During Julius Caesar, in one of the most famous scenes Shakespeare wrote, Antony influences the audience, soon turning the mourning crowd into a rioting mob. Antony persuades the Romans in his speech through Ethos, Logos, & Pathos. Antony’s speech undermines the conspirators even while it appears deferential to them. Antony uses Ethos to catch the audience’s attention. He states “For Brutus is an honorable man; so are they all, all honorable men” (Act 3, 81-82). Antony never directly calls the conspirators, including Brutus, traitors; he is mainly calling them “honorable” in a sarcastic manner that the crowd is able to understand.
This is the irony in what he is saying. Later in the scene he goes back to into a sarcastic tone and states “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”(Act 3,120-126). Antony is making fun of righting the “honorable men. ” Antony reassures the crowd he is “not to disprove what Brutus spoke” but to tell them what he does know. He is using logos, logic.
Antony had “thrice presented [Caesar] a kingly crown” & he refused it each time. He then asks “Was this ambition? ”(Act 3, 95-96). He makes the crowds think whether Brutus’ motives where true or just out of jealousy. “You all loved him once, and not without reason. Then what reason holds you back from mourning him now? ”(Act 3,101-102). In this line he is asking the audience why should they applaud Brutus for killing Caesar. They had loved and admired Caesar at some point so why should they not mourn him now. Towards the end of Antony’s speech he begins using pathos causing the crowd to feel sympathy for Caesars and his wrongful death.
He mentions that for the audience to bear with him. His “heart is in the coffin there with Caesar” (Act 3,104-106) he then takes a minute to recollect himself. The audience begins to -realize how “Caesar has had great wrong” (Act 3,109) By how Antony weeps for Caesar makes the Romans realize what all the conspirators did was terribly wrong, because Antony, although he is a party animal he is still a noble man. In the end Antony had the better advantage when it came to using Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. Antony, proving himself a noble man, got the Romans to see the wrong deed and caused them to seek revenge.