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Steven Kopish

Ms. Woelke

APEL Period 6

22 March 2018

Julius Caesar Essay Revisions

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. At this point in the story the conspirators

send Decius to Caesar’s house in order to persuade him to venture to the Capitol where they will

assassinate him. 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.

Calphurnia’s use of pathos also substantially aids her in strengthening her persuasive argument

.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
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honest. Calphurnia’s initial statements 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

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.” (2.7-9). With words that imply danger or

distress 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,” (2.31). 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,” (2.47-50) Decius uses flattering diction to appeal to 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
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goes on to mock Caesar by stating, “Break up the senate till another time when Caesar’s wife

shall meet with better dreams,” (2.60-61). This statement is basically insulting Caesar’s manhood

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

Caesar is “afraid” (2.63) 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,” (2.34) this use of pathos brings Calphurnia down to Earth by

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.
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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.