On the stair steps of great Rome, rested the body of “the Northern star, of whose true-fixed and resting quality there is no fellow in the firmament” (752-753). Being blatantly stabbed by the ones who envied his success, the great and astute Caesar lay soaked in a “fountain with hundred spouts . . . [with] pure blood” surrounding his body (744). The crowds of Rome felt deprived of a leader, where hath good Caesar gone? Romans, countryman, and lovers felt outraged, baffled and distressed upon seeing great Caesar’s body, where hath good Caesar gone . . .
The art of persuasion is a skill bestowed upon many people, as stated in the Webster Dictionary, “persuasion is to induce a person to believe by appealing to reason or understanding; convince. ” In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Brutus’s and Marc Antony’s compelling speeches brought light upon the people of Rome. Their use of persuasive techniques and appeals enabled them to convey their validity while achieving the support of the crowd. The speeches of devoted Brutus, and faithful Antony used highly effective persuasive elements and shared many similarities.
These speeches profoundly influenced the eventual outcome of the play and the welfare of the Roman society. Brutus and Antony conveyed their messages to the plebeians by using the three classical appeals: ethos, which is an appeal to credibility; pathos which is an appeal to the emotion of the audience; and logos which is an appeal to reason and logic. Brutus was faced with the duty to calm down the incredulous plebeians and to justify the callous actions taken against Caesar by the conspirators.
Brutus, a powerful public orator, established his credibility by saying, “Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe” (760). He also starts out by saying that he was a “Dear friend of Caesar, to him [he wishes to] say that Brutus’s love to Caesar was no less than his. . . Brutus rose against Caesar [not because he] . . . loved Caesar less but that [he] loved Rome more” (760). Brutus knew that each and every Roman thought he was an honorable man and he used that to establish his credibility.
Marc Antony also established his credibility in the midst of the havoc which was present due to the reactions of the crowd after Brutus’s speech. As he carried Caesar’s corpse the crowd was in a tumult saying that “Caesar was a tyrant . . . we are blest that Rome is rid of him,” in order to establish his credibility Anthony addressed the crowd ingeniously by saying “Friends, Roman, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him”(762,762). He established his credibility in the eyes of the Romans by saying that he was “not to praise” Caesar (760).
Both Brutus and Marc Antony utilized pathos by appealing to the emotions of the plebeians, and expressed immense passion in their speeches. Brutus used his love for Rome as justifications of his actions; he remarked that he “slew [his] best lover for the good of Rome. . . [and that he shall] have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death” (761). Upon saying these eloquent words the public felt that Brutus should “live, live! . . . [letting] him be Caesar, Caesar’s better parts” (761).
