Julius Caesar/ Shakespeare

Cautious, cunning, and crafty are what describes Antony as a person when he gives his motivating and memorable speech about Caesar. Julius Caesar was just murdered by the conspirators and Antony finds out about it. Part of the conspirators also wants to kill Antony, but Brutus thinks they will be “butchers” (Shakespeare III.i.166). During Caesar’s funeral Antony avenges his friend’s death. With great patience and inspiring words, Antony turns the crowd against Brutus, even though he pretends to be the conspirators’ friend. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Antony’s speech to persuade the crowd to turn against the conspirators was proved effective through his use of pathos and logos. His voice was thoughtful and ever so credible to the people. This is why they trust Antony and his playful words. Antony is clever and a terrific speaker with his ability to play on the crowd’s emotion with the use of pathos. He exemplifies this when he proves his sadness caused by the death of Caesar. Antony tells the crowd “[his] heart is in the coffin there with Caesar and [he] must pause till it comes back to [him]” (III.ii.103-104). Antony uses his own emotions to make the crowd feel guilty for how they responded with the death of Caesar. He also mentions that Caesar left them behind a will which “[he] does not mean to read, / and [they] would go and kiss dead Caesar’s wounds/ and dip [their] napkins in sacred blood” (III.ii.128-130). Without even reading the will or offering any facts, Antony already made the crowd angry and ready to revolt against the conspirators. Another way Antony made the crowd feel guilty was mentioning that they were praising the murderer by reminding them that “Brutus was Caesar’s angel, / and this was the most unkindest cut of all” (III.ii.178-180). Thus he concluded his magnificent, awe-inspiring, and motivating speech by announcing “If [they] have tears, prepare to shed them now” (III.ii.166). He made all of their feelings turn from love to hate, honor to regret, and peace to revenge. Antony’s speech to turn the crowd against the conspirators with the use of pathos was proven effective because he was able to reverse their feelings. All they wanted at the end of the speech was to avenge the one they loved. So yes it should have worked. Although Antony was highly successful with his use of pathos, he also uses logos, which became very effective. The way Antony demonstrates his use of logos is when he provides evidence that showed Caesar cared about the people and thought of them as equals. “He [Caesar] hath brought many captives home to Rome… / when the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept; / [He] [Antony] thrice presented Caesar a kingly crown, / which he [Caesar] thrice refused” (III.ii.85-94). The crowd understands at this point that Caesar was humble and not “ambitious” as much as Brutus had said (III. ii.30). Another way Antony uses logos was when he had read the will to the crowd and they find out that Caesar had left “To every Roman citizen 75 drachmas, / he hath left you all his walks, / His private arbors, and new planted orchards” (III.ii. 236-244). By this point, the crowd learns that Caesar was genuinely generous and thought of the Roman citizens as people he truly loved. The use of logos was proved effective by Antony because it showed the generous and thoughtful side of Caesar, which makes the crowd, feel guilty and angry. When Antony told the crowd about the will they wanted to avenge Caesar’s death. So it was effective for Antony to turn the crowd against the conspirators. Antony proved to be a strong, motivating speaker without showing his true goal. He was very clever to pretend everything was alright, even though it wasn’t. Antony was successful in turning the crowd against the conspirators. His success impacts the play because now the conspirators are going to face a harsher death than Caesar. Antony is going to take revenge on them, but with the support of the Roman people. What are at stake at this point are the lives of the conspirators, and the life of Antony. Antony’s attempt to persuade the crowd to turn against Brutus and the conspirators with the use of pathos and logos was deemed effective because of his ability to speak, and the inspiring words he used.