Comare and contrast the ways Brutus and Mark Antony use rhetoric to persuade the fickle plebeians of Rome

Rhetorical questioning is another device used my Antony and Brutus as an attempt to sway the fickle masses. Both men do this so that the plebeians will become unsure of their allegiance; to the conspirators or Caesar and Antony?  Brutus asks, ‘had you rather Caesar was living, and die all slaves, than to live all free men?’ This is rhetorical as he is making the assumption for the crowd that if Caesar still ruled the people would become his slaves.

Antony uses rhetorical device to de-validate the point being made in Brutus’s argument. He states ‘For I did present him the kingly crown thrice, for which he did thrice refuse’ He uses rhetorical device when he asks to the crowd ‘was this ambition?’ Firstly there is an obvious answer to the question, as an ambitious man would take any power offered. However, by mentioning the word ‘ambition’, Antony begins to mock Brutus’s criticism of Caesar.

How the speeches of both men are set out is important, as through this Antony is able to connect on a personal level with the people while Brutus alienates them. Antony speaks in verse, the text of a less educated being, and by talking in simpler terms is able to persuade the masses with more ease. Brutus, on the other hand, speaks in prose, showing he is unable to acknowledge the lack of education among the people and proving once again that he is out of touch with the plebeians.

Both Brutus and Antony use pathos to allow the fickle crowd sympathise with them. When Mark Antony ‘bear with me for heart is in the coffin there with Caesar’ this effective pathos not only causes much emotion amongst the people but at the same time allows them to confer with each other. When it appears that a man is so overcome with emotion he cannot speak the pathos created is at extraordinary levels. Brutus, however, once again appeals to the nationalistic side of the people. He states that he ‘slew my best lover for the sake of Rome.’ As an attempt to gain hero’s status from the crowd, proving that he would sacrifice anything in order to save his country. While Mark Antony’s use of pathos creates more emotion amongst the fickle masses, both men create enough pathos so as to endear themselves to the people.

Shakespeare makes many connections between performance and politics in Julius Caesar. As all plebeians were uneducated, their political opinions had much to do with the emotion that they felt when being spoken to by the more educated people of Rome. Thus, both men were required to use the techniques described above as an attempt to connect with the fickle masses on a personal level, making these uses of rhetoric as much about performance and putting on a show than political strategy, as is still the case in some countries around the globe in these modern times.