Discuss Antony's Use Of Rhetorical Appeals In Julius Caesar

In the play Julius Caesar, Antony uses the rhetorical appeals of logos and pathos in his funeral speech to persuade his audience of commoners of the conspirators’ cruelty and the atrocity of Caesar’s murder. Antony develops his logical appeal through his use of both repetition as well as rhetorical questions. In utilizing repetition, Antony claims throughout his speech that Brutus and the other conspirators were “honorable men” (Shakespeare). His restatement of this phrase serves to aid the audience in understanding that he is utilizing irony and does not, in fact, believe the conspirators’ actions were virtuous. This reiteration also makes his audience doubt Brutus, who they, moments ago, considered worthy of being their leader. This doubt

By asking this rhetorical question after instances of Caesar’s good doings for Rome, Antony perpetuates the idea that Caesar was not ambitious and his murder was unjust. By the end of his reasoning, Antony has supplied his audience with multiple counts of Caesar’s benevolence and ensured their agreement. This agreement is strengthened by Antony’s emotional appeals; he creates these through his utilization of both imagery and a visual aid. In utilizing imagery, Antony discusses the conspirators’ relationships with Caesar and notes that Brutus, their leader, was “Caesar’s angel” (Shakespeare). In mentioning this, Antony creates a visual of pureness and good in association to Brutus and then overturns it by discussing how Brutus brutally murdered Caesar, his closest friend. This visual and Antony’s discarding of it helps his audience better understand the evil Antony wants them to see in Brutus’ actions, and further turns his audience against the conspirators. Antony leads his audience even farther from their previous trust in the conspirators through his use of Caesar’s dead body as a