Ethos, Logos, and Pathos are the three tools that have been used to persuade any individual, and throughout Julius Caesar you tend to see towards the end Brutus and Antony using these tools to pursued the crowd of people. While Brutus used ethos, logos, and pathos to try and justify his reasoning for killing Caesar, Antony used them to get the citizens in an uproar and avenge Caesar’s death. Logos is used to persuade by using logic, Ethos’s appeal is based on the character of whoever is speaking or being spoken of, and Pathos is used by appealing to your emotions.
At the end of the play you see Brutus and Antony become very good at persuasive speaking by making the citizens believe them and in turn making them choose who’s side they would be on, they do this by using ethos, logos, and pathos to appeal to each and everyone one of the people of Rome. Ethos is mainly used to empathize the character of a person. Brutus used this way of persuasion best because he was an honorable man, the people of Rome already loved and respected him, and he was a well-known political figure during that time.
During the beginning his speech at the funeral Brutus says “Romans, Country men, and lovers, hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear. Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe. Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may be the better judge. If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s, to him I say that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less than his. ” (3, 2, #13-20) While Brutus is saying this he is trying to convince the people of Rome that he kills Caesar for a good cause, and that the honorable Brutus does what needs to appen.
Brutus then proceeds to say towards the end of his speech “with this I depart, that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death. ” (2, 3, #44-47) Brutus ends his speech off by saying this to prove how much of an honorable man he was, and to show how far he would go to help out his country and people. Antony takes a different approach in his speech and utilizes pathos to appeal to the people, but when he did use ethos is proved to be very affective and helped the romans gain his trust, and see Caesar for who he truly was.
Marc Antony does this by pointing out what Caesar has done in the past that they had witnessed, “He hath brought many captives to Rome, whose ransoms did the general coffers home to Rome fill; did this in Caesar seem ambitious? Mark Antony then continues to say “When the poor had 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, #92-95) Mark Antony says this to prove to the romans that Caesar was not ambitious, and to show how Caesar was a kind and caring man, so if Caesar was ambitious he would have been sterner and unkind to his people.
By doing so he not only reminds them of Caesars contributions, but how he risked his life to take captives and then proceeds to give the money to the people. After Antony says this the romans begin to remember how good of a ruler Caesar was, and begin to miss him once again. Also by Antony repeating “for Brutus is an honorable man. ” contradicts that, by showing how Brutus could not have been an honorable man because he killed Caesar for a reason that was later on disproved by Antony. Logos is a rhetorical device which refers to the appeals to a person’s sense of logic.
In Julius Caesar Marc Antony’s speech used many rhetorical devices but the one he mainly used was logos. He appealed to logic and reasoning to persuade the citizens that the fall of Caesar was not just. During Antony’s speech he starts by building up Caesars character by saying “I come to speak in Caesar’s funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me. ” (3, 2, #85-86) right here Antony is showing what a great friend that Caesar was to him and is trying to show his admiration for his friend to try and get the citizens feel the same way about him.
Antony always points out another flaw in Brutus’s statement when he said that Caesar was ambitious by saying “You all did see on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, which he thrice refuse. Was this ambition? yet Brutus says he was ambitious and Brutus is an honorable man. ” Antony once again contradicts Brutus, he does this in an innocent way but it’s still very effective in a way to where it takes away Brutus’s credibility, not only that but its once again showing Caesar’s true character that the conspirators were trying to besmudge.
Brutus in his speech says “Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men. ” (3, 2, #23-24) this part of his speech was very powerful because it left the citizens to ponder if this would have really happened leaving the citizens to sway towards Brutus’s side thinking that it’s better that Caesar is dead so they can all live freely.
Not only that but then Brutus proceeds to go as far and say “As Caesar love me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honor him but as he was ambitious, I slew him. (3, 2, #24-26) right here Brutus in a way is trying to build up himself by showing how he was such a great friend to Caesar, and how he always stood by him. At the end he uses logic to show why he slew Caesar because when it came down to it he killed Caesar because he was getting too ambitious for his own good. Pathos was the next rhetoric technique of persuasion used to win over the plebians not only emotionally but also mentally.
As Antony is speaking he pauses quite a few times to give the Romans a chance talk amongst themselves, for example during his speech he says “Bear with me; My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, And I must pause till it comes back to me. ” As Antony does this he is showing how much the death of his dear friend his giving him much grief and sorrow, by doing this he’s trying to touch the hearts of the people and get them to feel saddened by Caesars death and turn against the conspirators.
Towards the end of his speech Antony takes a different approach to appeal to the citizen’s emotion by in a way exaggerating the betrayals of Caesars close friends. “Look, in this place ran Cassius’ dagger through; see what a rent the envious Casca made; Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabbed, and as he plucked his cursed steel away, Mark how the blood of Caesar followed it, as rushing out the doors, to be resolved of Brutus so unkindly knocked, or no; For Brutus, as you know was Caesar’s angel. Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him!
This was the most unkindest cut of all. (3, 2, #175-184) by making Caesars death worse than it was he was able to get the plebians to see that Caesar the man they had loved so much did not deserve to die in such a gruesome way, betrayed by his most trusted friends, thus making the plebeians vengeful for the death of their once innocent, and beloved ruler. Brutus didn’t emphasize the use of pathos in his speech as much as Antony did, but he does try to over dramatize his love for Caesar to make the plebeians feel like what Brutus did was an honorable sacrifice and that he had no other choice but to kill Caesar.
For example, “Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less that his, if then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer; not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more. ” Right here Brutus is trying to appeal to the plebians emotions by making himself seem much more trustworthy than the ambitious Caesar because he was willing to sacrifice his friendship and betray his befriend for the good of Rome. In conclusion rhetorical devices can be used in many different ways to persuade someone to think a certain way just as Brutus and Antony did.
While each of them used the same rhetorical devices such as logos which is used to persuade by using logic, Ethos’s appeal is based on the character of whoever is speaking or being spoken of, and Pathos is used by appealing to your emotions. Even though Brutus and Antony each used these devices to persuade the people of Rome overall Antony’s speech was better because of the way he captured the heart and minds of the citizens.
