Determining which character is the most ethical in their persuasion may be difficult, but looking at their character as a whole throughout the story will undoubtedly influence the decision. A character's side must be chosen in a variety of situations. In William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Julius Caesar is murdered by people he considered his friends; one of the main leaders of the conspirators is Brutus, a man Caesar had a great deal of trust in. Cassius persuades Brutus to murder Caesar. Brutus was initially very loyal to Caesar, but he was far more loyal to Ancient Rome as a whole. Cassius convinces Brutus that Caesar's leadership would be detrimental to Rome. Antony is another character who was close to Caesar. In contrast …show more content…
Another piece of evidence that shows Antony was the most ethical in his persuasion is when he says "He was my friend, faithful and just to me; But Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome, whose ransoms did the general coffers fill; Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?" (III.i.83-88) This shows that Antony was more ethical in his persuasion because he is trying to make the people of Rome understand that Caesar was not a bad man. He is using Logos in this part of his speech to prove to the Plebeians that Caesardid many good things for Rome while he was in authority and his getting murdered was not going to be good for Rome it would only really hurt them because they wouldn't have a strong authority that was going to be beneficial for them anymore. Antony understands that to be able to get the people of Rome on his side he needs to make them realize that Caesar was good to them and genuinely did care about them. Antony was smart in his usage of rhetorical appeals by at first using evidence to show that Caesar was a good leader by letting them logically understand that aspect of the argument and then later when he got them on his side he started to appeal to their emotions. Brutus, although attempting to get the people of Rome on his side, his purpose was not as pure as Antony's. Some people may think that Brutus was more ethical in his persuasion because he wanted what was best for Rome, but as Antony says "For Brutus as you know, was Caesar's angel... Caesar saw him stab, ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms... Great Caesar fell." (TIl.i.179-186) This shows that Brutus was not as ethical
Honestly I think antony did a better job at persuading than brutus did because he used examples from julius’s life and all he did.
Brutus appeals to the audience's ethics and judgement of character. " ... any dear friend of/ Caesar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his" (Brutus 7-9 IIIii). By explaining that he had a friendship with Caesar, Brutus portrays that he had to have had a just reason for killing Caesar since he would not want to kill a friend otherwise. "You all did love him once, not without cause" (Antony 33 IIIii).
In his speech, Antony uses emotion (pathos) to appeal to the Plebeians and make them see his point.*Antony starts off his speech by saying “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” (JC III, ii, 82). He refers to the Plebeians as his friends even though they are completely different. Antony does this because he knows he will have an easier time winning over the Plebeians if they know that they are friends and equal to Antony. On the other hand, Brutus’ speech is much less successful in winning over the Plebeians because he uses logos. Brutus believes that the Plebeians will side with him through logic.
Antony used a different form of Ethos than Brutus does. While Brutus spoke about how honorable he is, Antony simply speaks in blank verse. Speaking in blank verse was something only honorable nobles did so by doing this Antony established an authority aura to the plebeians. With pathos Antony kicks it off with bringing Caesar’s body onto the stage. He brings the Roman’s dead leader onto the stage, stab wounds and all.
Persuading an audience is difficult, but rhetorical devices can change arguments to appeal to the assortment of people listening. After killing Julius Caesar, Brutus presents a speech to the plebeians of Rome explaining why the assassination was necessary. As Brutus attempts to gain support from his fellow countrymen he utilizes ethos by proclaiming, ”believe me / for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour” (III.ii.1547-1548). The citizens hold Brutus in high regard and so he makes them all remember the positive way they think of him and uses that feeling so they all believe him. Antony has more tack as he foresees the fickle nature of the plebeians and uses pathos more often.
The motivation behind Antony’s actions was completely selfish as he wanted to defend and avenge Caesar, gain power by giving himself credibility as Caesar’s right hand man, and unleash utter chaos in Rome by invoking civil war. Antony’s speech was able to completely reverse the effects that Brutus’ speech had simply because people care more about what agitates their emotions, rather than what logically makes more sense to
Persuasion is a big part of the speeches and there is a lot of jelousy and greed. Greed leads people to jelousy and that is never a good thing to happen. Jelousy can lead people to do things they usually wouldn’t do. Persuasion is used a lot to convince people to believe in what they are saying. Although Brutus used a lot of good reasonings involving pathos, Antony delivers the more effective speech because he knew Caesar more and he was much closer to him
In the play Julius Caesar by, Julius Shakespeare, both Antony and Brutus give speeches after Caesar died. Brutus tells the people that it was for the good of Rome and had to be done. Brutus also backs up his claim by giving examples of how “ambitious” Caesar was. Antony on the other hand wanted to persuade the Roman people that what Brutus and the conspirators was wrong and they need to seek revenge. Both Antony and Brutus use Ethos, Logos, and Pathos, which are tools used in speaking or writing to persuade people.
The main persuasive devices that Brutus and Antony use are opposites. Antony does not mention any of the opposing views of the killing in his speech, but Brutus mentions his view and some of what the opposing view may say in his speech. Although there are differences between the two spiels, they are less in number than the similarities. Brutus has a better speech because of the hook he uses when he says “Would you rather that Caesar were living and we would all go to our graves as slaves, or that Caesar were dead and we all lived as free men?”. This gets the people manipulated and wanting to listen to what Brutus has to say.
A quality all humans possess is questioning leadership. The reasons why we challenge or rebel against our leaders describe what kind of individual we are. Cassius and Brutus have different reasons for questioning Caesars power. Both characters have a common goal but exceedingly different values, thought process, and motives for killing Caesar. Cassius and Brutus are characters who have opposite values.
ii.83-84), this shows the roman how Brutus does not feel any remorse or sympathy which could raise suspicions of foul play, which would make them listen to romans. Antony's speech becomes more persuasive because of what Brutus said caused the Romans to not trust him. Many times throughout the speech Brutus seems to have no sympathy when saying his speech which shows us that he doesn’t care for Cesar. this will cause the people to have doubt in Brutus. This is one of the many reasons why Antony's speech is more persuasive.
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.
The appeals in Antony’s speech were persuasively better than the use of them in Brutus’s speech. Marc Antony uses all three appeals in his speech to make a very sturdy argument. An example of logos in his speech is when he states, “He hath brought many captives home to Rome Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?” This speech is Antony stating facts of Caesar’s work which proves that he is not ambitious and does not deserve to be killed. Antony also uses ethos and pathos when he says, “He was my friend, faithful and just to me.”
In the play "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar" by Shakespeare, two individuals named Brutus and Antony give a funeral oration to the people of Rome in concern of the justification of Caesars death. Both of them share an opposite view towards the death of Caesar, Antony thinks his death was unjustified, while Brutus believes in the opposite. Despite the fact that Brutus was able to deliver a better ethical appeal. Antony delivers a more persuasive rhetorical speech since he appeals to the crowd more with his emotional and logical appeal Ethical appeal was used by both individuals in their funeral orations, evidently Brutus was able to execute a better ethical appeal than Antony. Brutus wanted to make the people of Rome feel like the death of Caesar was necessary for the sake of Rome.
Brutus and Cassius are two prominent conspirators in the play Julius Caesar; one of these two fits Aristotle's depiction of a tragic hero. The difference between a normal hero and a tragic hero is that the latter will have a tragic flaw that keeps them from succeeding. These characters are often sympathetic and will cleave to the reader's pity. Firstly, we shall discuss Cassius. He was a man of questionable character.