Julius Caesar Essay: Words Have More Power Than Weapon

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).

Brutus begins his speech in Act III, scene ii, at Caesar's funeral, with an upset crowd questioning his motives for killing Caesar. The crowd’s initial reaction to Brutus is that he is honorable and venerated, but still needs to explain why Caesar was assassinated. Brutus tells the crowd that he did not kill Caesar because he didn’t care for him, but he killed Caesar because he loved Rome more. In addition, that if Caesar were still alive and king, all of the people would die slaves, and claims that he killed Caesar for the good of Rome. Brutus is able to persuade the crowd that he had honorable intentions for killing Caesar through the use of rhetoric-ethos, logos, and pathos.

Julius Caesar was a powerful general and politician of Rome. He had many friends and many enemies as well. One of his closest friends goes by the name of Marc Antony who was not only the lover of Cleopatra, but another Roman general that worked under Caesar. As history states, Brutus, a senator of Rome, was frightened that Caesar would become too powerful and become King of Rome. In order to prevent this from happening, 60 conspirators, all led by Brutus, stabbed Caesar to death.

The Life of Julius Caesar The History staff uses facts and evidence to support their claim that Julius Caesar is often remembered as one of the greatest military minds in history and credited with laying the foundation for the Roman Empire. The History Staff supports their claim by including his life before he was known for his many achievements and the First Triumvirate that started his career. The History Staff uses the many battles he fought in or led to also support their claim. The History Staff concludes with the events that led up to the death of Julius Caesar.

A rhetorical device is defined as “A rhetorical device is a use of language that is intended to have an effect on its audience. ”(Vocabulary.com). Rhetorical devices may help a speech, poem, or any form of writing get the main point across, exaggerate a point, or even manipulate the readers feeling. In Antony’s speech in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Antony uses sarcasm, pathos, and rhetorical questions to persuade the puebloans to believe that Caesar was incredibly noble and what Brutus and the other conspirators did to Caesar was ignoble.

Shakespeare is known for his incredible tragic drama writing in which he constructs different types of rhetorical devices to influence the setting, mood, and tone of a play, one being The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. These devices demonstrate the enhancement in a speaker’s attitude, personality, and emotion to get a point across. In one particular scene, Shakespeare works in Mark Antony’s speech where he reads to the Plebeians using various amount of rhetorical devices to get his point across. The purpose for Antony’s speech is to show how Julius Caesar died in vain, how the Plebeians are now supporting his murders, and how the Plebeians are not being open minded about the situation. Mark Antony uses repetition to enhance his sarcasm to potentially help his speech influence the Plebeians behavior in a convincing manner, making them turn on Brutus through emotional appeal.

Shakespearean Rhetoric In order to learn how to use rhetorical devices successfully, you really have to have a true understanding of Shakespeare’s intent on words . The selected passages from Act III, scene II of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar are the perfect tutorial for those who want to learn the basic rules of argumentation. This scene describes the events that took place after Caesar’s death. Brutus, who is the close friend of Caesar, is also one of his assassinators.

In the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. There was a man named Caesar who passed by the painful death of his best friend bestowed upon him. His name was Brutus, and he was known for being respected by most and loyal to the Roman Republic. Brutus was so lost in doing what was best for Rome and his people he committed a crime that no one could ever imagine.

Cassius put together a group of conspirators that agreed with his motives to take matters into their own hands and put a stop to the ambitious Caesar. Brutus led these conspirators to finally killing Julius Caesar. After Caesar was killed Brutus said, “If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. ”(Shakespeare 3.2.19-21) The good of his country meant more to Brutus than his own friend’s life.

In Julius Caesar, Brutus is a selfless, easy-to-manipulate, and noble man. Brutus is arguably the most selfless character in Julius Caesar. Brutus went through a lot of hard trials, one being killing his best friend. Brutus got tricked into thinking Caesar was trying to take over Rome.

Brutus and the senators had made a plan to kill Caesar. Even though Caesar was his friend, Brutus joins the conspiracyagainst Caesar’s life because he feels that Caesar’s death is better for Rome. Brutus did not want to allow Caesar to rise to power and turn his back onto the people of Rome. Brutus felt like Caesar was being a dictator. “Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous, And kill him in a shell” (2,1,33-34) Similar to how Cady, Janice and Damian made a plan to destroy Regina.

The potential power of words on individuals and society is evidenced through the play Julius Caesar by Williams Shakespeare. Through various characters and their speeches, Shakespeare demonstrates the danger and impact of persuasive language, including the consequences it leads to. Cassius, for example, used persuasive language to successfully convince Brutus into joining the conspiracy against Caesar. The decision of joining the conspirators eventually led to Brutus’s downfall, which highlighted the danger of manipulation. Mark Antony, who is a fine friend of Caesar, also made a powerful speech later in the play, which has twisted the crowd’s attitude toward the conspirators.

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Julius Caesar, Mark Antony uses rhetorical devices such as paralipsis, rhetorical questions, and verbal irony in his speech to the plebeians in order to plot them against the conspirators. During his speech to the plebians, Antony uses paralipsis in order to kindle curiosity and interest in the audience. Antony mentions to the plebians that he had Caesar’s will with him but tells them, “Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it; It is not meet you know how much Caesar loved you” (3.2.152-153). By drawing attention to Caesar’s will, something Antony desperately wants to show the plebeians, but then dismissing the idea of reading it, Antony uses a type of verbal irony called paralipsis. Antony is aware that the contents

Julius Caesar Essay Words are more powerful than weapons. Throughout the play of Julius Caesar the idea of powerful words is a key theme. Through speeches lies and cunning plans the characters in this play are able to convince people to join conspiracies and move people to action. This play reflects on the need for excellent speaking skills and its importance in ancient Rome, Elizabethan, and modern times.

“Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.” -Yehuda Berg. Words are an important part to everyday life.