Brutus Appealing to His Audience
Brutus Appealing To His Audience
If you picked up a magazine, you are most likely being persuaded by an ad using one of three special items. Three types of rhetorical appeals are used in everyday life and pictures and people don't realize it. The three are logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos is when appealing to logic, pathos is to appeal to emotion, and ethos is appealed to to gain trust or credibility. In the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, Brutus appeals to the three rhetorical strategies throughout the play to reach out to his audience and prove he is an honorable man.
Ethos is a powerful rhetorical when trying to persuade. Brutus appeals to ethos many times throughout the play in order to gain the trust of the people of Rome. For example Brutus says to the people of Rome “I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall/ please my country to need my death”(JC III.ii 47-48). Brutus is willing to give up his life if the plebeians disagree with his action of killing Caesar. Credibility and trust is automatically gained when he says this because he will respect the consequences of his decision if it was a mistake in the audience’s eyes. Furthermore, Brutus is known for his honor and valor. This is exemplified when he says out “O Rome, I make thee promise”(JC III.ii 56). By him making a promise, it illustrates that he is swearing something that he cannot break because since he is so honorable, he would be betraying himself, breaking his own promise. If Brutus broke his own promise, it would be going against everything he believes in. Ethos is a key component to persuasion.
Although ethos can be very effective, logos is set to make a person think and truly understand by using imagery or logic. Brutus appeals to logos when talking about Caesar and how ambitious he is: “Crown his that,/ And then I grant we out a sting in him/ That at him will he may do danger with”(JC III.ii 15-17). Brutus compares Caesar to an animal, and is saying putting a crown on him would be like putting a stinger on an animal to make them more harmful. This comparison informs the viewers of the true danger Caesar could have caused. In addition, In act III, Brutus talks about Caesar’s death: “Why i, that did love Caesar when I struck him,/ Have thus proceeded”(JC III.ii 182-183). His choice of words cause the audience to become convinced and believe that Brutus killed Caesar