Alyssa Parker Mrs. Comm Honors English 10 April 14th 2023 Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in Marc Antony’s Speech In the ides of March, arguably the greatest rhetorical speech of all time would be given, not to lament the passing of a great leader, but to bring the crowd against his killers. Marc Antony’s speech from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, is filled with rhetorical devices used to persuade the crowd to turn against the conspirators. Antony manipulates the crowd first with ethos to sway their trust, then logos to rebut against Brutus’ arguments, and finally pathos to ultimately transform them into a riot against the conspirators. To start off his speech, Antony uses ethos to gain the crowd’s trust, then, later, to turn them against the conspirators. …show more content…
This line serves to set a sort of expectation for his address- that he will be giving a largely objective statement about the life of Caesar, not including any of his own opinions and not trying to persuade the audience one way or the other. Although he will later insert his own beliefs regardless, this early use of ethos allows the crowd to give him the benefit of the doubt, causing them to think his opinions are grounded in fact. Later, this trust he builds using ethos in the beginning of the speech allows him to take credibility from the conspirators. Antony claims that “[he fears he wrongs] the honorable men / Whose daggers have stabbed Caesar; [he does] fear it.” (3.2.151-52) By telling the crowd he fears the conspirators, he not only takes credibility away from them- establishing them as impulsively quick to kill anyone in their way- but he also effectively tells the crowd that they too should fear the conspirators. He says that, since he is here giving an honest speech, and he fears the conspirators, then it is reasonable that every common person should fear