yet only one thing to prove another is ignorant. In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, Marc Antony presents a heart wrenching speech in the name of Julius Caesar to the Roman people. In doing this, he challenges the ideas and reasoning for murdering Julius Caesar presented by Brutus, which in turn, sways the people’s trust and faith away from Brutus himself. His powerful words bring the people to rebel against Brutus and other conspirators with violence and brutality. Therefore, in his acclamation, Marc Antony uses skilled rhetoric and several persuasive techniques to build his credibility and appeal to the Roman citizens to fuel their rebellion against …show more content…
In his speech, Mark Antony claims that he “thrice presented [Caesar] a kingly crown,” and Caesar refused it each time (JC 3.2.93-93). This use of factual evidence directly negates Brutus’s obscene reason for killing Caesar and gives the illusion that Caesar cared more about the people than he did about the throne. This solid evidence shared to the Plebeians makes them not only guilty for believing Brutus’s explanation for killing Caesar, but also the sense of resentment towards the conspirators as there was no legitimate reason for doing so. As the speech continues, Mark Antony states that Caesar was “[his] friend, faithful and just to [him]” (JC 3.2.81-82). From the description Mark Antony shares to them, Caesar was a noble man, suggesting that the people of Rome should all righteously mourn for his death. Antony’s comments about Caesar are meant to draw the audience’s attention to Caesar’s righteous qualities and to view him as the man they once knew and loved. Later into the speech, Mark Antony reveals the dead body of Julius Caesar to the citizens of Rome, pointing out the “place [where] Cassius’ dagger [ran] through” and disclosing each and every wound (JC 3.2.171-172). Through showing the mutilated body of Caesar, Mark Antony emphasizes the brutality of Caesar’s killing and the content of the conspirators as they watched him die. Seeing Caesar’s mutilated body and hearing Antony’s graphic description of the killing had the sole purpose of appealing to the Plebeian’s emotions, which fuels their shame, grief and growing hostility towards the conspirators. Through Antony’s words and actions, the people of Rome not only experience the brutality of Caesar’s death, but also the feelings of guilt for trusting Brutus. Krystyna Kujawinska- Courtney
In his play Julius Caesar, Shakespeare employs various rhetorical strategies such as direct address, repetition, and apostrophe in Antony’s eulogy to convince the crowd into believing that Caesar was a good ruler. His excellent use of rhetoric begins before he starts his speech through the establishment of familiarity. Before Antony begins his speech, he refers to the crowd as “friends, romans, [and] countrymen” to establish a personal connection, indicating the use of direct address (3.2.82). By referring to the crowd as “friends,” Antony removes any separation between him and the audience, establishing a close bond by choice. As it came first on his list, it emphasizes the importance of his friendship with the audience as friendship implies
Playwright, William Shakespeare, in the play Julius Caesar, utilizes many instances of rhetorical devices through the actions and speech of Caesar's right-hand man, Mark Antony. In the given excerpt, Antony demonstrates several of those rhetorical devices such as verbal irony, sarcasm, logos, ethos, and pathos which allows him to sway the plebeians. The central purpose of Mark Antony’s funeral speech is to persuade his audience into believing that Caesar had no ill intentions while manipulating the plebeians into starting a rebellion against their new enemies, Brutus and the conspirators.
The book Julius Caesar is full of happiness, conspiracy, power, and betrayal. The people of Rome deeply loved julius Caesar and wished to make him their king. A group of senators however were not so fond of this idea and formed a conspiracy. The leader of this group was a man by the name of Cassius. In order to make sure that his scheme of killing Caesar would work and would look honorable he had to convince a senator by the name of Brutus to help. After being convinced that they had to kill Caesar to protect Rome from a tyrant Brutus joined the conspiracy and soon became the principal conspirator.On the day in which Caesar was to be crowned king he was on the way to the senate when he was stabbed by all the conspirators panic ensued and to convince Rome of their honorable intentions Brutus gave a funeral speech. Mark Antony, a very close friend of Caesar, gave his speech after Brutus had given his. Mark Antony’s speech is more persuasive to the Roman people because of his outstanding use of pathos, sarcasm, and logos.
