Ethos, Logos and Pathos

Ethos, logos and pathos are three persuasion tools used by Shakespeare in Mark Antonys funeral
oration over Caesars body. Ethos is appeal based on the character of the speaker, Logos is appeal
based on logic or reason and Pathos is appeal based on eotion. Antony uses these eleents to turn the
!oan cro"d against the conspirators "ith a highly convincing speech. #hese three persuasion tools
and structure and diction are the key eleents of the effectiveness of Mark Antonys faous speech.
#he ost convincing use of ethos in Antonys speech is in the first line of the speech$ %&riends,
!oans, countryen, lend e your ears'( #his sho"s that Mark Antony is trying to get in to the
!oan cro"ds hearts "ith his status as a trust"orthy an. )e uses rhetorical irony throughout the
speech constantly *uestioning the ethos of +rutus. +rutus uses ethos heavily in his speech, he "as
considered very honorable a by the !oans, and basically anything that cae out of his outh had to
be correct. Mark Antony targets the *uestionable character of +rutus several ties saying, %And +rutus
is an honorable an.( Antony then sus his speech up by using %- speak not to disprove "hat +rutus
spoke.( #his line once again outlines the irony used by Antony and this is "here the trust"orthy
character of Mark Antony persuades the cro"d to turn on the cro"d, "ithout Antony actually saying
that "hat the conspirators did "as the "rong thing.
Logos can be facts that are used to persuade soeone. Mark Antony uses a lot of facts throughout the
course of his speech. .ne of the key facts in his initial speech is$ %/hen that the poor have cried,
Caesar hath "ept.( #o use this is very logical by Mark Antony since ost of the people that he is
trying to persuade arent the richest bunch of folk in !oe. So "hen he uses 0poor as the type of
people that Caesar cried for, the cro"d thinks that it is "rong to brutally urder soeone "ho cared so
uch for the that he even "ept. #he second tie that Antony uses logos is not in his first speech but
later "hen he is reading the "ill of Caesar. )e says %#o every !oan citi1en he gives, to every several
an, seventy2five drachas.( #his line carries the po"er to ake the !oan citi1ens sorro"ful about
Caesars death. #he logos by Antony sho"s that Caesar cared so uch about his people that not only
did he cry for the and also that he left oney in the "ill for public. #his heavily influences the
change of ind in the cro"d.
Pathos is the ost cleverly used eleent by Mark Antony. )e uses a sall aount in his first speech
saying that %)e "as y friend, faithful and 3ust to e.( #his sho"s that Caesar "as a an "ho is
trust"orthy and un3ust to kill. As usual he iplies this discreetly, by using the "ord 03ust. Antony then
points out the stabs in Caesar, he points out stabs of Casca and Cassius, not bringing uch attention to
the. #hen he brings attention to +rutuss stab, he then says %#his "as the ost unkindest cut of the
all.( )e then gets angry hiself, and so does the cro"d. )e then shouts %/hilst bloody treason
flourishs over us. #he dint of pity. #hese are gracious drops.( )e sus his point up by rhetorical
irony, saying that the "ork that the conspirators have done is 0honourable.
#he structure and diction used by Shakespeare gives us a good idea in ho" Antony "ould have been
thinking "hen he ade his speech. Structure2"ise, siilar topics or ideas are grouped and separated
3ust like paragraphs. )e stops to hear the cro"d and sees if they understand "hat he is talking about,
and then continues to his ne4t arguent to further persuade the cro"d to go against the conspirators.
)e then concludes his set of speeches saying %)ere "as a Caesar' /hen coes such another'( #he
"ay the speeches are set out alost like an essay. 5iction is the choice of "ords to fit in a conte4t.
#hroughout the speech Mark Antony provides "ords that fit 3ust "hat he eans. #he choices of "ords
sho" ho" Mark Antony "ould have been feeling at the tie. /ords such as %interred( and the
constant rhetorical irony give us insights into the eotions of Antony.
Mark Antonys funeral oration is one of Shakespeares finest linguistic skills. )e uses the art of rhetoric
to persuade the reader fro thinking that the conspirators have done good, to the conspirators case is
un3ust. -t is set out clearly so everything is understandable "hich is another reason "hy it is so faous
is. -t outlines the true skill of Shakespeare and "hy his "ork is so faous.