Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis

“People are usually more convinced by reasons they discovered themselves than by those found out by others.” This quote by French philosopher Blaise Pascal explains the success of any good speaker. They have the ability to make the audience adopt the ideas as their own. In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, this remains true. Julius Caesar is murdered by conspirators who claim to be his friend. The idea, spawned by Cassius, has been taken over by Brutus and together they have killed him. Afterward, they chose to talk to the people and try to show them they did it for an honorable cause. Brutus gives a funeral speech, and then allows Mark Antony some time to speak as well. Mark Antony remains loyal to Caesar and questions …show more content…
“O masters, If I were disposed to stir your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong who you all know, are honorable men. I will not do them wrong. I rather choose to wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, than I will wrong such honorable men.” In this quote from his speech, Antony is describing himself and his values. He is saying he would rather disprove himself, and his close friend Caesar, than try and sway the people away from what Brutus has already spoken. This grows his credibility in the eyes of the people and the people begin to put their faith in him and his point of view. Antony also says in his speech, “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” Through this simple statement he is proving to the simple people in the audience that his character is not one that would mess with their minds, or try to convince them of something they don’t already believe him. Now whether these statements are his true character or not is irrelevant. The audience believes his intentions and choses to follow his ideas rather than the ideas of Brutus, making him the more effective speaker in this