Sarah Shakhloul

Ms.Foster

10 LC

25 May 2018

In Shakespeare's interpretation of the Roman emperor Julius Caesar’s assassination,

his murderer Brutus, and close friend Marc Antony speak at his funeral. Brutus

reasoned Caesar’s death was for the better of Rome. Whereas Antony used repetition,

verbal irony, and purposeful diction, to efficiently execute his argument that caesar's

death was unjust.

Marc Anthony repeated certain dialogue to the audience to make himself more

relatable. He often referred to the crowd as “friends”: this appeals to his ethos and their

pathos, which creates a more intimate experience for the listeners. By addressing the

audience as compaintions rather than a group of trifling citizens, and repeating “friends”

throughout his speech, he stimulates a sense of trust and familiarity for the spectators.

This technique slowly won over the crowd’s trust, and the words Antony was speaking

implicated a new importance.Antony’s success was reflected in the crowd’s response:

“We’ll hear [Antony]. We’ll follow [Antony]. We’ll die with [Antony].” The repetition of the

word “friend” caused agree and confide in Marc Antony, making his statements urgent

and significant
Antony was also purposefully redundant by calling Brutus (who betrayed Caesar) and

those involved in Caesar’s death, “noblemen”. Anthony obviously meant the opposite,

but by commending them that title, and talk about Caesar’s tragic death side by side,

contradicted from one another. In doing so, Antony influenced the audience, and they

began to doubt Brutus’s credibility. Utilizing verbal irony prompted the audience to not

only mourn Caesar’s death, but it also put a spotlight on the questionable actions of

Brutus. The effect of calling the murderer of the man whose death was being discussed

as an extreme misfortune: “noble” causes the audience to deem Brutus’s decision to kill

the great leader of Rome as selfish and not with the fate of Rome in consideration. Marc

Antony was able to taint Brutus’s integrity. The citizens reply: “They were traitors!

‘honorable men’.” The use of irony enabled the listeners to form their own opinion of

Brutus, which by the end of the speech Antony convinced them he was a betrayer, not

Rome’s savior.

Lastly Antony used a great deal of purposeful diction to persuade his audience. While

reading Caesar’s will to the people of Rome, he manifested both positive and negative

feelings to manipulate the audience's feelings. Words like “loved”,”angel”, and

“gracious” described Caesar, and how much he cared for Rome. “Ingratitude”,

“Traitors”, and “Cursed” were used to describe Brutus and those who partook in the

treacherous slaughter of the man who welcomed Brutus with open arms. By associating

positive words with Caesar and negative words with Brutus, Marc Antony puts words to

a face furthering the love for Caesar, and hatred of Brutus; thereby appealing to the

audience’s pathos and advocates the vengeance of Caesar’s death: “Revenge!...Leave

no traitors alive!” the crowd exclaimed. Marc Antony’s choice diction made the audience

more passionate about what Antony was preaching; and led to the vengeance of

Caesar’s assassination.

Antony put all these rhetorical devices together to adequately build the ethos of Caesar,

and diminish that of Brutus. Repetition, verbal irony, and purposeful diction are what

changed the citizens of Rome's opinion, and ultimately made Marc Antony’s eulogy

more effective.