The death of a friend or relative can elicit overwhelming feelings of anguish, grief and rage in an individual, an emotional roller coaster experienced by Marc Antony upon the murder of Julius Caesar in Shakespeare’s tragedy Julius Caesar. This vehement sensation of anger prompts him to seek vengeance on the conspirators that had wronged Caesar and punish them in a way that would mirror their misdeed. A cunning politician well versed in rhetoric, Antony exacts revenge by persuading the plotters to accede to his request to speak at Caesar’s funeral and the Roman populace to concur with him. Antony’s multifaceted choice of rhetorical appeals adds cogency to his arguments, making him the most persuasive character in the play. Overall, Marc Antony …show more content…
To bolster his underlying claim that the conspirators should be held liable for Caesar’s murder, he uses several rhetorical devices. Throughout his speech, Antony reiterates the caustic line, “Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man” (3.2.95-96). In doing so, he undermines Brutus’ character and disproves his allegation of Caesar’s ambition. Additionally, he poses rhetorical questions aimed at provoking thought. These inquiries further refute Brutus and cause the crowd to shift their loyalty to Antony. Among these remarks, Antony appeals to the crowd’s emotion, a rhetorical device known as pathos. He articulates his sorrow about the loss of his friend to spark compassion. “Bear with me. My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, and I must pause till it come back to me,” Antony expresses to the audience as he pauses to show his mourning, while letting his words penetrate the crowd (3.2.106-108). In all, these devices add depth to Antony’s speech, enabling him to promote himself while drawing the people to mutiny against the …show more content…
With the loss of their leader leaving them vulnerable, the fickle plebeians fall victim to his rhetoric and are stirred by his words. Despite their commendation of Brutus moments before, they are easily pit against him and feel compelled to revolt against the conspirators in Caesar's name. This frenzy escalates to the extent where the commoners will penalize anybody who bears a slight similarity to the conspirators. For instance, two plebeians encounter a poet and, after besieging him with questions, discover that he shares a name with the conspirator Cinna. Consequently, they stab him, asserting, “His name’s Cinna; pluck but his name out of his heart, and turn him going” (3.3.33-35). Through this, the plebeians convey their distaste against the conspirators and create chaos. Ultimately, Antony’s rhetoric acts as a catalyst of
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.
Mark Antony’s speech, whose aim is to counter Brutus’ speech, enlightens the crowd on the unjust murder of Caesar. Though he never directly communicates to the crowd of his feeling towards the conspirators, Antony was able to effectively convey to the crowd, through the use of verbal irony and other stylistic devices/techniques in his speech, his true views of the assassination. Moreover, Antony was able to shrewdly emphasize his belief of the undeserved assassination of Caesar through the wide use of epiphoral and anaphoral structure in his speech. Antony emphasizes the wrongdoings of Brutus and Cassius through the ingenious use of the epistrophe along with verbal irony as he notes that “I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong” (III, ii, 125). Moreover, he stresses the importance of punishi...
The most predominate and important aspect In the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare are the speeches given to the Roman citizens by Brutus and Antony, the two main charaters, following the death of Caesar. Brutus and Antony both spoke to the crowd,using the same rhetorical devices to express their thoughts. Both speakers used the three classical appeals employed in the speeches: ethos, which is an appeal to credibility; pathos, which is an appeal to the emotion of the audience; and logos, which is an appeal to the content and arrangement of the argument itself. Even though both speeches have the same structure Antony’s speech is significantly more effective than Brutus’s.
In the intense chaos following a major figure’s assassination, one man’s words have the power to rally huge portions of the population to his cause. As is the case in Julius Caesar, when Brutus and his conspirators murder the titular character midway through the play. After the assassination, the conspirators attempt to persuade the populace to give them power, but Mark Antony manages to usurp their authority in his funeral speech for Julius Caesar. He accomplishes this feat through the use of several key persuasive devices and techniques, those being specific evidence, props, and appeals to self-interest. Readers will come to appreciate the masterful oratory skills that Antony presents in his speech, and they will come to recognize similar
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
Imagine yourself listening to a political debate, undecided as to which leader you agree with. One candidate begins to speak about unjust societal issues, such as the horrifying amount of people in the world that do not have food on their table. The candidate also begins to touch upon the topic of taxes and how he will lower them if he is elected. You find yourself being persuaded in the direction of emotions and morals. The power of language used to appeal others is not only present in the modern world, but also in the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, written by famous English playwright William Shakespeare. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar portrayed a story of how an aspiring leader, Julius Caesar, is assassinated by a group of schemers, lead by Marcus Brutus, who disagreed with Caesar’s decrees and ways of governing. Over the course of the text, it demonstrated the use of two rhetorical charms: ethos and pathos. While ethos refers to the moral and ethical appeal and pathos invokes to the emotional aspect, each one was evidently shown in the funeral speech for Caesar given by his best friend, Mark Antony. Prior to Antony’s speech, Brutus had given the plebeians a synopsis of what had occurred. However, Mark Antony knew that what Brutus had told the plebeians was false. In such manner, he allured the plebeians onto his side of the tragedy by touching upon ethical and emotional appeals.
