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Brutus Rhetoric Analysis

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Throughout the entirety of William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, one can find many examples of rhetoric; however it is especially seen in the speeches given by the characters Brutus and Antony in Act III Scene II. Ethos, a rhetorical device that establishes credibility and principles, can be found at the beginning of the speech Brutus delivers to the plebians; Brutus states, “Be patient till the last. Romans, Countrymen, and lovers, hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear. Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe. Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses” (III.ii. 13-18). Through these words, Brutus is using ethos in order to establish his credibility to the average …show more content…

Antony uses a greater variety of rhetorical devices than Brutus does in his speech, ultimately leading him to a more successful outcome. Although Brutus does get the people to understand his motive for the assassination of Caesar, Antony quickly undoes everything that Brutus had accomplished with his speech. Antony manages to divert the minds of the people away from everything they were just convinced of, and then completely alters the people’s perspective to fit his views and reasoning. Overall, Antony does this by strategically using a handful of different rhetorical questions in his speech. He first utilizes ethos in order to establish his credibility and principles before he proceeds any further, which the man does on purpose in order to gain the plebians’ trust. Proceeding his use of ethos, Antony includes a solid amount of pathos, allowing the people to realize his vulnerability and start to feel pity towards the man. In the end, this causes the people to place an even greater amount of trust in Antony; making it easier for him to sway the minds of the people. Similarly, Antony also utilizes logos and other various rhetorical devices. By using logos, Antony appears to have an even stronger argument, which compells the people to believe in his words even more. His

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