Literary Essay
The central theme of Act III, Scene II. of Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare is the rhetoric and power, which in this scene, the use of words alone is the most powerful authority. Throughout the play, I will be comparing two characters' speeches, Brutus's and Antony's and I'll be applying structuralism critical approach. In act III, scene II of the play, two characters, Brutus and Antony each does a oration speech to the Roman public for the death of Julius Caesar. Brutus' goal is to defend his positions on the actions of the conspirators, and convince Rome that the murder of Julius Caesar was for entirely for their own benefit. And Antony's goal is to oppose the actions of the conspirators, and convince Rome to rise in mutiny against the "honourable men' who murdered Julius Caesar. Antony's speech is more rhetorically powerful because he is able to apply three different appeals to convince the Roman public: logic appeal, emotional appeal, and ethical appeal.
Marcus Junius Brutus (Rome character)
The Death of Caesar
Sculpture of Julius Caesar by 17th century French ...Compare to Brutus, Antony uses logos more effectively since he provides facts, personal experiences, and observations to prove that Caesar was not ambitious as Brutus says Caesar is. Antony says: "You all did see that on the Lupercal / I thrice presented him a kingly crown / which he did thrice refuse", and he is well aware and sympathetic to the needs of the poor in Rome, so he risks his life to win battles that earned wealth and protection for Rome: "He hath brought many captives home to Rome / Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill." These are all facts, and furthermore, Antony even presents a new fact, Caesar's will, which says Caesar will give land and money to each and every Roman citizen. This is the ultimate fact that...