Examples Of Ethos In Julius Caesar

Caesar has met his devastating end. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare Brutus and the conspirators assassinate Caesar and convince the citizens of Rome that they were in the right. Antony disagrees with their actions and decides to avenge Caesar at his funeral. In his persuasive speech to the crowd of Romans, Antony utilizes pathos, ethos, and logos to argue that the conspirators’ assassination of Caesar was unwarranted. Doing so forces his audience to transform from mourners into an angry mob of rioters. To begin, Antony employs pathos in order to elicit strong emotions from the Roman crowd. He describes how his heart remains with Caesar after his death, “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, / And I must pause

He tells the crowd that he does not intend to discredit Brutus, but rather to speak facts,“I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, / But here I am to speak what I do know” (3.2.97-98). Antony is clarifying to the audience that he intends to tell them only what he knows to be true. This makes the people of Rome inclined to believe that he will not lie to them about these important matters. Antony furthers this by bringing up his character and his relationship with his audience, “But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man / That love my friend; and that they know full well / That gave me public leave to speak of him. / For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, / Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech / To stir men’s blood; I only speak right on” (3.2.214-219). This reminds the crowd that Antony is their ally and that they should value what he has to say regarding Caesar. By establishing this friendship, Antony causes the audience to become distrustful of

He informs the citizens of the fact that, when offered, Caesar denied kingship, “I thrice presented him a kingly crown, / Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?” (3.2.93-94). This example contradicts Brutus’s assertion that Caesar was too ambitious for Rome’s good, leading the Romans to question what they were told by Brutus. Antony also utilizes a convincing piece of physical evidence: Caesar’s will,“But here’s a parchment with the seal of Caesar; / I found it in his closet, ‘tis his will” (3.2.125-126). The contents of this document, including Caesar’s honorable donation to each individual of Rome, allow Antony to prove that Caesar cared greatly for the citizens rather than himself exclusively. These confirmations send the crowd into turmoil as they come to align with Antony’s