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Dramatic Irony
Definition of Ethos
Ethos, along with logos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Ethos is an argument that appeals to... read full definition
Ethos, along with logos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Ethos is... read full definition
Ethos, along with logos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective... read full definition
Act 1, scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Modes of Persuasion:
Different characters in Macbeth employ different modes of persuasion in order to achieve their goals. When the Weird Sisters speak to Macbeth in Act 1, Scene 3, for instance, they mainly rely on ethos. The first part of their prophecy foretells that Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor, and when this statement turns out to be true, their credibility as fortunetellers is established. As a result, Macbeth is more inclined to believe the other parts of the prophecy. The effect of their use of ethos is apparent in this passage, for instance, in which Macbeth talks to Banquo about how the Weird Sisters were right about him becoming the Thane of Cawdor:
Macbeth: Do you not hope your children
shall be kings,
When those that gave the Thane of Cawdor to me
Promised no less to them?
In her argument with Macbeth in Act 1, Scene 7, Lady Macbeth mainly utilizes pathos. When she realizes that Macbeth is no longer willing to go through with her plan, she convinces him to change his mind attacking his manhood:
Lady Macbeth: When you durst do it, then you were a man;
And to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man.
Macbeth, for his part, uses both pathos and logos when talking to the murderers in Act 3, Scene 1. He presents them with "evidence" that Banquo is the source of all their problems and logically explains why he himself cannot carry out the assassination:
Macbeth: And though I could
With barefaced power sweep him from my sight
And bid my will avouch it, yet I must not,
For certain friends that are both his and mine,
Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall
Who I myself struck down. And thence it is
That I to your assistance do make love,
Masking the business from the common eye
For sundry weighty reasons
Macbeth combines his appeal to the men's logic with an appeal to emotion, comparing them to dogs and daring them to prove both their courage and their humanity:
Macbeth: Ay, in the catalogue you go for men,
As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels,
curs,
Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves are clept
All by the name of dogs.
By calling them "greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs," and other names, Macbeth baits them into responding in the way he wants, thus using pathos to persuade them (or perhaps to trick them) to see things a certain way.
Related Themes:
Act 1, scene 7
Explanation and Analysis—Modes of Persuasion:
Different characters in Macbeth employ different modes of persuasion in order to achieve their goals. When the Weird Sisters speak to Macbeth in Act 1, Scene 3, for instance, they mainly rely on ethos. The first part of their prophecy foretells that Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor, and when this statement turns out to be true, their credibility as fortunetellers is established. As a result, Macbeth is more inclined to believe the other parts of the prophecy. The effect of their use of ethos is apparent in this passage, for instance, in which Macbeth talks to Banquo about how the Weird Sisters were right about him becoming the Thane of Cawdor:
Macbeth: Do you not hope your children
shall be kings,
When those that gave the Thane of Cawdor to me
Promised no less to them?
In her argument with Macbeth in Act 1, Scene 7, Lady Macbeth mainly utilizes pathos. When she realizes that Macbeth is no longer willing to go through with her plan, she convinces him to change his mind attacking his manhood:
Lady Macbeth: When you durst do it, then you were a man;
And to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man.
Macbeth, for his part, uses both pathos and logos when talking to the murderers in Act 3, Scene 1. He presents them with "evidence" that Banquo is the source of all their problems and logically explains why he himself cannot carry out the assassination:
Macbeth: And though I could
With barefaced power sweep him from my sight
And bid my will avouch it, yet I must not,
For certain friends that are both his and mine,
Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall
Who I myself struck down. And thence it is
That I to your assistance do make love,
Masking the business from the common eye
For sundry weighty reasons
Macbeth combines his appeal to the men's logic with an appeal to emotion, comparing them to dogs and daring them to prove both their courage and their humanity:
Macbeth: Ay, in the catalogue you go for men,
As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels,
curs,
Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves are clept
All by the name of dogs.
By calling them "greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs," and other names, Macbeth baits them into responding in the way he wants, thus using pathos to persuade them (or perhaps to trick them) to see things a certain way.
Related Themes:
Act 3, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Modes of Persuasion:
Different characters in Macbeth employ different modes of persuasion in order to achieve their goals. When the Weird Sisters speak to Macbeth in Act 1, Scene 3, for instance, they mainly rely on ethos. The first part of their prophecy foretells that Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor, and when this statement turns out to be true, their credibility as fortunetellers is established. As a result, Macbeth is more inclined to believe the other parts of the prophecy. The effect of their use of ethos is apparent in this passage, for instance, in which Macbeth talks to Banquo about how the Weird Sisters were right about him becoming the Thane of Cawdor:
Macbeth: Do you not hope your children
shall be kings,
When those that gave the Thane of Cawdor to me
Promised no less to them?
In her argument with Macbeth in Act 1, Scene 7, Lady Macbeth mainly utilizes pathos. When she realizes that Macbeth is no longer willing to go through with her plan, she convinces him to change his mind attacking his manhood:
Lady Macbeth: When you durst do it, then you were a man;
And to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man.
Macbeth, for his part, uses both pathos and logos when talking to the murderers in Act 3, Scene 1. He presents them with "evidence" that Banquo is the source of all their problems and logically explains why he himself cannot carry out the assassination:
Macbeth: And though I could
With barefaced power sweep him from my sight
And bid my will avouch it, yet I must not,
For certain friends that are both his and mine,
Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall
Who I myself struck down. And thence it is
That I to your assistance do make love,
Masking the business from the common eye
For sundry weighty reasons
Macbeth combines his appeal to the men's logic with an appeal to emotion, comparing them to dogs and daring them to prove both their courage and their humanity:
Macbeth: Ay, in the catalogue you go for men,
As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels,
curs,
Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves are clept
All by the name of dogs.
By calling them "greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs," and other names, Macbeth baits them into responding in the way he wants, thus using pathos to persuade them (or perhaps to trick them) to see things a certain way.
Related Themes:
