Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis Essay

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In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a play by Shakespeare, depicts a story of Caesar who emerges victorious after a prolonged war against Pompey, a beloved Roman military commander, and is presented with the Roman crown; however, the Senators realize that their authority is at risk , so they plot to murder Caesar. Specifically in Act three, scene two, Mark Antony is speaking at Caesar's funeral, but secretly wants to get revenge against the conspirators who plotted Caesar’s murder by persuading his audience. To sway the commoners, he uses his words to modestly makes the conspirators the true criminals. Antony attempts to convince his audience that Brutus’s claims were false by using repetition, antithesis, and rhetorical questions. To start, …show more content…

Antony says in Act III, scene ii, line 86-7 and 95-8, “The noble Brutus / Hath told you Caesar was ambitious / … / 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.” When Antony says this, he is comparing the two men; Caesar is arrogant since that’s what Brutus says and since Brutus is trustworthy, people believe whatever he says. This quote shows how antithesis achieves Antony’s purpose by making a point: Caesar and Brutus being the opposite of what they’re portrayed as. Caesar isn’t driven to take control of Rome with dictatorship because of what he has done for Rome, posing Brutus as a liar and disreputable. Therefore, Antony demonstrates that even though a specific person is someone that’s trustworthy, it doesn’t mean that they’re always right; Brutus is dishonorable and Caesar is not …show more content…

One piece of evidence is in Act III, scene ii, lines 102-6 “Yet Brutus says he was ambitious / And Brutus is an honorable man / You all did see that on the Lupercal / I thrice presented him a kingly crown / Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition? / Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, / And, sure, he is an honorable man.” Here, Antony is inquiring the civil men with questions leading to obvious answers whether or not the actions that Caesar has performed was him being selfish or just him being considerate. This quote highlights that the civilians start to realize that Brutus deceived them when he declared that the reason they killed Caesar was because he was doing it in honor of his country, but when Antony announces well known facts about the consideration he took with the Romans, it shows that he cared very deeply about them. The Romans comprehend the lies that had been told to them, so they started to riot by killing the Congressmen involved in the conspiracy. Accordingly, Antony shows the Romans the obvious truth that had been in front of them this whole time, so they’re able to understand that Caesar has been there for them this entire

Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis
1354 Words | 6 Pages
Antony brings awareness to the Plebians that "the noble Brutus hath told [them that] Caesar was ambitious" (Shakespeare 3.2. 77-78) to show that because Brutus is noble, then his word is accurate. Brutus claims that Caesar was ambitious, which means that Caesar was ambitious. As the speech progresses a few sentences, Antony reminds the Plebians of how honorable Brutus is and how Caesar had to die because of his ambition, but then speaks about the good things that Caesar has done. Antony starts to speak about how Caesar "hath brought many captives home to Rome whose ransoms did the general coffers fill" (Shakespeare 3.2 88-89).
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Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis Essay
385 Words | 2 Pages
Act III, Scene 2 of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Antony's speech effectively develops and supports the central idea of turning the people against Brutus and honoring Caesar, through his use of emotional appeal, rhetorical questions, and loaded words. Brutus manipulated the people but Antony uses good reasoning to turn the people against Brutus. Antony masterfully employs emotional appeal to evoke strong feelings in the audience and encourage them to turn against Brutus. “For when the noble Caesar saw him stab, ingratitude, more strong than traitor’s arms, quite vanqished him.” Therefore the noble Caesar so who stab him and brutus was his friend and did him wrong. ”
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Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis Essay
1290 Words | 6 Pages
Antony gives the plebeians factual evidence proving that Caesars was not ambitious. Antony does this to clear Caesar's name proving how he wasn't ambitious. The plebeians do believe Antony now sense he have them actual proof that he was not ambitious. Before Caesar died all of “[The plebeians] did love him once”(Julius Caesar 3.2.111) inferring that the plebeians should not change their minds just because someone tells them too, they should believe in themselves. Antony is trying to convince the plebeians that Caesar was not a bad man and that they should not change their mind just because someone tells them too.
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Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis
632 Words | 3 Pages
By asking questions such as, "Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?" (Act III, Scene II), Antony highlights the contradictions and hypocrisies present in the statements made by Brutus and his co-conspirators. Moreover, Antony's repeated emphasis on Caesar's virtues and his loyalty to Rome serve to further engender the crowd's affection towards him. In doing so, Antony is able to gain the support of the masses, ultimately leading to a chaotic and violent uprising against the conspirators. His skillful employment of rhetorical questions and his masterful use of language play a crucial role in swaying the opinions of the Roman
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Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis Essay
673 Words | 3 Pages
Rhetorical Strategies in Shakespeare's, “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” Marc Antony’s funeral speech was the turning point of The tragedy of Julius Caesar. Due to the know closeness of Antony to Caesar he was the one chosen to speak. Throughout Marc Antony’s funeral speech there are several cases where he uses the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade the crowd to turn against the conspirators. The target audience for Antony’s speech in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, is those who chose to attend his funeral.
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Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis
941 Words | 4 Pages
Across the play, examples of rhetorical devices and persuasive techniques alter the characters’ opinions on matters. Similar to the purpose of mind control, statements adjusted to be spoken to a crowd of people can influence the overall mindset of individuals. One person’s thoughts can impact many and when the same idea is expressed constantly it will have a greater effect. The model from the play, Julius Caesar, occurs with Antony speaking at the funeral of Julius Caesar after Brutus articulates why the killing of Caesar was not a movement of hate. Mark Antony has the advantage of winning the audience over Brutus because he speaks after him indicating he can use the same statements as him but counter-argue them.
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Examples Of Ethos In Julius Caesar
625 Words | 3 Pages
He tells the crowd that he does not intend to discredit Brutus, but rather to speak facts,“I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, / But here I am to speak what I do know” (3.2.97-98). Antony is clarifying to the audience that he intends to tell them only what he knows to be true. This makes the people of Rome inclined to believe that he will not lie to them about these important matters. Antony furthers this by bringing up his character and his relationship with his audience, “But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man / That love my friend; and that they know full well / That gave me public leave to speak of him.
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Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis Essay
601 Words | 3 Pages
Antony is willing to understand why the conspirators murdered Caesar but also sees this as an opportunity to get on their good side. By getting on the conspirator's good side, he is easily able to find out their plans and then
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Rhetorical Analysis Of Mark Antony's Speech
1048 Words | 5 Pages
He is pointing out the fault in the conspirators' claims, without outright saying the conspirators were wrong. Caesar never did anything that made people see him as a dictator. He is swaying the crowd towards anger at the conspirators with disguised tactics. He is also using logic to point out the fact Caesar would not have become a dictator since he never desired to be king anyway. Then, Antony expresses his heart-wrenching sadness with Caesar’s death, “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar '' (3.2.116).
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Ethos Pathos Logos In Julius Caesar
1035 Words | 5 Pages
(III.ii.26-28) In this sense, it shows that Brutus cares about Caesar, but when it seems to be affecting the country he loves, he will take any measures to stop it. As one standing in the midst of the crowd, it would appear through logic that Brutus did not kill Caesar out of anything personal, but rather he was slain to prevent a dominating ruler from forming. On the other hand, Antony takes the very words that defended Brutus, and makes them his downfall. Antony brings the plebeians back to the time where," I thrice presented him a kingly crown,/which he did thrice refuse.
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Ethos Pathos Logos In Julius Caesar
431 Words | 2 Pages
When he ascends the pulpit to speak at Caesar’s funeral, Antony repeatedly says that Brutus is an “honorable man”, (Act III, Scene II) but continues to disprove his own claim with multiple pieces of evidence. By disproving his claim while seeming compassionate, Antony makes his audience believe that he is caring yet naive. This allows the audience to let their guard down and think that their later ideas are their own. Antony uses the crowds’ emotions to convince them that Brutus and the Conspirators aren’t honorable. Antony says that he won’t do the Conspirators wrong by stirring up a mutiny.
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A Rhetorical Analysis Of Marc Antony's Speech
617 Words | 3 Pages
Antony wanted people to be patient with him. He also says, “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: Ambition should be made of sterner stuff” (3.2. 100-101). Antony says this to show that Caesar was a good man who cared about the people. It was also to show that Brutus was wrong when he stated that Caesar was ambitious. Antony makes the citizens feel that the conspirators murder was
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Rhetorical Devices Used In Mark Antony's Speech
373 Words | 2 Pages
Antony is trying to find out whether they believe if Brutus had a valid reason to assassinate Caeser. He achieves his goal of making the murder seem unethical by using his convincing argument. Overall, Mark Antony’s speech was helpful in trying to convince the Plebeians. By the end of his speech, the Plebeians believed that the murder of Julius Caesar by the conspirators was an unrightful doing. The conspirators might’ve gotten away with the murder, but will never be seen the same by the
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Mark Antony's Speech Analysis
1793 Words | 8 Pages
He successfully accomplishes his objective of convincing the mob that Brutus is a traitor and the conspirators are at fault. He played with emotions which was the right thing to do rather than applying logic. He used emotional phrases such as, "My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar" and "Oh judgment; thou art fled to brutish beasts". Which allows him to have a connect with the crowds feeling at the death of Caesar .Antony does not let the restriction of going against the conspirators hinder his speech. He begins not by attacking Brutus or the conspirators, but by praising Caesar.
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Essay On Rhetorical Devices In Julius Caesar
704 Words | 3 Pages
William Shakespeare, in his tragedy Julius Caesar, uses the rhetorical devices of a rhetorical question, repetition of the word ambitious, and direct reference in Antony 's speech to instigate the plebeians and persuade them to rebel against the conspirators. Antony pulls on 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 rebel. Antony discusses the money that Caesar left to the countrymen, and with sarcasm he states, “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?” (3.2.99).
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Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis Essay