Antony in 'Julius Caesar'

In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, The conspirators (Trebonius, Cinna, Ligarius, Decius, Metellus, Casca, and Brutus) killed Caesar in 45 BC. They killed him because they were afraid that if Caesar were to be in power he would become reckless,he wouldn’t think about the relationships he had, and that many people would get hurt, so they killed him to prevent that. Both Brutus and Antony made a speech using the same rhetorical devices at Caesar’s funeral. Even though both speeches have the same structure, Antony’s is significantly more effective than Brutus’s.

In Antony’s speech he mainly focuses on pathos to reach the people and he expertly uses the situation of Caesar’s death to his advantage. He says “ to wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, than I will wrong such honourable men.” Antony uses his tears to convince the people of his real emotion, that he loved Caesar as a dear friend and that Caesar loved him and all the people of Rome. He’s trying to convince the Romans that he would rather wrong the conspirators than to wrong Caesar. Brutus uses pathos in his speech to persuade the Romans to believe that what he did was the right thing to do. “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” Brutus is saying that he loves Rome more than he loves Caesar. He trying to make them think that he killed Caesar because he wants what is best for Rome, not Caesar.

Antony also uses ethos in his speech to point out how good of a person Caesar really was. He says “He was my friend, faithful and just to me.” Here he is building Caesar up by showing that he was a good friend to him. How he shows Caesar’s loyalty, and by saying this he is showing his admiration for his friend, in attempt to make the Romans feel the same. Brutus uses ethos in a different way to persuade the Romans to believe him. He says “Believe me for my honour”. He persuades them to believe him by saying that he is credible and honourable. He ends this segment by persuading them to use their sense of reason.

Antony uses logos to his advantage. “I thrice presented him a kingly crown, which he thrice refuse: was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and sure he is honourable man.” Antony is contradicting what Brutus previously said about Caesar. He does this innocently, but still in a way takes aways Brutus’s credibility. He is using logos to appeal their sense of logic by saying “ Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, too live all free men?” He saying if Caesar’s reign continued then they would all die slaves.

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