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Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis

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Set during an incredibly tumultuous period of the Roman Republic, Julius Caesar recounts the complex relationships and histories between rulers, countrymen, generals, and armies that led to the death of Caesar, and later his assassins. In his provocative historical tragedy Julius Caesar, the famous poet and playwright William Shakespeare examines how values of manhood and honor influence the decisions of his characters. Frequently adopting a manipulative tone, characters in Julius Caesar use tropes of repetition, create graphic imagery, and recite anecdotes to spur other characters into action, often for their own gain. Throughout Julius Caesar, various characters use repetition to contrast values of honor, persuading other characters into …show more content…

Moreover, Antony uses repetition to contrast Brutus’ opinion on Caesar’s ambition with Caesar acting selflessly, shifting the crowd's favor as a whole. Also using repetition, Portia employs her status as “a woman, but withal a woman that Lord Brutus took to wife” to persuade Brutus into confiding in her (Shakespeare 2.1.315-316). Using anaphora, Portia adds to the rhythm of her plea, consequently, emphasizing this portion of her claim. Moreover, the repetition of “woman” enables Portia to distinguish the lack of honor given to women within the social hierarchy of Rome from the honor that Brutus has given her as a high-status, honorable individual. Through the use of graphic imagery, characters in Julius Caesar influence the decisions of others. To convince Caesar to come to the Senate, Decius Brutus manipulates Calphurnia’s dream of “statues spilling blood” into a dream foretelling Rome’s “reviv[al]” (Shakespeare 2.2.90). Decius uses graphic imagery to appeal to Caesar’s value of manhood, using Caesar’s lack of fear and his prideful nature against …show more content…

Moreover, displaying Caesar’s wounds emphasizes the conspirators' violent actions against him, rather than their honorable cause. In turn, the Roman people mutiny against the conspirators. In order to influence the actions and gain the trust of others, characters in Julius Caesar recite anecdotes. While convincing Brutus to join the conspirators, Cassius recites stories of him saving “the tired Caesar” from drowning and him witnessing a seizure, wherein Caesar “[shook]” and “groan[ed]” like “a little girl” (Shakespeare 1.2.128-135). Cassius challenges Caesar’s manhood and aptitude to rule over Rome by reciting stories of Caesar's weakness. Further, providing detailed examples of Caesar’s weakness makes Cassius seem more trustworthy in Brutus’ eyes, enabling his success in convincing Brutus to kill Caesar, his best friend. However, Antony believed Caesar to embody manhood and honor when recounting the story of Caesar “refus[ing]” the “kingly crown” at his funeral (Shakespeare

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Act III, Scene 2 of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Antony's speech effectively develops and supports the central idea of turning the people against Brutus and honoring Caesar, through his use of emotional appeal, rhetorical questions, and loaded words. Brutus manipulated the people but Antony uses good reasoning to turn the people against Brutus. Antony masterfully employs emotional appeal to evoke strong feelings in the audience and encourage them to turn against Brutus. “For when the noble Caesar saw him stab, ingratitude, more strong than traitor’s arms, quite vanqished him.” Therefore the noble Caesar so who stab him and brutus was his friend and did him wrong. ”

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Mark Antony's speech on the death of Julius Caesar is a great piece of sympathy that serves as a very important moment in William Shakespeare's play "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. " Delivered with great power and manipulation, Antony's speech showcases his strengths in delivering speeches. This essay will analyze the key rhetorical devices used by Mark Antony, examining their strategic intent and their impact on the audience's perception and emotions. The first thing we will be talking about is ethos.

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In part of Antony’s speech, he repeats “Brutus is an honorable man … Brutus is an honorable man” (2). Antony is repeating this phrase to emphasize his sarcasm towards how he feels about Brutus. He despises of Brutus and repeats this as a sarcastic joke because Brutus (in Antony’s eyes), is not an honorable man. However, Brutus uses repetition just to emphasize a point when the crowd says “none, Brutus, none” (5).

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Shakespeare is known for his incredible tragic drama writing in which he constructs different types of rhetorical devices to influence the setting, mood, and tone of a play, one being The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. These devices demonstrate the enhancement in a speaker’s attitude, personality, and emotion to get a point across. In one particular scene, Shakespeare works in Mark Antony’s speech where he reads to the Plebeians using various amount of rhetorical devices to get his point across. The purpose for Antony’s speech is to show how Julius Caesar died in vain, how the Plebeians are now supporting his murders, and how the Plebeians are not being open minded about the situation. Mark Antony uses repetition to enhance his sarcasm to potentially help his speech influence the Plebeians behavior in a convincing manner, making them turn on Brutus through emotional appeal.

