Antony And Brutus Use Of Rhetorical Devices Used In Julius Caesar

In Julius Caesar, both Antony and Brutus delivered languishing speeches using rhetorical devices to attract the audience and persuade the crowd that their opinions were correct and logical. Marcus Brutus used more of a scare tactic and threatened the people of Rome to challenge him. Mark Antony used more of a sentimental and emotional technique to appeal to the vulnerable audience. He speaks to the crowd, rather than above it as Brutus does in his lofty speech of honor. Mark Antony presented the more rhetorically effective speech using the vulnerability of the Roman citizen’s feelings and the techniques of pathos, plain folk, bandwagon and reverse psychology. Among many different rhetorical devices, Antony mainly used pathos. Pathos evokes people's emotions to become fragile. “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar” (Stanza 4). Antony uses this to encourage the people of Rome to grieve the loss of Caesar because he is hurting too. The people are going to appeal to this strategy because they are going to follow someone that is easy to relate to and shares the same feelings they do. Antony is also encouraging the crowd to mourn and to personally feel the loss of Caesar because even though he is dead, he still

“You all did love him once, not without cause: What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?” (Stanza 4). Antony uses the technique of bandwagon to show the severity of what he is saying because he knows that they will all follow each other. Antony knows that if some of the crowd starts to feel for Caesar, the rest will then follow and that is what Antony wants. Antony wants the reassurance from the crowd that they trust him enough to follow him and his actions. The use of pathos in this quote is exhibited by the guilt that Antony tries to burden the people with. He says we loved him when he was alive, therefore why should we not love him when he is