Persuasion is a natural method many people use to influence a person's beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviors in a situation. Many include, bribing parents to buy clothes to even lending someone money. Either way, people all over the world use words or phrases to convince or sway a person into believing them. Just as many people have used rhetorical appeals to persuade someone, Anthony also uses the rhetorical appeals; heartfelt pathos, questionable logos and evident ethos in William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar to convince his audience that Caesar was not ambitious and that Caesar was innocent Initially, emotional appeal also known as pathos represents the reaction readers feel when reading some sort …show more content…
Anthony uses facts and evidence in his speech to back up his claim and prove that Caesar should not have been killed and is therefore innocent. Anthony brings up logical reasoning when asking the audience if Caesars actions seem “ambitious” and claiming that men have turned into “brutish beasts and have lost their reason” (3.2.99-114). When Anthony questions the audience he makes them question if Caesar should have really been killed. The word “beast” has the connotation to relate the citizens to a cruel unhuman creature or monster that are not capable of reasoning. Anthony also proves the audience that Caesar was clearly not ambitious when Caesar “Thrice refuse[d]” his crown (3.2.106). In this scene, Caesar shows no eagerness to gain power or fame as the citizens have assumed therefore showing no ambition whatsoever. The imagery and logical reasoning persuade the audience into rethinking if Caesar was ambitious and believe that Caesar was …show more content…
To be accepted and listened to, Anthony starts his speech out by calling the citizens “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears” (3.2.82). He starts out by calling the people “friends” to make them feel comfortable and responsive, opposed to starting out on a more negative tone and calling them by their nationality. This way the audience automatically feels a closer connection to Anthony. Juxtaposition between the two speeches is shown to reveal Anthony’s effectiveness by addressing them as friends. When someone is called a “friend” the person may feel connected or close to that person causing them to listen and eventually agree with the other person. Anthony also seems to have a close relationship to Caesar when he claims that “he was my friend, faithful and just to me” (3.2.94). For many relationship’s it takes a while for trust to be built and faithfulness is a true quality of a healthy friendship. Most people would listen to Anthony’s speech more since he claims he was his true friend rather than just a man like Brutus who killed him for no credible reason. Knowing that Anthony was Caesar’s friend, credibility is automatically gained from Anthony since he probably spent more time with Caesar and actually got to perceive Caesars “ambitions” more than anyone
In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus is a skillful orator who makes use of rhetorical devices to convey his points. In his speech made after the death of Caesar, Brutus uses devices such as ethos, parallelism, and rhetorical questions to persuade the people to his way of thinking. Ethos is when a speaker gives an example of credibility in order to appeal to the listener’s ethics. When Brutus asks the people to “believe me for mine honor, and have respect for mine honor” (3.2.14-15), he is using ethos to appeal to their morals in order to make them consider his opinions. The use of ethos exhibits Brutus’ need for the people to approve of him, and by extension, the assassination of Caesar. Later, Brutus utilizes parallelism
Since the beginning of mankind, humans always use their skills of persuasion in order to prove a point to an audience. John F. Kennedy and William Shakespeare, though it is a 362 year difference, wrote and announced work displaying persuasion values. John F. Kennedy, in his Inauguration Speech, and Antony, a character in the William Shakespeare play Julius Caesar, uses the tools of language and persuasion in order to deliver the audience their intended reasoning. In both of the speeches, some of the tools that make these speeches effective is the tone, the rhetorical devices, and persuasive appeals.
Effectively communicating an idea or opinion requires several language techniques. In his study of rhetoric, Aristotle found that persuasion was established through three fundamental tools. One is logos, which is used to support an argument through hard data and statistics. Another is ethos, which is the credibility of an author or speaker that allows an audience to conclude from background information and language selection a sense of knowledge and expertise of the person presenting the argument. The impact of pathos, however, is the most effective tool in persuasion due to the link between emotions and decisions. Although each of these tools can be effective individually, a combination of rhetorical devices when used appropriately has the ability to sway an audience toward the writer’s point of view.
