Rhetorical Devices In Brutus's Speech

The fact Brutus uses his speech to convince himself his actions are just is quite apparent as his speech comes to a close, but Antony fuels the crowd with rage, wishing for chaos after Cæsar’s fall. Brutus responds with a simple, “Then none have I offended,”(Shakespeare III.ii.38-39) to the crowd after they tell him no one wants to be a slave, almost as if it was more for himself than for the crowd. Antony, however, spoke for a much longer time than Brutus, and plants the seeds of doubt in the crowd’s mind by telling them “Brutus is an honorable man,”(Shakespeare III.ii.89) more than six times, which makes them curious as to if that is really true. Brutus a single appeal to logos, which tells the crowd that “The question of [Cæsar’s] death

He also taunts the crowd with Cæsar’s will, warning them that it will “inflame [them], it will make [them] mad:”(Shakespeare III.ii.148). When the crowd gathers around him, rather than directly read the will, Antony tells of the death of Cæsar, appealing to their emotions so they wish to rebel, but before they leave, the shrewd speaker reminds them, “You have forgot the will I told you of,”(Shakespeare III.ii.239). The Romans go into a total frenzy after the declaration of the will, and they are swayed so much into anger that they kill a poet named Cinna only because he shares the name of one of the conspirators. Danson illustrates that “The poet’s rendering at the hands of the mob is unreasonable, based solely on the confusion of identities (of names, words), and while it bears some resemblance to the sacrifice of a scapegoat figure, it is really no sacrifice at all but unsanctioned murder,”(Danson 226), which is completely ignored by the entire city, for their emotions won over their reason and Antony is too busy making his list of threats to his

The less straight-forward approach wins the people’s hearts, as Antony reveals the flaws in Brutus’s justification without once calling him a traitor. Brutus seems to use the speech more to persuade himself, which weakens his effect on others, but since Brutus is likely denying his heart, which knows heit was made a dishonorable act, he cannot touch the emotions of the crowd, leaving a doorway for Antony to draw them in and kindle a fire of rage. Brutus’s weak appeal to only his honor only minorly won the Roman people, but honor alone was not enough against logic, friendliness, and emotion displayed by his