Tragedy of Julius Caesar Essay
In the Julius Caesar play, there are four speeches from different characters of the story. The speech that will be described in this essay is Ca**ius's speech.In the speech named as “Masters of their fates” by the character Ca**ius, Shakespeare illustrates his personality in two main ways: His beliefs about himself and government, and his use of rhetorical techniques in persuasion.
Ca**ius states that men can determine their own destiny and opposes the ascension of any single man to the position of dictator, and he fears that Caesar aspires to such power. Ca**ius tells Brutus, ‘' the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings” (Lines 7-8, Ca**ius Speech). By this statement Ca**ius means that they are the reason why they are lower cla** people. Ca**ius also implies that Brutus should take action to become more important and recognized in Rome. Furthermore, Ca**ius asks Brutus: “why the name Caesar should be sounded more than yours?” (Lines 9-10, Ca**ius Speech). Ca**ius is trying to persuade Brutus to compare himself to Caesar and making him realize that Caesar is not better than him. By Ca**ius convincing Brutus to juxtapose to Caesar, Brutus will start thinking about attacking him. Ca**ius's speech is directed to Brutus. He tries to influence him to k** Caesar because he has become godlike in the eyes of the Romans.
Ca**ius applies various uses of rhetorical language in his speech, especially persuasion towards Brutus. “When could they say ‘till now, that talk'd of Rome, that her wide walls emcompa**'d but one man? (Lines 23-24, Ca**ius Speech), Ca**ius tells Brutus. This sentence will be considered a rhetorical question because Ca**ius is pointing out something instead of waiting for an answer. By this statement Ca**ius says that there is no reason why Rome should have only one noble man when the nation is big enough for more people to be recognized.
Ca**ius tells Brutus: “You and I have heard our father's say there was a Brutus once that would have blook'd the eternal devil to keep his state in Rome as easily as a king” (Lines 26-29). In this statement Ca**ius is telling Brutus that forefathers would have fought the devil himself to keep Rome from a having a king. What Ca**ius is trying to do here is to persuade Brutus to get rid of Caesar based on their ancestor's political beliefs. Ca**ius is really trying to convince Brutus to do something against Caesar using all possible ways of persuasion.
In the “Masters of their fates” speech by Ca**ius, Shakespeare uses plenty of rhetorical techniques to persuade Brutus. This is why the speech is very convincing and Brutus decides to take action and k** Caesar.