In the play, Calpurnia has a nightmare about Caesar's body spurting out blood like a fountain. “She dreamt tonight she saw my statue, which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts, did run pure blood; and many lusty Romans came smiling and did bathe their hands in it” (II.ii.81-84) Calpurnia’s ominous nightmare causes her to beg Caesar to stay home. Which Caesar almost does so, only for Decius to convince him otherwise. “This dream is all amiss interpreted. It was a vision fair and fortunate. Your statue spouting blood in any pipes, in which so many smiling Romans bathed, signifies that from you great Rome shall suck Reviving blood, and that great men shall press for tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance. This by Calpurnia's dream is signified....Besides,…
Cassius's perspective is very much that Caesar is a mere man and no better than any other Roman. 'I was born as free as Caesar, so were you.' His recollection of the time he saved Caesar from drowning had a great influence on his view on Caesar, “Tis true, this god did shake.” He ironically utilizes the term ‘god’ as he was astonished that a man of such physical weakness can now have the reputation of greatness, “'Ye gods, it doth amaze me / A man of such a feeble temper should / So get the start of the majestic world.” Cassius’ soliloquy exposes his deceit and manipulation, “Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet I see Thy honourable metal may be wrought from that it is disposed.” His play on words showing his belief that he will be able to manipulate Brutus; honourable “mettle,” as if it were heated metal being changed into something new and finally target Caesar with his own loved companion. There is an element of personal jealousy in Cassius. It is evident in his metaphorical language:, 'Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world / Like a Colossus and we petty men' His simile of ‘Colossus’ also produces imagery of the flawed Caesar. Cassius represents Caesar as a tyrant. Cassius takes it personally and will act on the matter. Therefore, through a variety of literary techniques, embedded in various character convictions and opposing views, Shakespeare is able to blur…
To begin, he claims it is all “amiss interpreted” this detail refutes all that she has said because it dismisses every point she made right away. He first uses the word choice “fair”,the word fair has many definitions, and one of them is a synonym for beauty this expresses that his future will be beautiful. He reinforces the positives he tells Caesar he utilizes the word “fortunate” he does this to give the omens a better connotation and illustrate future success. Instead of them representing the death of Caesar they represent the downfall of the enemies of Rome. He also inputs the detail of “smiling romans” revealing that he’ll bring joy and success to his people and that they adore him, so no harm would come to him at this meeting. Decius later mentions the detail “great Rome” meaning Caesar will bring greatness to his kingdom and his people. He also uses personification when he talks of “reviving blood” illustrating the new life he’ll give to everyone in Rome. Finally, he uses parallelism when he says “great Rome… great men” showing that if he pursues this he will not only make Rome great but also the men…
Soon after the last breaths of one of Rome’s most popular general, Julius Caesar, Antony and Brutus were speaking in front of the people of Rome. Both cunning leaders were nimble in the art of persuasion and manipulation. The beloved leaders used the Ethos, Pathos, and Logos methods of persuasion to sway the crowd to his respective view of the actions of the night and their former general Julius Caesar.…
Although you cannot answer this question, it still persuades the audience to think further about the topic. Additionally, he uses pathos to create strong emotions in the audience. For instance, “He hath brought many captives home to Rome Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill . . . When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept.” This appeals to the people’s love of money, as well as their sympathy because Caesar cared even more about the poor.…
Even in his absence or death, the manner in which characters address Caesar, describe him, and act in his presence, reveals the authority and influence he has over people's lives. From the first scene, Caesar is presented as victorious, having vanquished his rival, Pompey, and as an extremely popular figure among the people, with the commoners even defying authorities to celebrate his victory. As the play continues into scene ii, Caesar appears before the crowds as a modern-day pop-star, surrounded by a trail of subservient entourage. Casca and Antony display complete submission to Caesar, with the latter declaring that 'when Caesar says Do this! It is done' . In Caesar's absence, fellow patricians, Brutus and Cassius, describe him as 'mighty Caesar', a man who 'has now become a God', and strides in the world 'as a Colossus' . It is therefore evident that his close subordinates are jealously affected by his power, an effect which will later germinate into conspiracy. Even after his assassination, Caesar's ghost continues the task of perpetuating the fear of his everlasting power on those he influenced. Caesar holds enough power over his subjects that he is capable of influencing them continually, in his life and…
The citizens of Rome were moved by both Brutus's and Antony's speech at Caesar's funeral. Persuasion can be ingenious in plentiful ways, Brutus and Antony swept the crowd in their own ways. However, by looking at the ethos, pathos, and logos in both Brutus's and Antony's speeches, Antony can be seen as more persuasive.…