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 asks rhetorical questions and lets the audience answer for themselves. Brutus uses ethos by stating that he a noble man and that is why the people should believe him but infact Antony questions his nobility by saying what Brutus said,” Brutus is an honourable man”(III.ii.79). In a way, Antony states what Brutus states to convince the audience by using examples that Brutus is wrong. Antony himself knows what kind of man Brutus is but lets the people figure it out on their own. In addition, Brutus uses logos by expressing that fact that Caesar died because of his ambition. This argument is severely under supported because his reasons are invalid and simply observations. Antony uses “did this in Caesar seem ambitious” to question Brutus’ argument (III.ii.82). Antony gives examples backing his argument like when Caesar refused the crown thrice to prove his humbleness. The way Antony convinces the people to rebel is by using pathos. He brings the audience in by stepping down to their level and showing them the body of Caesar. While Antony talks at Caesar's funeral, he pauses because” heart us in the coffin there with Caesar “(III.ii.98). When Antony becomes emotional, he reminds the audience about what injust event happened to the much loved
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Brutus and Antony attempt to persuade the audience of their position on the death of Caesar. While Brutus explains that his death was necessary, Antony claims that Caesar was not deserving of his demise. However, though Brutus does have ample credibility and taps into the emotional link with his audience to some extent, he does not convey as powerful of an argument as Antony, as he fails to provide sufficient factual evidence. Antony, on the other hand, utilizes logical argumentation with solid evidence, creates an emotional connection with his audience, and maintains credibility in order to support his own argument. Through this, it can be seen that Antony’s use of rhetorical appeals and devices is superior to Brutus’s in its ability to persuade the Roman audience.
In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Mark Antony—a loyal friend to Julius Caesar, the former emperor of Rome—gives a speech to the Roman commoners in order to persuade them to turn against Brutus, for Brutus and the conspirators had slain Caesar. Antony’s uses rough and sharp diction, a scornful tone, and honest anecdotes in order to achieve his purpose of manipulating the common people to take his side.
Act III, scene ii, lines 74-148 of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare show Marc Antony’s cunning and genius persuasion skills, as well as how appealing to emotions can change the opinion of a crowd, even if the new opinion does not seem logical. In this speech Marc Antony begins to persuade the citizens of Rome to join him in rising up against a group of conspirators in the senate. The group of conspirators led by Brutus and Cassius had just recently killed Marc Antony's friend Caesar, who was about to become the emperor of Rome. Before Marc Antony spoke, Brutus had given a speech to the public using logic and reason to explain why they needed to kill Caesar. He then, using very poor judgement, allowed Marc Antony to address the crowds.
Antony’s goal was to persuade the crowd of plebeians that the conspirators acted impetuously and Caesar did not need to be killed. He uses many rhetorical devices to strengthen his speech and gain the support of the crowd. From rhetorical questions to the use of pathos, Antony masters the art of persuasion. His speech moves the crowd from believing Brutus’ reasoning for killing Caesar, to understanding that Caesar did not have to die.
A later example occurs during the funeral oration by Mark Antony. Brutus logically gives his reasons that necessitated Caesar’s death. He informs them that he acted out of love of Rome and his desire to prevent tyrants from controlling her. The citizens embrace his words with cheers and understanding. However, their mood alters when Antony offers his interpretation of the situation. He passionately described the deeds Caesar performed in behalf of the citizens of Rome, which clearly contradict the opinion of the conspirators that Caesar was too ambitious. Antony carefully uses irony in referring to Cassius and Brutus as honorable men; the strategy wins over the citizens and they listen with growing anger to his words. He leads the citizens to the body and begins to show the brutal results of the murder while simultaneously influencing them to believe that the conspirators are murderers and traitors. Ultimately, Antony reads Caesar’s will, which leaves his parks, private estates, and newly planted gardens to the citizens of Rome.
These three men are unhappy with what is happening. Antony, as the most royal to the Caesar, is grieved by his death, and, right after, he shows it by saying: “O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, / That I am meek and gentle with these butchers! / Thou art the ruins of the noblest man / That ever livèd in the tide of times. / Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!” (3.1 269 - 273). Antony also talks about the revenge which conspirators will get from the people.He talks about “fierce civil strife” (3.1 278) and the appearance of “Caesar’s spirit” (3.1 285) which is a foreshadowing of the future events. Antony, although he does not agree with Brutus and blame him for Caesar’s death, he believes that Brutus is a “ noblest Roman of them all” because of his actions for the good of Rome,