Rhetorical Devices In Julius Caesar

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There are many important scenes that make the theme of the play. In William Shakespeare's play, "Julius Caesar," the best and most suspenseful part of the play is found in Act 2, scene 1. This scene has many rhetorical speech devices that help make the play better. This particular scene contains a great amount of characters. It's early in the morning (the time isn't specified in the play) and Brutus is unable to sleep since he has considered to murder Caesar. Pacing back in forth he talks to himself, "It must be by his death, and for my part I know no personal cause to spurn at him but for the general (Act ll, Sc. 1 10-13)." This inner conflict between Brutus and his conscience is swaying toward assassinating Caesar since it is for the good of Rome. As Brutus is trying to find the right answer, there is a knock on the door.…show more content…
There are two specific rhetorical speech devices that are used, syllepsis and tautology. In syllepsis, Brutus uses blood in two different forms, "Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,to cut the head off and then hack the limbs...We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar,and in the spirit of men there is no blood (Act ll, Sc. 1 169-170 174-175). He tries to compare the blood that Caesar will shed and how there isn't any blood or shame into what they're intending to do to Caesar. Then in tautology, Brutus explains that they're trying to kill Caesar with the intention of protecting Rome not just to assassinate him. "Let us be sacrificers but not butchers...Let’s kill him boldly but not wrathfully.let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods,not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds (Act ll, Sc. 1 173 179-181). Brutus constantly mentions to the conspirators that he's murdering Caesar for Rome not for his own benefit. Rhetorical speech devices are used to help back up what the characters are saying in this case to back up Brutus and his logical

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