The Art of Persuasion

On the stair steps of great Rome, rested the body of “the Northern star, of whose true-fixed and resting quality there is no fellow in the firmament” (752-753). Being blatantly stabbed by the ones who envied his success, the great and astute Caesar lay soaked in a “fountain with hundred spouts . . . [with] pure blood” surrounding his body (744). The crowds of Rome felt deprived of a leader, where hath good Caesar gone? Romans, countryman, and lovers felt outraged, baffled and distressed upon seeing great Caesar’s body, where hath good Caesar gone . . .? The art of persuasion is a skill bestowed upon many people, as stated in the Webster Dictionary, “persuasion is to induce a person to believe by appealing to reason or understanding; convince.” In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Brutus’s and Marc Antony’s compelling speeches brought light upon the people of Rome. Their use of persuasive techniques and appeals enabled them to convey their validity while achieving the support of the crowd. The speeches of devoted Brutus, and faithful Antony used highly effective persuasive elements and shared many similarities. These speeches profoundly influenced the eventual outcome of the play and the welfare of the Roman society.

Brutus and Antony conveyed their messages to the plebeians by using the three classical appeals: ethos, which is an appeal to credibility; pathos which is an appeal to the emotion of the audience; and logos which is an appeal to reason and logic. Brutus was faced with the duty to calm down the incredulous plebeians and to justify the callous actions taken against Caesar by the conspirators. Brutus, a powerful public orator, established his credibility by saying, “Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe” (760). He also starts out by saying that he was a “Dear friend of Caesar, to him [he wishes to] say that Brutus’s love to Caesar was no less than his. . . Brutus rose against Caesar [not because