Julius Caesar

by William Shakespeare

Julius Caesar: Pathos 1 key example

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Definition of Pathos

Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Pathos is an argument that appeals to... read full definition
Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Pathos is... read full definition
Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective... read full definition
Act 3, scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Antony's Pathetic Speech:

In Act 3, Scene 2, Antony addresses the crowd of plebeians (commoners) that has assembled after Caesar's assassination. Speaking after Brutus's logos-driven explanation for Caesar's murder, Antony takes the opposite approach—he uses the rhetorical device of pathos to appeal to the audience's emotions and elicit grief, rather than elation, over Caesar's death.

I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause.
What cause withholds you, then, to mourn for
him?—
O judgement, thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason!—Bear with
me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.

[He weeps.]