The character Cassius in the tragedy of Julius Caesar by Shakespeare constantly reflects palpable jealousy. In Act I Scene II, Cassius claims “I was born free as Caesar; so were you:/We both have fed as well, and we both/Endure the winter’s cold as well as he…”(Shakespeare, lines 5-7); and feels king Caesar does not deserve superiority over him. In this scene, Cassius is pointing out to Brutus that he and Cassius deserve the power to lead Rome more than Caesar. In order to prove these points, Cassius shares three stories with Brutus in his speech: one of when he and Caesar had a swimming contest; another when he saw Caesar sickly and frail after a fever; and lastly one where Caesar again is portrayed as a weak and sickly man. In the monologue by Cassius directed at Brutus, Cassius uses paradox, self-heroic word choice and similes throughout three separate stories to give examples of Caesar’s weaknesses. Cassius’ main goal becomes to portray Caesar as any other man; and to rationalize killing the king to gain power for (what he…
In Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, Calphurnia argues to her husband, Julius, to remain home after she dreamt of his murder. In her argument, Calphurnia uses juxtaposition, personification, and imagery to persuade him. She uses these rhetorical devices well, but was unable to convince him.…
He does this because Brutus tells him not to talk bad about the conspirators so he tells the people they are noble men while actually persuading them to make them pay for Caesar's assassination. One way he does this is by saying, "The noble Brutus hath told you Caesar was ambitious." Brutus uses logos to tell the crowd, "To him I say that Brutus love to Caesar was no less than his. Not that I loved Caesar, but that I loved Rome more." He makes them think that his actions were not out of envy or jealousy but out of reasoning to save Rome from a terrible…
The exposition of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare immediately presents the ideals that underpin the differing views of Caesar’s rising power through his two protagonists, Brutus and Cassius. Both characters posses different interpretations on Caesar’s reign on Rome, one being loyal to Rome and a love and respect for Caesar “I love him well” but the other being a spiteful and vitriolic towards a “feeble old tyrant.” This highlights the notion of Cassius’s selfish prejudice towards his own contentment, which is only shown behind closed doors. Brutus on the other hand is victim to Cassius’ vitriol and becomes the pawn as he is manipulated “poor Brutus, with himself at war,” Brutus is troubled emotionally, torn by his patriotism and his respect for Caesar, above all he has an undying love for Rome, “Brutus had rather be a villager than to repute himself a son of Rome.” It is this love for Rome that causes such internal turmoil for Brutus, through Shakespeare’s use of juxtaposition of characters, he is able to highlight to the audience, the lengths that man will go to in order to…
Literature naturally comes to mind as a rich resource for the study of persuasion. To persuade someone completely, one must use rhetorical devices to overcome one of the three key decision making factors: Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. One major concern of Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar is about rhetoric, the skill of persuading people with words. Appeals to logos, pathos and ethos are effectively made to reveal the characters as seen in Cassius, Brutus and Mark Antony respectively throughout the play.…
Caesar was brutally murdered, and now Brutus and Antony present their funeral speeches with the purpose to make people believe in their own views on this murder. The central theme of Act 3, Scene 2 of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is the power of rhetoric. From this scene we are able to see the power that words can have—how they can awake emotions, manipulate opinions, and motivate actions. Through the essay I will be comparing Antony and Brutus speeches and their effect on the society using Aristotle’s postulated three argumentative appeals: logical, emotional and ethical. Powerful and superior rhetoric has a balance of all of three aspects. In contrast to Brutus, Antony presents a superb and more rhetorically powerful funeral oration because he is able to apply logical, emotional and ethical appeals in the perfectly balanced way. In comparison to Antony, Brutus bases his speech not on logical facts but on his reputation, manipulating with the fact that he is an honorable man. In terms of emotions, Brutus uses only pity when Antony employs the use of nostalgia and pity therefore generates a deeper emotional connection with the audience. Finally, Antony presents delightful ethical appeal whereas Brutus uses it very poorly.…
In the “Tragedy of Julius Caesar”, Cassius tries to convince Brutus to be King and to kill Caesar for the good of Rome. For example, when Cassius tells Brutus a story of a flood “For once, upon a raw and gusty day, The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores, Caesar said to me “Darest thou, Cassius, now Leap in with me into this angry flood, And swim to yonder point?”/Caesar cried Help me, Cassius, or I sink”(I, II, 100-104,111). This shows Caesar is weak and cannot even take care of himself. It helps Brutus because it will show Rome that Brutus would be a much stronger ruler. Another example, when Casca tells Cassius that Caesar rejected a crown three times and then “He fell down in the market place, and foamed at the mouth, and was speechless”(I, II, 252-253). This shows Caesar is not a strong ruler and shows that he has epilepsy. This helps Cassius because it will easily help him convince the citizens of Rome to over throw a ruler with epilepsy. In the end Cassius continues to try to convince Brutus to kill Caesar.…
For instance, the Soothsayer attempts to warn him and cries out, “Beware the ides of March” (.....) but the imperious Caesar laughs and ignores him. Calpurnia, the wife of Caesar, wakes up from a terrifying dream that her husband's statue was spouting blood. She asks for Caesar to stay home for the day in order to stay safe. For Calpurnia’s sake, Caesar decides to spend the day at home, and when the conspirators hear of this they immediately send Decius to his house. Decius flatters him and tells Caesar that it would sound cowardly if he were to tell the Senate why he chose to stay home. Deceivingly, Decius says, “If you shall send them word you will not come, / Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock” (II.ii.100-101) Decius convincingly tells Caesar that if he were to not appear, the Senate may change their thoughts of him. Caesar overlooks Calpurnia’s frightful dream and insists on traveling to the…