Rhetoric in Popular Culture

Oftentimes when we think of the term “rhetoric” we envision a politician giving a speech trying to persuade us of something. Though we are correct to connect the term rhetoric with an effort to persuade us of something, this view of rhetorical speaking can be extremely limiting. Examples of rhetorical speech abound in our everyday lives and may be found in everything from newspaper editorials to product advertisements to eulogies. Familiarizing ourselves with the objectives and technicalities of rhetoric can assist us in being more able to spot rhetoric, allowing us deliberate more carefully issues presented for our consideration.
In the classic tome Rhetoric, Aristotle defines rhetoric as “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion’ (Bizzell 181.) Within this theory he distinguishes the various types of rhetorical speaking into three distinct classifications 1) forensic (attacking or defending someone for a past deed), 2) deliberative/political (arguing for or against a future action to be pursued) and 3) ceremonial (presently praising or censuring someone). Aristotle also indicates that there are three general types of appeals by which a rhetor may persuade their audience, by relying on the ethos or credibility of the speaker, logos, an appeal to the audience’s logic and pathos an appeal to the audience’s emotion.
The final scene of the film version of “The Taming of the Shrew” offers many layers of rhetorical speech, a few of which will be highlighted for this discussion. Katherine speaks to the congregants of the royal banquet hall on the subject of female obedience by using forensic, political and ceremonial speech to make her case and reach the varied stations of the assembled audience within the hall. She uses forensic speech to shame the other wives for their inappropriate behavior and ceremonial speech to promote the character of the husband – hers specifically, but the ideal of husband in general. She also uses political or deliberative speech to promote the cause of wifely subservience. This public shaming by Kate reveals her ethos or credibility to the audience by reminding them of her own past behavior. This is reinforced when she describes how she has had a change of heart, that she has finally stopped acting against her soft nature. She publicly demonstrates her husband’s dominance over her by allowing him to place his foot on her hand. These acts may be read as sincere or exaggerated – dependent upon the audience.
Kate’s appeal to logos, or the logic of her audience is significant for the use of language. She uses terminology and examples that relate to war and weaponry. The character also compares the marital relationship to the interchange between a monarch and his subjects, saying “Such duty the subject owes the prince, even such a woman owes her husband.” This analogy is effective for two reasons – it is relatable to the audience who are participants in the relationship between subject and monarch, but also because it uses the enthymeme. By definition an enthymeme is a three part deductive argument in which one part of the argument is left unstated but assumed to be true. Though Kate does not refer to it in her speech it was the belief that God had created people and their institutions, both personal and governmental. Kings were placed upon the throne by “divine right” - that they had been chosen by God and that their earthly authority was the will of God. Though not directly addressed in this speech is the assumption that the institution of marriage was also designed by god, and that husbands were given the same responsibility and authority over wives that monarchs were granted over their subjects. It also relates the seriousness of wifely disobedience to a criminal offense by making it comparable to treason.
Casablanca is another film which illustrates many of the ideals of rhetoric outlined by Aristotle. In the scene, Rick is trying to convince Ilsa to board the plane for Lisbon with her husband. He uses several Aristotelian devices in his attempt to persuade her. In the very first lines of the scene he reminds her “Last night you said I was to do the thinking for both of us.” This line establishes Rick as the voice of Ethos, because Ilsa has already given him the authority as decision maker. He then appeals to her logic by reminding her that if they stayed “9 chances out of 10 they would end up in a concentration camp”. This assertion is corroborated by a peripheral character, Louis – which again helps to reinforce Rick’s credibility and correctness in judgment. He further appeals to Ilsa’s pathos by reminding her of her responsibility to stay with her husband “to keep him going,” as well as introducing the sentiment of regret if she fails to go with her husband. Rick again emphasizes his nobility and sincerity by refusing to compare the romatic trivialities of three people to the tumult of a war torn world.
These two examples from classic films illustrate rhetorical speech, sharing the objective of persuasion. The rhetors portrayed attempt to demonstrate (the appearance of) sincerity and tailor their arguments to their specific audience, whether to a roomful of hearers or a single judge. Both characters called upon proofs that were suitable and relatable to those they were trying to convince. Aristotle’s model of rhetorical theory has been satisfied in distinctly different ways, relying upon the nuances of language and delivery to reach the ultimate goal of persuasion.