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Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis Essay

910 Words4 Pages

Emir Jusic
Kessler
English II
6 february 2023

The death of brutus “ A city on fire then the world”. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a classic play written by William Shakespeare, which depicts the events leading to the assassination of Julius Caesar and the defeat of the conspirators in the Battle of Philippi. The play is primarily centered around Marcus Brutus and his inner struggle between honor, patriotism, ego, and friendship. In order to understand Brutus as a Tragic Hero, it is important to consider the key characteristics of this type of protagonist. A Tragic Hero is of high social rank, such as a king, prince, or general, and must have a tragic flaw, an error in judgment or character defect that they often do not realize until …show more content…

Throughout his speech, Brutus makes use of rhetorical questions to appeal to the emotions of the crowd. He asks the people of Rome to consider whether Caesar was ambitious, to which the crowd responds that he was. Brutus then asks whether it is nobler to let Caesar live and let the consequences fall where they may or to take arms against a sea of troubles and end them (3.2.13-16). This rhetorical question effectively portrays Brutus as a man of noble character, acting in the best interest of Rome. Moreover, Brutus also makes use of parallel structure in his speech. He repeats the phrase "not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" (3.2.21) multiple times to emphasize his patriotism and to gain the sympathy of the crowd. In contrast, Antony's speech also uses rhetorical questions but focuses more on repetition. He repeatedly states that "Brutus is an honorable man" (3.2.82-87) to slowly erode the trust of the crowd in Brutus's actions. He also makes use of repetition to further emphasize his own credibility and to establish his control over the …show more content…

“Then fall caesar” (3,1,77). Brutus’ speech is characterized by its use of ethos, while Antony’s speech uses pathos and logos. Brutus’ speech is primarily based on his credibility and the moral responsibility he feels to explain the events to the people. On the other hand, Antony’s speech relies on emotional appeals and logical arguments to sway the people. One of the most prominent rhetorical strategies used by Brutus is repetition. In his speech, Brutus repeats the phrase “not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (3.2.21). He repeats this phrase to emphasize his loyalty to the Roman Republic and to explain why he was compelled to participate in the assassination of Caesar. This repetition helps to create an impact on the audience and makes Brutus’ argument more persuasive. Another rhetorical strategy used by Brutus is parallel structure. In his speech, Brutus uses a series of parallel phrases to emphasize the reasoning behind the assassination. He says, “Had you rather Caesar were living and died all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” (3.2.20-21). The repetition of the word “rather” and the parallel structure of the sentences highlight Brutus’ argument that the assassination was necessary to preserve the freedom of the Roman

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Shakespeare compromises the use of rhetorical questions into Cassius’ words to further sway his audience. “Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed that he is grown so great?”(I.ii.58-59). Cassius signals that Caesar and Brutus have grown up to be valuable and honorable men, equally gifted to rule a republic. Shakespeare incorporated the use of a rhetorical question, as it empowered the belief of equality between Brutus and Caesar. Both sharing the same knowledge and capability but obtaining different

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Throughout Brutus’s speech he continues to tell the crowd how

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“Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than Caesar were dead to live all free men? The last appeal Brutus uses is Pathos to give emotions to his words. Pathos is the appeal to emotion and Brutus uses it to show his feelings towards Rome are immense that he killed Caesar to stop his “ambitions” from controlling Rome. On line 36 Brutus says “With this I depart,--that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome.

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In view of, Caesar becoming to ambitious, Brutus kills him. As Brutus begins to speak out at the funeral he asks,“Had you rather Caesar living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead to all free men?”(Shakespeare 42). With this

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In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Brutus and Antony both used different techniques in order to capture the audience's attention and approval in their speeches about Caesar's death. They both include repetition, rhetorical strategies, dramatic pauses, and parallelism in order to get the crowd on their sides. Both men use different strategies by knowing the audience and they use this to their advantage. Brutus and Antony both choose the use of Pathos and Ethos specifically appeal to the audience and their love for their country.