Rhetorical devices can be seen being used in history, such as William Shakespeare’s dramatic play “Julius Caesar”. In Shakespeare’s play Brutus and Antony conspire to lead a group to assassinate Caesar. Rome is in a panic as they find out that their first emperor Octavian who went by the name Julius Caesar has been stabbed to death. Brutus and Antony in an effort to achieve Rome’s support use rhetorical devices to try to receive support for their actions. You can see how they use ethos, pathos, and logos to eventually achieve their goal of persuading the citizens of Rome.
Character Analysis Antony- What Cassius says about Antony: "You know not what…that which he will utter?" Pg. 582 lines 233-236. This shows that the conspirators are afraid of what Antony will say in his oration to the mob. Cassius is trying to make Brutus see what Antony is really up to, but Brutus is too caught up in honor to notice. What Antony does: He speaks to the crowd making them feel sorry for him, ashamed of themselves, and hate the conspirators. He causes them to go into an angry rage in scene 3. What Antony feels: "O pardon me thou…gentle with these butchers." Pg. 582 lines 254-236. Antony has made a deal with the conspirators that have killed his best friend. This quote is after the conspirators have left, and he is talking to the corpse of Caesar. He spills his true intentions and gives word of his counter conspiracy. He feels that even though the men are honorable, that they have butchered a man that could have been reasoned with and brought out of what it was he did wrong. What Antony says: "Let each man render me his bloody hand…My credit now stands on such slippery ground that one of two bad ways you must conceit me…." Pg. 580 lines 184-194 He leads the conspirators on to trust him, when in fact, he wants to be able to speak to the mob. He uses a vicious pun so that he knows what he is talking about, but the conspirators think that he is simply talking about the blood on the ground being slippery. Caesar- What Caesar says: "Et tù Brute? Then fall Caesar!" Pg. 577 line 77 Caesar is shocked that Brutus, his most loyal friend would do this. His mask comes off at this point and shows his personal face. Throughout the play, he has put himself as an arrogant official, and only when he is around his friends does he show his true identity. This is so important because marks the point when Caesar’s spirit enters Antony’s revenge. The play comes to its climax in this line. What Caesar does: Caesar refuses to let Publius Cimber back into Rome. He, in a way, kills himself by the way he responds. He puts himself up as a god-like man and almost says he is in control of his own destiny. This gives the conspirators final reason to kill him, and they do.
He also explains Caesar was not fit for Rome, he was too ambitious. Soon, Mark Antony arrives with the body to prepare a funeral. Brutus allows Antony to speak at the funeral. Antony starts off by telling the plebeians why the conspirators killed Caesar, “Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man” (132). Staring his speech, Antony seems to be cooperating well with the conspirators.
Similarly with Anthony when he addressed the commoners on the assassination of Caesar, his use of the dialectical technique undid the impression Brutus created, and succeeded at weakening Brute’s justification of killing Caesar, claiming that his death was for the sake of Rome. Brutus’s clever strategy to use Caesar’s ambition and overthrow him without any obstacles in the way has failed, because the dialectical examination technique exposed the contradictions in his argument. Being ambitious back in Rome must have been a negative trait for a leader to have, and Brutus successfully branded Caesar as an ambitious man. “The noble Brutus Hath told you Caesar was ambitious/ If it were so, it was a grievous fault/
In William Shakespeare's, Julius Caesar, rhetorical devices are used throughout Decius Brutus’s speech to Caesar to persuade him to attend the senate, and ultimately meet his demise. Decius Brutus uses repetition to directly play into Caesar’s ego and convince him to show at an event he was previously very unsure of. Decius first uses repetition to make Caesar feel as if he were an irreplaceable addition to the senate. He addresses Caesar as, “most mighty Caesar…” (2.2.74) multiple times throughout his oration. The repetition of “mighty” draws Caesar’s attention away from the fact that he really must not go to the senate and instead focuses on why he must. Caesar is known to be easily persuaded by the promise of attention or rewards. Decius
In Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Cassius encompasses ethical and emotional appeal to persuade Brutus that something should be done about Caesar's aspirations for sovereignty. For instance, Cassius cleverly references himself as "Aeneas, our great ancestor,/ Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder,/ The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber,/ Did I the tried Caesar" (1.2.23-26). Cassius skillfully employs vivid imagery to depict how he once rescued Caesar when they were swimming in the River Tiber, while heavily suggesting that Caesar is a feeble man compared earlier to the event from Roman history. Cassius also explains to Brutus how it is ironic that Caesar appears to be an omnipotent figure since Caesar is no better
In William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, two speeches are given to the people of Rome about Caesar's death. In Act 3, Scene 2 of this play Brutus and Antony both try to sway the minds of the Romans toward their views. Brutus tried to make the people believe he killed Caesar for a noble cause. Antony tried to persuade the people that the conspirators committed an act of brutality toward Caesar and were traitors. The effectiveness and ineffectiveness of both Antony's and Brutus's speech to the people are conveyed through tone and rhetorical devices.
