Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis

Shakespeare wrote many things. One of his greatest was his play Julius Caesar. The most known part about Caesar is how he dies, stabbed in the back by his best friend. Yet the night he was killed Calphurnia, Caesar’s wife, had warned Caesar not to go. But, Decius, a member of a group of conspirators, tries to persuade Caesar to go to the Senate where they plan to kill him. They both use rhetorical devices to try and sway Caesar their way, but Decius’s wins him over. In the first part of that scene it is just Caesar and Calphurnia. Calphurnia tells Caesar of her fears, hoping to appeal to his emotions and get him to fear these things too. She may also have exaggerated a bit in order to get his attention. She tells him, in great metaphors,
about her worries. But he dismisses her argument because those things aren’t just to him; they could happen to anybody, they are “to the world in general as to Caesar.” So Calphurnia tries again to entice Caesar, she says that people would deeply care if he died, more so than if any other where to die, “the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.” Again this is dismissed because Caesar says he doesn’t fear death. Calphurnia ends her argument saying that Caesars wisdom is destroyed by his confidence, which again strikes his emotions. But then Decius comes in with a much better argument. Once he hears about Calphurnia’s dream he immediately turns the dream around in his favor. He says that the Romans bathing their hands in Caesars blood is just a sign that greatness with come from him. He then tells Caesar how stupid it would look for him to not be there because his wife wouldn’t let him come. This affects Caesar because he doesn’t want to seem a coward. Appealing to his emotions again and again. Both arguments are pretty different, Calphurnia tries to reason with Caesar, while Decius “kisses his butt.” Calphurnia uses more logos than Decius. She just states the facts of what she dreamt could happen in order to persuade him, while also using some ethos by telling him that important enough that people would care if he died. The only flaw in her argument may have been that, towards the end, she says, “Your wisdom is consumed in confidence.” Basically telling him that he has a big-head, insulting the person you are trying to persuade may not be the best thing to do. Decius on the other hand just makes Caesar feel mighty and powerful. He again and again complements him and tells him how great he is. And, because he knows Caesar wouldn’t want to be a coward, he tells him that people would think he a coward if he didn’t go because he wife wouldn’t let him. And to top it off, he ends by saying that he wants Caesar to advance and how loved he is. So, of course Caesar listened to Decius! I would have listened to the person handing out complements right and left rather than the “nagging” wife too! Although both used logos, ethos, and pathos, one argument obviously won. Caesar should have known that the wife is always right.