Danielle Hunt Mr. Ioannidis 1st Hr. English 10B 22 May 2023 The Heart Is the Key to Persuasion In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Antony’s speech was more successful than Brutus’s at persuading the crowd because of his observation of the commoner’s intelligence level and his ability to utilize rhetoric. In Brutus’s speech, he puts more weight on logos and ethos when orating to the commoners. Antony emphasizes an appeal to the emotions of the plebeians by referring to Caesar’s body, cloak, and will. He was also successful in counteracting Brutus’s claim of Caesar being too ambitious to be king of Rome. When Brutus is speaking, he takes a more logical route to attempt to persuade the people into believing his story. He uses ethos to encourage …show more content…
Antony utilizes Caesar’s will, body, and cloak to tug at their heartstrings. He initially uses the will as leverage to really pull the commoners into his trap. He states that “I must not read it. It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you. You are not wood, you are not stones, but men. And being men, bearing the will of Caesar, It will inflame you, it will make you mad,” (III, ii, 139-144). This indeed enrages the people of how the conspirators have wronged Caesar. He also draws attention to Caesar’s body and the cloak he was wearing when he was assassinated. He holds up the cloak and points to each of the holes and names the conspirator who put it there. Even when tarnishing the reputation of the conspirators he continuously refers to them as honorable men, but implies that such honorable men would not do such an unjust task. In Act III, Scene ii, lines 204-206, Antony says “They that have done this deed are honorable. What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, That made them do it. They are wise and honorable.” This heavily uses sarcasm to paint the opposite picture of the conspirators than what he is directly