The central theme of Act III, Scene ii of “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare is the power of rhetoric because it shows the effect of two funeral orators’ on the crowd. In this scene, Antony and Brutus have similar purpose in talking to the public, which is to gain the support of the Plebeians according to their conflicting views about Caesar’s assassination. This essay focuses on comparing the orations of the two speakers in this part of the play according to Aristotle’s rhetoric system. According to Aristotle’s writings, Antony’s speech is more persuasive than Brutus’ speech, because he is able to provide logical, emotional and ethical appeals to his audience. Firstly, in comparison to Brutus’ logic, Antony provides more evidence to prove that Caesar was not ambitious. Secondly, Antony’s emotional acts and speech moved his audience more than Brutus. Finally, Antony acts more noble than Brutus does.
In english classes there is a certain book that is always looked at due to its stunning job at persuasive speaking and that is William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, which includes the marvelous speeches between Marcus Brutus and Marc Antony. These two men go head to head in a battle of the wits as they try to see whose side they can get the people of Rome on. Their speeches are filled to the brim with fallacies, logos, ethos, pathos, and many more literary devices and terms. While the speeches have much in common they also have many differences, and these differences prove victorious for one man and cause the other man his downfall.
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare portrays the 44 BC plot against the Roman dictator Caesar, his assassination and the downfall of the conspirators at the Battle of Philippi.
The speeches given by both Brutus and Mark Antony in William Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar are very persuasive to the audience. Mark Antony delivers a strong funeral oration in Caesar's honor. Antony was a trusted friend of Caesar and he manipulated the conspirators in thinking that he was fine with their deed. Antony uses a kind of mode of persuasion in order to convince the audience that Caesar is worthy kind of man. Antony then must use pathos in order to call the emotion of the audience. He must have to understand the nature of the audience to successfully induce his audience that Caesar really was not an ambitious man. After Brutus's speech ended it was Antony’s turn but Brutus made a big mistake by leaving as Antony started his speech. Antony starts his speech by saying, "friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him" (3. 2. 70). He immediately starts using rhetoric and calculated dramatic words to incite the crowd into a frenzy.
After Caesar dies in Act II, the excitement doesn’t end it gets even more intense when the speeches of Brutus and Antony take place. Antony and Brutus both gave speeches at Caesar’s funeral that were laid out with many uses of fallacies, logos, ethos, and pathos were used throughout these speeches. In one way, they had many similarities in their techniques. However, Antony and Brutus had many differences as well which put one of the speeches slightly above the other. Reading the play, in Antony's speech, he did well using logos, ethos, and pathos, along with fallacies.
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.
Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar." Houghton Mifflin Company. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston, 1994.
This makes it effortless for manipulators, like Antony, to influence them into doing whatever he passions. Antony operates his beneficial tools in his speech at the heartbreaking funeral of Caesar. Antony expresses in his melancholy speech to the people, “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” (III.ii.90-94). Antony applies the tools of pathos to convince the crowds that were just cheering the name of Brutus, to having the saucy plebs be foes to the untrustworthy conspirators. Antony also cleverly hints Caesar’s secret will to the eager people, which leads them to desperately wanting to see the mysterious will. Antony placidly
“Rhetoric, the art of making life less believable.”- Ben Marcus. In light of conspirators assassinating Marc Antony’s long-time friend, Caesar, Antony vows to avenge Caesar’s death. In Antony’s speech at Caesars funeral oration, Antony used rhetoric techniques to manipulate and persuade the audience into believing the same ideas Antony believed in. The purpose behind his speech was to lead into rebellion; Antony achieves this by stepping down to the audience’s level, using theatrical actions, and raising the morale to rebel against conspirators in the audience by presenting Caesar’s will.
“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.
From the absolute power of ancient kings and medieval monarchs to the tyrannical dictators of today, political corruption has been a persistent aspect of governed societies since their emergence early in human existence. In the quest for power, individuals create furtive conspiracies to overthrow governments and destroy policies. The presence of political corruption and conspiracy in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is prominent, as Brutus and Mark Antony conduct opposing conspiracies in relation to corruption in the Roman government. Shakespeare depicts Antony’s emotional drive, ability to set aside honor, and capacity to use manipulative language as additive to the strength of his conspiracy. These qualities allow his conspiracy to undermine Brutus and, in doing so, emphasize Brutus’ flaws of uncertainty, excessive accentuation of honor, and naïveté.