Transcript Brutus’s speech:key words - Lyndhurst School District

Brutus’s speech:key words
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Romans, countrymen, and lovers!
Hear me for my cause; and be silent, that
you may hear:
believe me for mine honor, and have
respect to mine honor, that you may
believe:
censure me in your wisdom; and awake
your senses, that you may the better judge.
Hear……Believe……Censure
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Hear: Listen to me so I can make my
point (logos)
Believe: I am an honorable man (ethos)
Censure: Judge me accordingly (logos)
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If there be any in this assembly,
any dear friend of Caesar’s,
To him I say that Brutus’ love to Caesar was
no less than his.
If then that friend demand why Brutus rose
against Caesar, this is my answer,--Not that I loved Caesar less,
But that I loved Rome more.

Had you rather Caesar were living, and die
all slaves,
than that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen?
As Caesar loved me, I weep for him;
as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it;
as he was valiant, I honor him;
but, as he was ambitious, I slew him.
There is tears for his love;
joy for his fortune;
honor for his valour;
and death for his ambition.
Parallelism: A Logical
Structure
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Brutus pairs Caesar’s accomplisments
with his own reactions:
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Caesar loved………I weep (pathos)
was fortunate……….I rejoice (ethos)
was valiant…………I honor (ethos)
Was ambitious…………I slew (logos)
What does Brutus want?

He wants the crowd to know that he
loved Caesar—
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Repeats this concept in almost every line
Always pairs Caesar’s positive traits with
his sympathetic reactions
Pairs Caesar’s negative traits with his own
righteous actions—his honor, in effect.
What else does Brutus want?
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He wants the crowd to understand that
his love for Caesar was not as deep as
his love for Rome
He wants the crowd to understand that
Caesar’s ambition made him
dangerous; therefore, the Conspirators
had to kill him----for the good of Rome
Brutus’s appeal
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Logos: excellent (Not that I loved
Caesar less, but that I loved Rome
more)
Ethos: adequate (There is tears for his
joy…..)
Pathos: ???
Questions about Brutus’s
speech:
1. Brutus opens his speech with “Romans,
countrymen, and lovers (ie friends).” What
does the order of these words say about
the importance he places on each?
2. Consider Brutus’s rhetorical questions
(questions to which the answers are
obvious). What sorts of things is he hoping
the audience will decide are most important
to them?
Antony’s speech

Friends, Romans, countrymen
Lend me your ears.
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them; the
good is oft interred with their bones.
So let it be with Caesar.
Friends…..Romans……
Countrymen

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Friends (pathos)—appealing to
emotion
Romans (pathos)—shaping appeal to
audience
Countrymen (ethos)—common
ground
Antony’s continued
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The noble Brutus hath told you Caesar
was ambitious.
If it were so, it was a grievous fault.
And grievously hath Caesar answered
it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the
rest—for Brutus is an honorable
man,
So are they all, all honorable men—
Antony’s speech
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Noble Brutus (ethos)—demonstrating
fairness, knowledge of crowd’s mood
If it were so… (logos)—introduces
possibility that Brutus is incorrect
Under leave of Brutus and the
rest… (logos)—cites authority;
(ethos)—fair minded
Antony’s speech
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He was my friend, faithful and just to
me. (pathos)
But Brutus says he was ambitious,
(logos?)
and Brutus is an honorable man
(pathos).
What does Antony want?
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He wants the crowd to sympathize with
him (pathos)
He wants the crowd to believe that
Brutus and the conspirators are not
honorable men (pathos)
He wants to stir the crowd to mutiny
against the conspirators (pathos)
Antony’s appeal….
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Logos: adequate (If it were so……) (I
thrice presented him a kingly crown
which he did thrice refuse)
Ethos: excellent (Many examples)
Pathos: excellent (Many examples)