Period 6
Caesar - Rhetorical Devices
Rhetorical Devices
Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved
Rome more.
Antithesis.
As Caesar loved me, I weep for him;
as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was
valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I
slew him.
Isocolon.
For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men--
�And Brutus is an honourable man.
Anaphora
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.
Anadiplosis
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
Epistrophe
15. On his arrival at the Senate, Caesar has 30 lines (Act III Scene 1, lines 35-48; 58-73) to speak before Casca strikes his first blow. Find examples in those lines of:
a. his pomposity
1. Are we all ready? What is now amiss
That Caesar and his senate must redress?
b. his vanity
1. Yet in the number I do know but one
That unassailable holds on his rank,
Unshaked of motion: and that I am he,
c. his arrogance
1. What touches us ourself shall be last served.
2. If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him,
I spurn thee like a cur out of my way.
d. his affection
1. What, Brutus! (He says this to Brutus because he loves Brutus, and is very surprised when he is insulted by him.)
2. And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive;
e. his pride
1. Know, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause
Will he be satisfied.
2. But I am constant as the northern star.
9. In his address to the mob in the forum (Act III Scene 2, lines 12-44), Brutus speaks in prose, not blank verse. His words have been described as �a lecture�.
a. Show from the speech that Brutus knows he enjoys the respect of Roman citizens.
Then follow me, and give me audience, friends. Romans, countrymen, and lovers!
In almost all of Brutus�s paragraphs he refers to the people as his friends. He really wants the people to fell like they are equal to him, that he isn�t any better than they are.
b. Show that he believes the crowd is capable of making rational and just decisions.
In his speeches Brutus asks the people questions that he knows are difficult to answer. For instance he says, �Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony: who, though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth; as which of you shall not?� and �Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?� Both of these are hard to answer but they require a lot of thinking to understand them and what Brutus is trying to ask.
c. Show that his speech is based on an appeal to reason and logic.
In many of his lines he gets the people�s attention by taking about things they would understand and things that appeal to them. He involves them in a lot of his questions, as if he was asking each of them individually. For instance, �Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended.�
d. Show that he is proud of his patriotism and his republicanism.
In his speech�s he talks about how killing Caesar was for the better of Rome. �The question of his death is enrolled in the Capitol; his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offences enforced, for which he suffered death.�
e. Show that he wishes to act magnanimously. Comment on the wisdom of his approach and assumptions. Do you think it is reasonable to describe him as politically na�ve?
In Act III Brutus doesn�t consider the governmental side of his arguments, like what they are going to do now that they don�t have a ruler, and how they are going to control the people. With out leadership in Rome the people won�t have anybody to tell him or her right from wrong so it will become chaos. It is reasonable to consider Brutus na�ve.
6. In Act II Scene I, in which Cassius wins over Brutus to the conspiracy, show evidence of
a. his tact
You shall confess that you are both deceived.
Here, as I point my sword, the sun arises,
Which is a great way growing on the south,
Weighing the youthful season of the year.
Some two months hence up higher toward the north
He first presents his fire; and the high east
Stands, as the Capitol, directly here.
b. his ability to strike the right note when making his approach.
Cassius trys to make Brutus feel good and gets his point across at the same time. �Yes, every man of them, and no man here But honours you; and every one doth wish You had but that opinion of yourself Which every noble Roman bears of you.�
c. His willingness to take a second place when it suits him.
He leaves Brutus to think about what he told him. This shows how he is taking second place behind Caesar to allow Brutus to make the decisions he wants him to make. �The morning comes upon 's: we'll leave you, Brutus. And, friends, disperse yourselves; but all remember What you have said, and show yourselves true Romans.�
4. Antony shows a masterly control over the fickle nature of the common people.
a. Before Antony ascends to the Public Chair to make his oration, which remark typifies the commoners� dull-wittedness?
Fourth Citizen
What does he say of Brutus?
b. Whereas Brutus�s speech appealed to the intellect, Antony�s is emotional. He ends his opening remarks by choking back tears. How do the people react?
They react in believing in what Antony is saying, and finding reason in it. They also believe in him when he says Caesar had great wrong.
c. Marullus says of the commoners, �You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things� (Act I Scene I, line 36). Antony says, �You are not wood, you are not stones, but men� (Act III Scene I, line 140). Explain why Antony�s oratorical approach shows a greater understanding of crowd psychology.
Antony�s approach shows a greater understanding of crowd psychology because it shows he knows what was said of them before and by telling them they aren?t what they were told it makes them want to follow him more.
d. Why does Antony mention the will to the crowd, but decline at first to read it?
He mentions the will to the crowd but doesn�t read it at first to read it in order to make them anxious and curious to hear the will, and wanted as stated in it.
g. The commoners forget the will till Antony reminds them of it (line 236). What does this tell us of their powers of concentration?
It tells us that their powers of concentration is bad because they only can think of what is going on at the present and they forget about everything that is said seconds later.