Rhetorical Analysis Of Marcus Brutus In Julius Caesar

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“And public reasons shall be rendered Of Caesar’s death.” (Act III, Scene II) In the play, “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar was killed by a group of conspirators who believed that his rule would result in the downfall of Rome, and that his death was the best solution. Marcus Brutus, who was viewed as the leader of the plot to kill Caesar, was the first to speak at his funeral, followed by Marc Antony. Each man’s speech included several examples of rhetorical strategies that ultimately swayed the audience to be in favor of one side or another. Marcus Brutus gave the better, more argumentative speech due to his effective use of rhetorical strategies. In the speech given by Brutus, logos is used to tell why he killed Caesar. “Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” (Act III, Scene II) By this, Brutus means that if Caesar were to have lived, he would have made slaves of the citizens of Rome, but, as …show more content…

Examples of ethos were used to show Brutus’ honorability, and that he had the good of Rome in mind when he planned to …show more content…

Where Brutus used this love to justify the killing, Antony did the opposite. He said that, because Brutus was a dear friend of Caesar’s, it was betrayal; treason, even. Brutus’ use of ethos justifies why he killed Caesar, but Antony’s speech used ethos to portray Brutus as a traitor. Logos was used by Brutus to logically explain his reasons for killing Caesar, which was to keep all men free from Caesar’s ambition. Antony’s use of logos was to honestly speak to the people of Rome about how, though his words to not have the power to rile men’s blood in such ways as Brutus, he will rightly speak the