Brutus Ethos In Julius Caesar

Shakespeare exposes the cutthroat politics of Rome through the speeches of Brutus and Antony in his play Julius Caesar. This play epitomizes the benefits of using rhetorical devices in a persuasive speech. Antony applies the modes ethos, logos, and pathos to establish credibility, provide evidence, and evoke emotion throughout his eulogy to Caesar. Preceding Antony’s speech was that of the senator, and friend of Caesar, Brutus. Conclusively, Antony’s use of rhetorical devices surpasses Brutus’s; Antony successfully persuades the crowd that Brutus’s speech posed as a clever ruse to justify his cold-blooded murder.

Despite Marc Antony’s and Brutus’s funeral speeches both being convincing to the plebians. Br.utus does better than Marc Antony by moving the pleabians opinion to support the killing of Julius Caesar. In Brutus’s speech he uses many rhetorical strategies to engage the public to sway to his motive. Brutus also appeals to the whole crowd, gives reasons to why he killed Caesar, and appeals to the emotions, reasoning, and presents himself as a higher status to the plebeians.

One of the most well-known instances of rhetorical persuasion in literature is Mark Antony’s speech in “Julius Caesar”. Antony is able to turn the Roman populace against the assassins of Caesar and rouse them to violence through the use of persuasive words. His speech is a brilliant illustration of the ability of language to influence people’s opinions and serves as a reminder of the value of clear communication in both politics and daily life. With a disarming tone, Antony informs the audience that his purpose in giving the speech is to bury Caesar rather than to honor him. Due to this opening, Antony is able to win over the Roman populace’s initial skepticism over his intentions.

Marcus Brutus Junior, the protagonist of the play “Julius Caesar”, made one of the toughest decisions in the history of the Roman Empire: To, or not to, assassinate his longtime friend Julius Caesar, who would turn the Roman government into a dictatorship? Perhaps one of the turning points of this inner conflict came when Gaius Cassius Longinus, Brutus’ brother-in-law, gave a fiery speech to encourage Brutus to backstab Caesar. Cassius’ use of the three3 rhetorical strategies - logos, pathos, and ethos - would eventually persuade Brutus to participate in one of the most famous murder conspiracies in history. First, Cassius starts off by calming the fears and doubts in Brutus about his influence in Rome; Brutus’ fears of his lack of self-worthiness were soothed by Cassius using pathos. Notably in the passage, Cassius makes Brutus feel respected even by Caesar, the most influential man in Rome, with the words “Immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus...have wish’d that noble Brutus had his eyes (I, ii, 60)”.

Caesar killed while running for king. Brutus and Caesar were good friends. However, Brutus persuaded the audience that he did not want Caesar to become king so he had to slew him. They both had some role in Caesar’s death it is just a matter of how much and how they played into it. Antony is the reason why everyone was turning Against Brutus.

​In 1599, William Shakespeare wrote a play, ​The Tragedy of Julius Caesar ​ . The play was first performed on September 21, 1599. It consists of three main characters; Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus and Mark Antony. In Shakespeare’s ​The Tragedy of Julius Caesar ​ , Brutus delivers a more persuasive funeral speech due to his extraordinary use of ethos, pathos and logos.

Brutus powerfully uses ethos throughout the performance of his speech; he is able to appeal to his own credibility and character by referencing how he honored Caesar. For example, when he says, “For mine honor, and have respect to mine honor” and “I honor him”. He also claims he feels sympathy for Julius Caesar when he says, “As Caesar loved me, I weep for him”. This shows the crowd that Brutus felt guilt and sadness after the death of Brutus that he caused.

In the play “Julius Caesar” two critical speeches are given one after another. The results of these speeches would in essence sentence one of the givers to death. Persuasion was the key to gathering the people in their favor. The question is was Brutus’ or Antony’s speech more persuasive. To provide a conclusion we will look at the speeches through Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle spending time in Pathos, Ethos, and finally Logos.

After the death of Julius Caesar, the people of Rome demanded an answer. An audience gathered to hear both the speeches of Brutus and Mark Antony, since Brutus allowed Antony to speak. Brutus went first, trying to persuade the crowd to realize this was a necessary evil. Mark Antony went after Brutus and took a different approach. He used pathos, which means he appealed to the audiences emotions and feelings.

He used consistent contentions to legitimize Caesar's death, emphasizing that Caesar's passing was fundamental to protecting the Roman Republic. For illustration, he says, "It is not that I adore Caesar less, but I adore Rome more" (III.ii.21-22). Brutus, moreover, requested the open to be ethically and morally cognizant, showing himself as a respectable and respectable individual who acted out of obligation. He announced, "Accept in me for my honor, and my honor, that you just may accept" (III.ii.14-15).

In Act I, Scene ii, Cassius primarily employs ethos to gain Brutus's attention, logos to contest Caesar's power, and pathos to arouse Brutus’s passion. The use of ethos drove Brutus to listen and become a conspirator. Lines such as “ were I a common laughter, or did use / To stale with ordinary oaths my love to every protester …, then hold me dangerous” (I, ii, 72 - 78) instantly buys Brutus’s trust.

He first starts out by saying "You gentle Romans-". (Act 3.2) He wants to come off friendly and kind so that he can have their attention. He says later on in his speech "I speak not to disapprove what Brutus spoke, but I am here to speak what I do know. You all did love him once, not without cause.

But Brutus says he is an honorable man… when that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept… yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man...” (Shakespeare, 49) by repeating that Brutus is an honorable man, made the Romans start to question and disagree with his

Brutus's speech to persuade the people of Rome was a very well-thought-out speech that worked very well, It worked well because it used so many rhetorical devices that planted thoughts in the audience's heads. For background information, Brutus had to kill caesar in order for it to be a noble act, instead of a murder. He was the last one to stab caesar, and that is why caesar gave up trying to survive. In the first part of the speech he successfully calms them down enough to listen to what he has to say, “ Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers, hear me for my cause and be silent, that you may hear.

In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Brutus is delivering a monologue intended for Mark Antony. There are many purposes of this monologue. Firstly, the conspirators are trying to convince Mark Antony not to be angry with them. The second reason is to be sure Mark Antony understands the reasoning behind the killing. Another one of Brutus’ intentions is to make sure that Mark Antony knows that they will not be coming after him.