preview

Rhetorical Devices In Julius Caesar

Decent Essays

Rhetoric is the art of using eloquent language in order to coax an audience. It is what gives writing or a speech a touch of elegance, to make it more believable and appealing as it is being addressed. In the play, Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, following Brutus’s speech about why Julius Caesar’s murder is justifiable, Mark Antony makes a speech on a very different account regarding this death of his good companion. In the speech, Antony repeats phrases to emphasize certain points, as well as breaking away from the audience to increase the idea’s emphatic effect still allowing for the audience to come to certain realizations on their own. Both speeches had varying effects on the audience, however, Antony’s speech was able to better sway the hearts of the audience with his strategic use of rhetoric. Looking more closely at the repetitive phrases Antony uses in his speech, it can be said that these repetitions serve as a tool to engrave his views into the citizen's heads. One idea that Antony tried to get across to the citizens is that Caesar is not as ambitious as they deem him to be. Antony starts off by stating the humble qualities of Caesar which includes, him bringing wealth to the country (89), Caesar’s empathy for the poor (91), and him refusing the crown three times (96-97). After stating each quality, Antony refers back to Caesar’s ambition. In two of the instances, he asks rhetorical questions, “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?”(90) and “Was this ambition?” (97). This makes the audience question whether if Caesar is actually ambitious. His references to Caesar’s lack of ambition indicates a disagreement with Brutus who killed Caesar for this same ambition. To add onto the doubts the audience may have about Brutus already, Antony repeats “And Brutus is an honorable man” (94). This sets a sarcastic tone as he disproves just Brutus before saying it each time. This is used to point out that Brutus is not actually an “honorable man” because he murdered Caesar for his ambition, which according to Antony, that Caesar does not have.
Using such strong words to make his point, Antony has a break down on the stage where he stops giving his reasons and expresses his frustrations aloud. He yells, “ O

Get Access