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Mark Antony's Funeral Speech Rhetorical Devices

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Mark Antony's funeral speech is widely praised as one of the most masterful examples of persuasive speech ever known to Shakespearian literature, and possibly literature as a whole. In the speech, Antony seeks to turn the Roman crowd against the conspirators who killed Caesar and to seek revenge for his death. He accomplishes this by using a variety of rhetorical strategies and persuasive techniques, including repetition, rhetorical questions, emotional appeals, and vivid language. Ultimately, Antony's purpose in this speech is to incite the crowd to take action and seek vengeance for Caesar, and he achieves this by presenting the compelling argument that Caesar was not ambitious, Caesar was good for Rome, and that he deserves vengeance. One of Antony’s most striking arguments is that Caesar was not ambitious. He crafts this argument by utilizing rhetorical questions and repetition. A prominent example of repetition throughout the speech is Antony’s repetition of the phrase "Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man." Each time Antony says this phrase, he infuses it with irony to show that the conspirators were lying about the circumstances behind …show more content…

He reminds the crowd of Caesar's love for the Roman people and his accomplishments for Rome, and he asks them to seek revenge for his death. Antony says, “You all did love him once, not without cause: What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?” This quote shows Antony's ability to connect his strong emotions about Caesar's death and the conspirators' actions to the emotions of the people, guiding the crowd to feel the same way about his death. Antony’s ability to manipulate the emotions of his audience effectively allows a strong connection to be formed between Antony and the crowd through the citizen’s underlying desire to seek justice for Rome, through the vengeance of

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And I must pause till it come back to me" (III.ii.107-109). Antony reveals his sentiments about Caesar’s death. By proclaiming his own feelings, Antony is trying to evoke compassion from the crowd. Antony establishes his love for Caesar, which tells his reason for defending Caesar. Since the crowd respects and trusts Antony, the audience members will also express feelings of sadness for Antony because of empathy.

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Antony’s story goes as follows: “Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through. / See what a rent the envious Casca made… Even at the base of Pompey's statue, / Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell,” (Shakespeare 3.2.171-186). Antony creates this story out of thin air, because Antony did not actually see the assassination of Caesar take place. However, Antony knows that if he blows the scene out of proportion, people will be sorrowful now that he convinced them to like Caesar. The emotional value of this story had a great effect on the crowd, and their fiery rage for the conspirators was now even stronger.

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When Mark Antony sees Caesar dead he plans to rebel against Brutus and cause a riot. He goes up to the people of Rome and proves to them that Caesar had no intention of turning his back on them. Mark Antony uses pathos, logos and ethos to convince the people of Rome that Caesar did not deserve to be killed. Mark Antony uses pathos effectively in his speech to persuade the people of Rome to rebel against Brutus. Antony’s speech was meant to give strong emotion towards the audience

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Marc Antony’s speech in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar excels in persuasive rhetoric. He uses all three modes of persuasion- ethos, pathos, and logos. Shakespeare uses them to express different perspectives of human emotion. The use of these writing methods are important because, it appeals to the audience. Everyone likes to hear valid reasons why they should believe, buy, or boycott something.

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At his funeral, Antony gives a speech in which addresses the mob siding with Brutus that is celebrating his death. In his speech, Antony uses a variety of appeals in order to convince the mob that Brutus should be held accountable for the death of Caesar. Antony’s

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When he repeated these words, he created a comparison of what Brutus said Caesar was like, versus what the evidence said about Caesar. Marc Antony brought up the fact that when Caesar was offered the crown of Rome three times, he refused the crown all three times, and even fainted. Then he poses the question, “was this ambition?” (Shakespeare 106). This rhetorical question caused the crowd to step back and think about what Brutus said, and question if Brutus was telling the truth.

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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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Mark Antony is trying to win over the people of Rome by his very effective use of rhetoric. In his speech, his overall point is to persuade the Roman citizens that Brutus’s claim of Caesar being ambitious is not true. Antony’s use of rhetorical devices such as a rhetorical question give the people a good message. When he is telling them that Caesar brought many captives to Rome, he asks, “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious” (3.2.18). Antony’s rhetorical question was very effective since he is making the people question Brutus’s claim.

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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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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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Rhetoric in the Speeches of Brutus and Antony The death of Caesar is a controversial topic and was even more controversial at the time of his funeral when when senators were trying to benefit from his death by getting the Roman citizens on their side. At Caesar’s funeral, two senators gave speeches as an attempt to get the roman people on their side. Out of the two speeches, Marc Antony’s speech was more effective because of his use of appeals and biases, being 100% true and had a larger variety of rhetorical devices.

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Sydney Stone Mrs. Paul English 10A 16 October 2017 Rhetorical Analysis Essay William Shakespeare, a very famous writer, tells the story of Julius Caesar. In his play, Marc Antony delivers a powerful speech that uses many different rhetorical devices, appeals, and different styles of writing. Some of these include repetition, rhetorical questions, pathos, logos, ethos, and diction. These help enhance Marc Antony’s speech by persuading the audience towards considering that Caesar was a good man.

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