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Rhetorical Devices In Julius Caesar

737 Words3 Pages
William Shakespeare, in his tragedy Julius Caesar, uses the rhetorical devices of a rhetorical question, repetition of the word “ambitious,” and a direct reference in Antony 's speech to persuade the plebeians to rebel against the conspirators. Antony allures to the pathos, ethos, and logos of the audience to get them to exile the conspirators. Shakespeare uses a rhetorical question in Antony’s speech to get the plebeians to notice the wrongdoings of the conspirators and excite them to revolt. Antony discusses the economic dominance and vigor that Caesar brought to Rome, and with sarcasm he states, “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?” (3.2.99). The act of giving away money is a selfless act and someone who is ambitious will not be philanthropic. If Caesar was truly ambitious, he would not give his money away to the common folk’s community. This phrasing of the sentence like a question, makes the audience reflect and think about whether that is really true, Since Antony talked about Caesar’s noble acts before, the townsfolk are doubting that Caesar is ambitious. This lures to the pathos of the audience because the rhetorical question pulls on their conscience. Their conscience is questioning whether the murder of Caesar is justifiable, since he was not at all ambitious according to Antony. This allows for Antony to take advantage of the easily pliable minds in the audience and flip their introspections to vanquish the conspirators. Secondly, Shakespeare uses the repetition of
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