Antony faces a bias crowd when presenting his speech to the Romans. The use of appeal, verbal irony, rhetorical questions, repetition and anaphora is frequently seen throughout Antony’s speech. He uses those English techniques to convince the crowd in his favor. Furthermore, Antony’s tone makes his speech convincing to the Romans who were in favor of the conspirators. Throughout this essay, it will be evident to see how Antony uses verbal irony and other figures of speech to sway the crowd.
Brutus repeatedly says, “If any, speak, for him have I offended,” (III.ii.25). Brutus’ tactic is to try to force someone, or dare them, to disagree with him, which no one ends up doing. Brutus tries to make people fear him, which works for a brief period of time. Mark Antony, on the other hand, goes on the attack, rather than the defense, by repeatedly saying, “Yet Brutus said he was ambitious; And… he is an honourable man.” (III.ii.89-90). By going on the offensive side, Mark Antony uses the repetition of this extreme usage of irony and sarcasm to make the audience understand that all of this is Brutus’ fault and that he should be punished for his crimes, no matter his intentions. Both groups use similar rhetorical strategies to prove that Caesar should or should not be dead for what he has done, with differing results. Brutus and Mark Antony also use emotional appeals to persuade their audience that they are correct in the matter of the death of their esteemed
“Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare is the story of the assassination of Julius Caesar. Two speeches were made after his death, one being by Mark Antony. He uses many rhetorical devices in this speech to counter the previous speech and persuade the crowd that the conspirators who killed Caesar were wrong. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion and these many devices strengthen this by making points and highlighting flaws. Antony uses many rhetorical devices, all of which are used to persuade the crowd that the conspirators are wrong and Caesar did not need to be killed.
A good leader is a person who is well-educated, respectful, open-minded, good communicator, etc. In the play of Shakespeare Julius Caesar, Antony plays a major role, as a leader, showing love, respect and always being loyal to Julius Caesar. Antony has always been showing these traits towards Julius Caesar identifying him as the noblest man in Rome. By the end of this play, Julius Caesar is killed and Antony gets inspired in getting revenge on the conspirators and Brutus. A leader knows how to lead and command certain groups; also he should shows respect, nobility, education, patience, and others. Antony plays the role of a leader by showing love, respect, towards the people and to Julius Caesar especially being loyal to Caesar and inspiration; that’s what makes him a leader.
In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, persuasion and rhetoric play a crucial role in a myriad of events and outcomes that occur. In Act one Cassius is trying to convince Brutus to turn against Caesar and join the conspiracy. Later, in Act three, Brutus and Antony speak at Caesar’s funeral. Brutus convinces the Roman people that what he and the conspirators did was for the good of Rome. Antony then persuades the plebeians that the conspirators had no reasonable judgement to kill Caesar and that all Caesar’s future plans were to help Rome. Though many characters appear to be rhetorical, Antony could be considered as the most. Persuasion and rhetoric are used throughout Julius Caesar when Cassius is trying to coax Brutus to join the conspiracy, and when Brutus and Antony convince the crowd at Caesar’s funeral.