Kopish 1

Steven Kopish

Ms. Woelke

APEL Period 6

22 March 2018

Julius Caesar Essay

In Act II, Scene II of​ Julius Caesar, ​composed by William Shakespeare, the characters

Calphurnia and Decius develop arguments that contain intense rhetorical reasoning in order to

justify Caesar’s absence or attendance to the capital. Calphurnia, Caesar’s wife, based her

argument off of a dream from the previous night in which Caesar was brutally murdered. She

uses a substantial amount of visual and auditory imagery in order to clearly display her

reasoning. Decius arrives to Caesar’s place of residence with the intent luring Caesar to the

capital to execute a murder plan. Through Decius’s clever use of witty and logical diction he is

able to trap Caesar into venturing to the Capitol even though his wife had previously persuaded

Caesar to remain at home. Ultimately, both parties use rhetoric to support their arguments but

Decius’s advanced implementation and execution of logical reasoning and ego manipulation

persuade Caesar to attend the capital on the infamous Ides of March.

Calphurnia’s use of vivid detail, visual and auditory imagery contributes to her ethos and

pathos. Obviously Calphurnia’s credibility had been substantially high due to her marriage to

Caesar, arguably the most powerful Roman of the time, this portrays her argument to be valid

and honest. Calphurnia’s initial quotes contained imagery in order for Caesar to grasp the full

intensity of her dream. Calphurnia attempts to explain the gruesome after effects of Caesar’s
 Kopish 2

death by stating, “Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds in ranks and squadrons and right

form of war which drizzled blood upon the Capitol.” (Lines 7-9). With words such as fiery and

drizzled Calphurnia creates an image that conveys a strong sense of peril and imminent death.

Calphurnia’s use of imagery sways Caesar to consider absence however, Calphurnia destroys

this progress that she created due to her ignorance and lack of ethical reasoning by stating, “And

he shall say you are not well today,” (line 31). Caesar is known to be a very prideful and modest

man (this can be seen in his refusal of the crown three times) this can attempt to explain why

Caesar ridicules Calphurnia for suggesting to send Mark Antony to tell a lie stating sickness.

This disregard for ethos degrades Calphurnia’s credibility due to Caesar’s high expectation for

himself ultimately flawing her entire appeal.

Decius’s use of flattery and mockery drives his argument straight into Caesar’s large ego.

Throughout his appeal Decius disproves Calphurnia’s dream by stating that it was, “all amiss

interpreted,” with a quick witty reinterpretation and clever use of diction, Decius is able to flip

the gruesome scene Calphurnia described into a polarized version of the dream. With statements

such as, “Your statue spouting blood in many pipes...signifies that from you great Rome shall

suck reviving blood,” (lines 47, 49 and 50) Decius flatters Caesar with information that he is

more inclined to accept due to confirmation bias, ​the tendency to interpret new evidence as

confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories. To contrast his use of flattery Decius also uses

a mocking tone to disprove Caesar’s reasoning for remaining at home. This has a drastic effect

on Caesar due to his large ego and undeniably stubborn disposition. Decius then goes on to mock

Caesar by stating, “Break up the senate till another time when Caesar’s wife shall meet with

better dreams,” (lines 60-61). This statement is basically insulting Caesar’s manhood due to the
 Kopish 3

lack of women power in the Roman Times. Decius mocks Caesar by stating that Caesar is

“afraid” of what might become of Calphurnia’s foolish dreams. This use of diction ultimately

evokes a sense of self-confidence from Caesar which causes him to ultimately make the fatal trip

to the Capitol.

Though both arguments made points that swayed Caesar toward absence or attendance

Decius’s use of rhetoric was ultimately stronger than Calphurnia’s. Decius was a man that

Caesar trusted very deeply which added to his ethical appeal. However, the major points that

added to the success of Decius’s argument was the damage to Caesar’s ego that he inflicted. This

was substantially more powerful than Calphurnia’s argument as she was crying out in

desperation which made her argument appear weak. When Calphurnia kneels and states, “Let

me, upon my knee, prevail in this,” she is degrading herself and showing that she is below

Caesar practically crying out for submission. Although this is a sign of respect she is showing

Caesar that he is the one in charge of the decision, the overarching authority. Decius’s use of

flattering diction is seen throughout the act by referring to Caesar in third person or prefaced by

authoritative adjectives. This diction outways Calphurnia’s addressions with ease as she

informally addresses him and refers to him as a husband, not a ruler or a god.

In conclusion, Calphurnia and Decius use rhetoric to develop arguments in order to

persuade Caesar into making the decision to attend or disregard his journey to the Capitol.

Although Calphurnia’s emotion filled argument initially persuades Caesar to disregard the visit

to the Capitol, Decius plays with Caesar’s ego and ultimately sways his opinion.