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This is when you start off with the bad things to say, but then finish your statement with the good things so that the audience only thinks about the good things. “Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” He says that he loves Rome more than caesar, which implies that something bad was to happen when he became dictator. The way he explains his actions ties together almost perfectly, to keep this going he says that if he had not done what he had done then all of his audience would be slaves. Obviously, none of the roman people want to be slaves, or even think of themselves as slaves, so the audience is more likely to be less aggressive towards him.

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However, Antony uses his exact words to negate his argument. He says, “But Brutus says he was ambitious.” He does this in order to show the crowd that the conspirator 's main reason for killing Caesar was wrong. By giving examples of how Caesar wasn’t ambitious, then saying that Brutus said Caesar was ambitious, he turns the crowd against the conspirators, achieving his specific effect. Antony was the more persuasive character in the use of repetition because he was able to disprove the things Brutus said.

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In Brutus’s speech he used ethos and logos to try and control the people of Rome. He was stoic and blinded of what Antony was capable of. He wanted to change their minds about the conspiracy and the murder of Caesar. Brutus says “Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men” (III, i, 23-24).

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Antony’s Speech Using Rhetorical Appeals In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, after Caesar’s death, the Romans are conflicted about what should be done. After Brutus’ speech the Romans are ready to crown Brutus king and be on the conspirators’ side. Though Brutus then leaves the crowd while Antony delivers his speech, the crowd realizes what should be done of Caesar’s murder and Antony prevents the conspirators from getting away with the murder of Caesar.

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This justifies the use of rhetorical questions as an acceptable, rational persuasion technique. Immediately after this rhetorical question, Cassius uses compare and contrast by comparing Brutus to Caesar by saying, “Write them together, yours is as fair a name; / Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well” (1.2.48-51). By claiming that Brutus and Caesar both have “fair” names and that the names both “sound” equally honorable, Cassius highlights a clear comparison between Brutus and Caesar. The similarities between the two are emphasized by Cassius in order to persuade Brutus that he is equally as important as Caesar, and should not allow Caesar to establish his own tyrannical state.

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Brutus delivers his speech in a laudatory manner by conveying Caesar’s deeds and claiming he was ambitious, although Antony contradicts Brutus’ claims and says Caesar spurned the crown with the intent to merely rule as a de facto dictator. Brutus’ speech reveals his motives were truly for the benefit of Rome given his nationalistic tone and Antony’s speech was merely used to obscure his true motives, which was to embroil Rome in a series of civil wars to attain power. Brutus and Antony’s speeches consisted predominantly of Pathos and Ethos, but it is Antony who ultimately it is Antony who prevails because of his almost disingenuous attitude and even use of Logos which is seen when claims that reading Caesar’s will would dishonor his compeers and even Caesar

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In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar one of the main characters Caesar is killed in Scene 3 act 2.Then Brutus and Antony both give speeches about how bad they feel. Brutus gives a good speech by using all three of the rhetorical appeals to persuade the crowd to want to listen to what he say by using logos,ethos,pathos to his advantage. Brutus gives a better speech that draws the audience attention,Antony not as much. Therefor here are some very valid points on why Brutus’s speech used the Rhetorical Appeals better.

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Brutus tries to impress the crowd by saying that Caesar was going to become a dictator. “Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” (ii. III.L 22-24). Brutus gives this reason to make the people think this murderous act was honorable.

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Brutus 's speech: Brutus speaks to the people of rome why he killed caesar so they will not turn on him. He talked about how he didnt kill him because he didn 't love him but because it was for the better of rome. He also tells the people of rome that letting caesar become king would mean the government type would change and all the wars and hard work his family had put into the government would go away. He also states, for the welfare of rome that he would die for rome if rome demands his death Rhetorical devices: Brutus used questions, logos, parallelism, and pathos to stir the people of rhome. Question-

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Antony’s speech is effective because of repetition, personification, and apostrophe. Repetition is used frequently in his speech, especially during the end. “Brutus says he was ambitious” (Ⅲ, ii), “Brutus is an honorable man” (Ⅲ, ii). The purpose behind this is Antony is

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