Julius Caesar Rhetorical Devices

There is a phrase, “judge, jury ad executioner”; the speeches from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Act 3 Scene 2 bring the phrase to mind. It signifies that the person referred to is in command of every decision made, and they have the power to be rid of whomever they choose. In this case, Brutus fits this description except for the fact that he brings mistakingly brings his case to the people, the plebians who are the real jury and with the inconvenient interference of a shrewd prosecuting attorney he looses the power to do whatever he wants. He does not control the outcome of his crime/murder. Brutus and Cassius, the two head conspirators indeed lose the larger fight that they had initiated.

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion and speaking or writing, using various figures of speech and literacy devices. In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, rhetoric is frequently used. Julius Caesar becomes emperor, upsetting many citizens of Rome, including the senators. The senators develop a plan to kill Caesar on the ides of March.

This entirely convinces the Plebeians of Caesar’s true act towards the Plebeians. The device of emotional appeal helps get part of his point across to the people in the crowd eagerly wanting to hear more of what he has to say about the

In the play Julius Caesar. there are funeral speeches from Antony and Brutus after the death of Caesar. It is easy to tell which speech constructed a better argument. Also, Brutus’ speech is very short when it is compared to Antony’s speech, but Antony did have much more to say about his dead friend than Brutus did. Antony’s speech uses rhetorical devices, such as ethos, pathos, and logos made his speech stronger and more effective than Brutus’ speech.

Antony, through the use rhetorical devices of diction and verbal irony, develops an argumentation in order to turn the Plebeians against the conspirators and persuade them to avenge Caesar. Specifically, Antony declares, “Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it; / It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you. / You are not wood, you are not stone, but men; / And, being men, bearing the will of Caesar, / It will inflame you, it will make you mad: / ‘Tis good you know not that you are his heirs; / For, if you should, O, what would come of it!”

The article titled "Julius Caesar" was once written by William Shakespeare in 1599 which told the tragic story of Julius Caesar, a man who was rising up to the top to become king life took a turn. He had returned from a battle and was praised by some like Antony his rightarm man to become king of Rome yet some couldn't imagine him being in power like Cassius. Shakespeare used rhetorical devices which are strategies that are used to persuade and impress the audience to spice up what was going on inside this novel. Based on this novel Antony speech stood out the most to me because his use of pathos, ethos, and repetition to seek revenge from Brutus. To begin, Shakespeare use of rhetorical devices are ethos, pathos, and repetition which are presented

The Roman Public is an example of the indecisiveness in people that Shakespeare is trying to show. They are fickle throughout the play, and they are on the side of whoever’s words are more convincing. After Caesar defeats Pompey, workers are celebrating. Flavius and Marullus use logos in an attempt to convince them that the conquering of Pompey should not be celebrated. Marullus states, “Knew you not Pompey?”(I.i.42

In the play, Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, one of the main characters, Brutus, uses many examples of rhetorical devices in his funeral articulation. After Caesar’s once-known companions brutally murder him, Brutus delivers an oration at Caesar's funeral. In his speech, he overall describes how much he cared for and worshiped Caesar, and that the reason why he was one of the conspirators who killed Caesar was because he thought about Rome more than Caesar. Brutus appeals to the audience's logic (logos) when he states “Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may be the better judge.” (Shakespeare III.ii.17)

In Shakespeare's historical play, Julius Caesar, Antony devised this soliloquy subsequent to Caesar's assassination to divulge the tempestuous emotions he is experiencing to the audience. To express his feelings, Anthony pathologically uses the rhetorical devices of an apostrophe and a synecdoche. Primarily, Antony's usage of an apostrophe unveils his turbulent inclinations as he is alone with Caesar's post-mortal corpse. Anthony utters "O, pardon [him], thou bleeding piece of earth" for being "meek and gentle" to the "butchers" as he grieves over "the ruins of the noblest man" who is now dead (III i, 1-4).

In Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, Antony remarks in the end of the play, ‘“All the conspirators save only he Did that they did in envy of great Caesar; He only, in a general honest thought”. Brutus, throughout the play, struggles with himself as he strives to become honorable, a main theme in the play. He, as an honest man, did what he thought was right. He killed Caesar, but to him it was the right thing to do. Brutus struggles with this decision and through soliloquys and rhetoric devices we are allowed insight into what he is going through.

One of the fundamental aspects of literature that still exists presently conveys the ability to illustrate a metaphorical boundary line between what constitutes as good or evil. In the world of Shakespeare, a plethora of rhetorical devices woven into the numerous sonnets and dramas presents a blurring of these oh-so-sacred lines. Within Julius Caesar, there lies abounding cases of oxymoronic situations in which the balance of good and evil results in alteration. For example, within Brutus’ speech addressing the public following the assassination of Julius Caesar, the proper application of rhetorics expounds on Brutus’ ability to commit something purely evil while maintaining innocent intentions. Though he associates himself with the murder of the leader of Rome, Brutus bases his honesty on the genuine truth that it solely benefits his beloved country.

The Words That Changed Rome     Shiv Khera once said “There are good leaders who actively guide and bad leaders who actively misguide.  Hence, leadership is about persuasion, presentation and people skills.”  Having rhetoric skills is an immense in leadership.   In Shakespeare’s

In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” he explores what constitutes an effective argument by comparing Brutus’ funeral speech with Antony’s which ultimately succeeds. Its success is due to Antony’s expertful employment of various persuasions such as emotional appeal, rhetorical questions, and his credibility. In order to make the Roman people sympathize with him he utilizes emotional appeal, claiming "[he] [came] to bury Caesar, not to praise him" (3.2.74). This statement not only draws out sympathy from the Roman people, but also establishes Antony’s honorable intentions in his speech. This alone would not make his speech more effective than Brutus’.

William Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar” is a political drama that explores the power of persuasion in the aftermath of Caesar's assassination. Two of the main characters, Marcus Brutus and Marc Antony have very different approaches to convince the people of Rome to support their ideals. While Brutus appeals to the audience's honor and patriotism, Antony manipulates the emotions of the audience through irony and appeals to their grief and greed. Throughout his speech Marc Antony manipulates and appeals to the grief and greed of the Roman people.

In many writings, rhetorical and literary devices can be found to make a statement stronger to readers. In Julius Caesar, one of many tragedies written by William Shakespeare, Caesar returns from war after killing Pompey and, many begin to argue over whether Caesar is considered a hero or a dictator. The people of Rome praised Caesar so Brutus, a friend of Caesar that believes he was using his power to hurt Roman, gathered conspirators and stabbed Caesar to death twenty-three times. Brutus then explains to Rome why he has murdered Caesar and Antony, a good friend of Caesar, also gives a speech to tell Rome that Caesar was not the horrible man that they assumed he was. In Brutus’ and Antony’s speech at Caesar’s funeral, both characters used many rhetorical and literary devices to persuade the Roman citizens.