In William Shakespeare's tragic play Julius Caesar, the contrast between honor and power in a leadership position is presented as many individuals work to improve Rome with their own ideals of national glory . Brutus and his followers pursue the idea that Julius Caesar was not an honorable ruler for Rome, leading them to kill him for the benefit of their country. Marc Antony opposes Brutus, being a strong supporter of Caesar's rule, in order to bring justice to his deceased acquaintance and improve the lives of the citizens of Rome. Both men express their opinions on Caesar's rule, but Antony's most powerful message pits the Roman citizens against Brutus and the conspirators. Shakespeare uses paralysis for the first time in Caesar's government demonstrating Antony's subtle mockery of the conspirators. Antony later uses repetition of Brutus being an honorable man as well as rhetorical questions to subtly place blame on Brutus without directly saying so. Shakespeare uses various forms of altruistic, yet deceptive, diction to portray Antony's speech as superior to that of Brutus because it refers to the sympathies of the Roman citizens rather than their nationalism. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Brutus has some hesitation in granting Antony permission to speak in reference to Caesar's death. Brutus asks only that Antony not speak ill of the conspirators, leading Antony to cunningly circumvent his oratorical limitations. Antony first exclaims that he "came to bury Caesar, not to praise him" to peacefully present his bond to Caesar and honor him ceremoniously (III.ii.73). Despite Antony's supposed friendliness, his motivations lie in revenge and he continues to praise Caesar regardless. The author uses the paralysis within Antony's deceptive diction to subtly turn attention toward Caesar's beneficent rule. Initially presenting himself as adhering to Brutus' limitations, Antony feigns loyalty to improve his speech and inspire the citizens towards his rightful ideals. The author uses Antonio's devious diction to enhance the ethos, thus creating an emotional response among the citizens who sympathize with Antonio's loss. Rather than promoting patriotism for Rome like Brutus, Antony's speech focuses on the sentiment of the individual, inspiring the crowds towards Caesar's ideals. Shakespeare later supports Antony's focus on Roman emotions when he subtly announces that he "speak[s] not to refute what Brutus has said, but... to say what [he] knows" (III.ii99-100) . Shakespeare once again uses paralysis to distract from Antony's continued opposition to Brutus' methods. The author's use of logos when talking about Caesar's rule over Brutus is used to influence both the minds and hearts of the citizens because they are more willing to follow someone who gives back to them. The author describes Antony's diction as benevolent and deceitful because his moral is to improve Rome, but his motivations are to go against Brutus' rule and avenge the death of his beloved Caesar. Antony's ability to circumvent Brutus' restrictions helps relate to the needs of the citizens because there is a central focus on Caesar's past successes. Antony later focuses on Brutus' supposed honor to show the contrast between Caesar, a true ruler, and Brutus, a misguided ruler. Antony places emphasis on Brutus' supposed honor to backhandedly mock Brutus' morals which differ from Caesar's. Antony repeatedly exclaims that "Brutus is a man of honor" to feign loyaltytowards the conspirators (III.ii.82). The author uses Antony's repetitive diction to demonstrate the opposite of his connotation. By portraying Brutus as consistently honorable, and then following up his supposed successes with his damage to society, Antony is subtly placing blame on Brutus while simultaneously complimenting him. Shakespeare uses the contrast between Brutus' honor and his evil actions to influence the audience towards the more obvious evil of murder. Where Brutus provides ideals of nationalism, Antony provides emotional and physical benefits to the audience. Shakespeare uses ethos when Antony appeals to the audience because even though they see Brutus as clearly honorable, they see Caesar as a giver because they feel a connection to his loss and desire the materialistic possessions that Caesar's will administered posthumously. In addition to Brutus' honor, Antony repeatedly states that Caesar "was [his] friend, faithful and just to [him], but Brutus says he was ambitious", thus providing a clear opposition between Caesar's benevolent rule and the sudden murder of Brutus (III.ii.84-85). Shakespeare uses the comparison between Caesar and Brutus to instead attribute the "ambitious" characteristic to Brutus because it was he who physically carried out the evil. Backhandedly praising Brutus, listeners soon stop believing any accusations of Caesar's government because Antony continually denies the reasons for Brutus' murder. By praising the conspirators, but praising Caesar more, Shakespeare is demonstrating that Antony's speech is stronger because his benevolent diction uses ethos to create an emotional connection with each individual rather than the whole. The citizens commiserate over Caesar's death by turning against the conspirators. Antonio's expertly worded speech then becomes stronger because it provokes a physical reaction, all while speaking with peaceful diction. Antony's final strategy in his speech plays with rhetorical questions to get the audience to think and change their thoughts towards vengeance of Caesar rather than celebration of his death. Although Antony gives off a friendly exterior during his speech, his internal motivations lie in persuading the crowd to abandon their original beliefs to avenge Caesar. When Antony states, "[Caesar] brought back to Rome many prisoners whose ransoms filled the general coffers: did this seem ambitious to Caesar?", he is forcing the crowd to focus on the benefits of Caesar's rule (III.ii. 87- 89). Shakespeare uses Antony's sincere diction to turn the crowd's motivations towards revenge because it is easy for the audience to relate to a king who benefits his fellow man. The author uses Antony's double-entendre questions to enhance the logos because even though Antony internally rebels against the conspirators, his statements about Caesar's public influences are true. Antonio uses the audience's emotions in his speech to amass a larger following. Brutus' argument was that the Romans should rebel against an unjust government, which is certainly a worthy cause. However, Antonio relates to each citizen by illustrating Caesar's values of caring for people and giving back to the public. Antony uses rhetorical questioning of Caesar's ambition to show the error of killing Brutus, thus pitting Rome against the conspirators who oppose Caesar's benevolence. Antony then concludes his speech with an inspiring question that says, “you all loved [Caesar] once, not without reason. So what cause keeps you from mourning him?” (III.ii.101-102). Shakespeare uses Antony's sincere diction to demonstrate his suffering, which in turn affects the Roman audience who joins in his..
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