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During Act 1 Scene 2, of Shakespeare's play, Julius Ceasar, Cassius gives a lengthy speech in which he uses multiple forms of rhetoric to persuade Brutus of Caesar’s many faults. Cassius discredits Caesar by using logos to exemplify Caesar’s weakness when he claims that Caesar dared him to jump into a river but could not follow, and instead,"[He] cried 'Help me, Cassius, or I sink!'"(Shakespeare). Cassius uses this example to demonstrate that because Caesar cannot swim or follow through with his own challenges, he is not as powerful as the Roman people believe him to be. Cassius also appeals to Brutus’ pride by saying that “ …[Caesar] doth bestride the narrow world Like a colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about…”(Shakespeare).

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P. Essay In the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, the characters Brutus and Antony each give a speech at Caesar’s funeral. Each Man uses rhetorical appeals to persuade the audience to their side however, Antony did a better job of using rhetorical techniques with his use of repetition, sarcasm, and supporting evidence to persuade the audience.

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During his speech, he refers back to his relationship with Caesar, telling the audience that he "weep[s] for [Caesar]" and "honor[s] him," even though Caesar was too ambitious to rule Rome(III.ii.20-24). To highlight his relationship with Caesar, Brutus uses anaphora to represent his use of ethos. He intends to make it clear that personal relations between him and Caesar were not the cause of the assassination; rather, for the good of Rome together. Brutus builds a foundation for his argument so that the plebeians could trust him and justify his actions. In order to further explain the motivation behind Caesar's execution, Brutus recalls the "honor for [Caesar's] valor," but assures Rome that Caesar’s "death” was caused by “his ambition" (III.ii.25).

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In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a play by Shakespeare, depicts a story of Caesar who emerges victorious after a prolonged war against Pompey, a beloved Roman military commander, and is presented with the Roman crown; however, the Senators realize that their authority is at risk , so they plot to murder Caesar. Specifically in Act three, scene two, Mark Antony is speaking at Caesar's funeral, but secretly wants to get revenge against the conspirators who plotted Caesar’s murder by persuading his audience. To sway the commoners, he uses his words to modestly makes the conspirators the true criminals. Antony attempts to convince his audience that Brutus’s claims were false by using repetition, antithesis, and rhetorical questions. To start,

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In Julius Caesar, a drama written by William Shakespeare, it explores themes of ambition, betrayal, and political intrigue in ancient Rome. The play shows how ambition can lead to downfall and explores the tough choices people can face in leadership. Through the use of diction that implies how Brutus is dishonorable, juxtaposition, and appeals to the Plebeians grief, Antony tries to get them to turn against the conspirators to start a civil war. Antony uses this dictation to imply that Caesar is a really good man who cares about his people and that Brutus and the conspirators are murderers who don’t care about their leader. Throughout Brutus’s speech, he mentioned several times how Caesar was an ambitious leader, so Antony tells them that, “When the

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I rather choose To wrong the dead, To wrong myself and you, Than I will Wrong such honorable men,” the words of mark Antony's powerful speech inspires the plebeians to take justice into their own hand, the words of powerful icons in the story prove the point of how words can do more damage than any weapon. Cassius a scheming crafty man, who is able swindle Brutus into trusting him, and seeing him as an icon with good intentions,“Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared

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He does this by targeting Brutus’ honor, something Brutus values greatly, and by making himself seem much more honorable than he actually is. In the first scene with Brutus and Cassius, the two men have a conversation about Caesar. This is the beginning of the end of Brutus’ trust for Caesar. Cassius uses varying manipulation tactics throughout the play but starts with guilt-tripping. After Caesar and Brutus finish talking to the Soothsayer, Brutus bumps into Cassius.

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748 Words | 3 Pages

Both Portia and Calphurnia are conscious of the imminent perils. The women appear to be tuned to a different frequency, much like animals that can detect the approaching of an earthquake. In her dreams, Calphurnia sees the statue of Caesar oozing blood as happy Romans wash their hands in the stream. Calphurnia knows that her dream foretells bad luck for Caesar even though Decius mocks her

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Portia, Brutus’ wife, persuades him into telling her why he was acting peculiar and mysterious. She persuades him by stating that he is treating her like a “harlot (prostitute), not his wife” (II.i. 302-310) and also stabs herself in the thigh. Portia illustrates her feelings without backing down and does not hesitate, allowing room for Brutus to waver. Ultimately, he confesses everything to her, even about the details of the conspiracy although he made a promise to never tell anyone about it. Consistency with words can persuade those who do not want to be persuaded.

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Cassius saves the life of Caesar, sees him beg for water, and witnesses his epileptic seizure. From these weaknesses, Cassius finds himself to be just as worthy of the crown as is Caesar. His reasons are emotionally tied to getting rid of Caesar, Brutus chooses to become a conspirator for the good of Rome. He does not know how Caesar will use his power.

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