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Figurative Language In Julius Caesar

Decent Essays

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” (Shakespeare. III. 2. 73). This is one of the most popular quotes of Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, and it still prevails today. Throughout history, Shakespeare has written many tragedies, this one being one of the most popular. This tragedy is about an all-mighty Roman leader who is expected to turn into a ambitious dictator once crowned. Because of this, a group of important men conspire to kill him for many different reasons, which leads to unexpected turns and conflicts in the plot. This includes a speech by one of Caesar's closest confidants, Antony. His speech persuades Rome to turn against the conspirators and creates more conflict throughout the play. In William Shakespeare’s …show more content…

Irony is the use of language that means the opposite of what a person is saying for humor or emphasis. Throughout the speech, Antony repeats the statement, “and Brutus is an honorable man” (Shakespeare. III. 2. 94). This statement is ironic because Antony is enraged at Brutus and the conspirators, and does not actually perceive Brutus as an honorable man, but finds him betraying. Antony uses this figurative language to create inquiry all across the plebeians and they soon question whether Brutus is really an honorable man. This promotes the idea that the conspirators were actually betraying Rome and its people, therefore helping create an angry …show more content…

Pathos is a way of persuading an audience by using emotional appeal. In his speech, Antony states, “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, and I must pause till it come back to me” (Shakespeare. III. 2. 107-108). Being the last sentence in his infamous speech, Antony needed a lasting statement to completely transform the crowd of mourners into rioters. Pathos is used to pull at one's emotions and create a reaction; consequently, anger and rage were the most prominent emotions after this statement. By using pathos, Antony took advantage of the mourners at their most vulnerable state and altered their mourning into

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