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Marc Antony's Ethos In Julius Caesar

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Shocked. The entirety of Rome is stricken to the core by the tragic death of their leader. The one they admire, worship, and rely on. Gone so suddenly. How must the city react to such an event? In the famous play of Julius Caesar, ethos-, logos-, and pathos-based persuasive techniques are used in the funeral speeches, coming first from Brutus and then Marc Antony, to influence the people of Rome to view Caesar's death as either an asset or a downfall.
Brutus, closest friend and murderer of Caesar, takes a stand in front of the crowd of Romans, intending to enlighten his positive outlook upon the situation. In order to convince his audience, Brutus insists that Caesar was too ambitious, and that type of ambition would bring Rome to ruins …show more content…

Similar to Brutus' speech, Antony starts out by expressing his relatability, beginning with, "Friends, Romans, countrymen . . ." signifying that he speaks to everyone equally (Shakespeare). Concurrently, he addresses his authority by speaking in blank verse, the way in which noble people speak. To contest Brutus' logic, Antony makes multiple conjectures. For instance, "He hath brought many captives home to Rome / Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill," describing how Caesar, too, cared deeply for Rome (Shakespeare). Moreover, Antony brings up the fact that Caesar refused the crown not once, not twice, but three times, proving that he did not crave power like Brutus makes it seem. Furthermore, Caesar's will is mentioned: The will in which money and land is devoted to all Roman citizens. Why would the people turn on a man who would give them such values? There is a sense of guilt, considering Caesar's good hopes. At this point, Brutus' nobility becomes quite controversial due to him guilting Caesar of being so "ambitious," despite evidence that he wanted the best for Rome. Antony emphasizes pathos by saying, "He was my friend, faithful and just to me" (Shakespeare). This draws out sympathy from the crowd, offering empathy for his loss. Also, Antony remarks, "When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept" (Shakespeare). Surely, Caesar cared greatly for his people, he cried when they cried, as he felt deeply for them. Naturally, the crowd is then infuriated towards the conspirators' bold actions and seek retribution. In brief, Antony touched on the generosity of Caesar and doubted Brutus' honor, winning over the people's

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By refusing to read the will several times and admitting that what it contains will cause the people to have such a great love for Caesar that knowing he is now dead will be unbearable, Antony ignites curiosity in the people and furthermore, a subconscious feeling of respect and graciousness toward Caesar. Basically, Antony uses Caesar’s will to convince the people that Caesar was a selfless, kind-hearted man and those who killed him should be ashamed and punished for killing an innocent man. Through Antony’s use of paralipsis, he is able to plant a seed of admiration for Caesar and one of hate for the conspirators in the hearts of the plebeians. In his speech to the citizens, Antony also asks many rhetorical questions to cause his audience to pause and reflect on how they really feel, or how Antony wants them to feel, about certain people and events that have recently become important. In one instance.

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Julius Caesar: Analysis of Tone in Funeral Speeches MLK, Jr. once said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends” (Goodreads). In the play Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare, actions and words are used and spoken against a friend and a rival contributing to the assassination of their fellow friend Caesar. Two people that were very close to Caesar speak out against each other during their funeral speeches. Brutus, who is a “friend” and also a conspirator against Caesar, and Antony who is a very loyal friend to Caesar, use several rhetorical and literary devices as they create tone of proud assertive and defiant manipulation to get the Roman citizens on their side.

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Brutus wants to make the crowd feel like he is in a way the victim. In order to do that he says "As Caesar loved me I weep for him" so in a way the people feel bad for him. This emotional appeal did not persuade the audience considering the fact that he was if he truly did love Caesar as much as he said he would, then he would have tried to find a different route in getting rid of Caesar as emperor. Antony goes with the approach of making the people of Rome feel guilty. He tells the citizens "You all love him once not without cause what cause withholds you then to mourn for him" so they could reflect on their attitude towards his death.

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While Brutus spoke well, but had no real factual standpoint, Antony gave many examples of Caesar’s achievements. In his speech he uses Pathos, Logos, Ethos, and Situational Irony to sway his audience. He uses Brutus’ and Cassius’ precious honor and Caesar’s achievements against them, saying, “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept./ Ambition should be made of sterner stuff./ Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,/ And Brutus is an honorable man” (3.2.90-93). In this statement and many other statements following the same pattern Antony degrades the honor and the arguments of Caesar’s ambition that were made by Brutus and the other conspirators.

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The Tragedy of Julius Caesar- Rhetorical Analysis In the novel, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, after Brutus brutally executes Caesar in Act 3 Scene 2, Antony is allowed to give a speech to the people of Rome whom have seen witnessed this fatal tragedy in Scene 3. Antony uses anaphora, connotative diction and details throughout his speech to persuade the Romans to change their perspective of Caesar and Brutus. The way Antony speaks about both Caesar & Brutus are a dispute of what he is actually trying to announce to the Romans. At the end of his speech, Antony hopes to reach the Romans emotionally (pathos) by enraging them against Brutus’s false statements against Caesar.

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Antony uses rhetorical appeals and techniques in his speech to turn the people of Rome against those conspiring against Caesar. As a result, the people see Antony as a persuasive and strong leader of Rome. Antony opens his speech at Caesar’s funeral by using ethos to present himself as a credible source and a friend of Caesar. Antony states his purpose in the beginning of his speech by starting with “I come to bury

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Marcus Junius Brutus and Mark Antony both deliver speeches to justify the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE and both use Logos and Ethos to convince the Roman citizens to join their sides. Both sides deliver their speeches with vehemence and start by elucidating why Brutus killed Caesar to begin with, why Antony’s desire for revenge is justified, and what the future of Rome will be because of his death. Antony teases the citizens of Rome with the will of Caesar that he holds in hand and claims it will dishonor Brutus and the other conspirators and is also one of his vital uses of Ethos in his speech. Most of the citizens, if not all of them side with Antony and will most likely help him accede to a great title of power in the future and also betray Brutus because of what Antony has them believe, i.e. an ignoble assassin. Brutus and Antony 's speeches were both compelling, although Antony´s speech was more successful, but it is because he was able to manipulate the people of Rome with

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The sadness he shows to the Plebeians causes them to feel sympathetic towards him, which persuades them into believing that the conspirators are careless men. To prove that Caesar cared a lot about Rome, Mark Antony mentions that, “ When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept; Ambition should be made of sterner stuff” (3.2. 100-101). When a leader is upset about a

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In William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, the tragedy of Julius Caesar’s death occurs. Mark Antony and Marcus Brutus each gave a funeral speech. While both the speeches were well spoken, Mark Antony’s ended up being the better speech. Antony’s better use and variety of ethos, pathos, and logos, his use of figurative language, and the comparison between Antony’s and Brutus’s speeches proves that Antony’s speech is in the end better than Brutus’s speech. Antony’s speech uses ethos to show everyone around him that he is their friend, and he understands what they are going through; also Antony uses ethos to get the citizens to listen to him, because while Brutus says he is honorable, Antony says that he is with them and where they stand in

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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 and Antony use ethos, logos, and pathos in their speeches to convince the commoners of their side of the story. One person just so happens to be more convincing than the other. Using ethos,

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