Eloquence and Rhetoric - Essay Example

Eloquence and Rhetoric

Introduction

Denis Donoglouse gave a unique definition to two terms, eloquence and rhetoric. His definition provides two perceptions about the nature of human beings, their social environment, and beliefs that they pose. The fundamental description provided by Denis attempts to explain the concept of being human. There is an aspect of rhetoric and eloquence in life yet the major question around this two is how one can transform rhetoric to eloquence. Several literature sources have been used to explain how people have managed to transform rhetoric to eloquence. Denis attempted to separate the eloquence from rhetoric especially when many consider the eloquence as a subcomponent of rhetoric. According to Denis, eloquence cannot be viewed as a means of achieving rhetoric. He explains that rhetoric has a force, which compels people to choose to do a specific thing over the other. Denis provides a clear perspective of eloquence as a form of gratuitousness whose mode is generally intrinsic. Eloquence ensures that things do not remain since it can condemn or change it. In this topic, the aspect of personality, culture, and beliefs play a very important role in transforming rhetoric and eloquence. This paper will look at the aspect of eloquence and rhetoric as it has been depicted in three articles, which are the Hebrews, Hamlet and the Metamorphosis of Ovid.

The Hebrews

By the time the letter to the Hebrews was written, Christianity had existed for several decades. It can be recalled that Christianity was a faith-based notion that emerged after the death of Jesus who left disciples to lead others in realizing the new faith. It can be accurately argued that Christianity strategically emerged as an option to strengthen the faith of believers. The letter of Hebrews attempts to provide several interpretation of the aspect of Christianity. Initially, people who believed in God and Jesus as their source of salvation established a religious movement known as Christianity. According to the letters, the concept of Christianity had more than just a mere believe and religious movement. The letter intended to prove the superiority of Christianity over the other religions considered to compete, such as the Judaism. To achieve this, the letter makes several comparisons to establish the advantages of Christianity and the disadvantages of Judaism. In his explanation, it can be realized how the aspect of eloquence and rhetoric are depicted. Rhetoric is seen as a factor that contributes to eloquence and not the inverse as suggested by Denis.

According to the letter, Old Testament had prophets as the main link between God and humankind. Prophets used to see what normal people could not see, which were the future events that the people often faced. Later, God revealed himself through Jesus, who was considered as His son, and many people did not understand the whole concept. Rhetoric is used to convince people that Jesus is the Son of God even after people had a belief that God was so superior and invisible. People could not establish the link between a supreme being and a person who comes to the phase of the earth through normal birth. The letter to the Hebrews uses the aspect of rhetoric to earn eloquence by convincing that Jesus had to be a normal human being to fulfill his role as foreseen by the prophets. Hebrews uses powerful words to describe the son of God and examples of the services he offered to humanity. One may not understand the puzzle that exists between prophecy and the presence of Jesus. Furthermore, it may be confusing to establish whether the way of serving God in the Old Testament better or worse than Christianity. As the letters to the Hebrews depict the concept of eloquence, it can be termed as reconstructed eloquence. The entire concept of Christianity is a factor of belief, which determines the interpretation of life and activities of the people considered as Christian. These values are set out by the teachings and foundation laid by Jesus during the time he was ministering to the faithful he interacted with. The perception of suffering while serving God has been defended in a way that Christians have to prepare themselves for suffering. Jesus suffered to a level where he lost his life as a way of bringing salvation to humankind.

It is a belief that; the existence of Jesus neither had a beginning nor an end as far as Christian perception is concerned. However, for Judaism, it is believed that the birth of Jesus and the death marks the beginning and the end of Jesus. Hebrews defends the existence of Jesus using his supreme works and compares with what the prophets did in the Old Testament. The crucifixion of Jesus presents a new form of salvation not witnessed by the priests who served God and the people in the Old Testament. However, Hebrews does not aim to raise controversy by disregarding the sacrifices made by priests in the Old Testament. The letter elaborates that the sacrifices were only but a foundation for the future great priest who was Jesus. Rhetoric and eloquence can be identified by the letter to the Hebrews. Hebrews attempts to convince readers that the faith of the people after the death of Jesus was more superior. The letter uses rhetoric to establish eloquence as a way of convincing readers that Christianity, which emerged after the death of Jesus, was superior. In this perspective, eloquence is presented as part of rhetoric where it is depicted because of the later.

Hamlet

The Hamlet is an interesting play that presents various characters with contrasting qualities. Hamlet, the name of the play, was a name for the prince of Denmark whose life witnessed several changes after the death of his father. After his father died, her mother remarries the Kings brother, Claudius, who automatically assumes the kings throne. The fact that the throne had an heir in Hamlets sone, his mother could not resist the proposal from her late husband’s brother. The shocking news to the real heir is when he arrives at his father’s funeral only to find his mother married to his uncle. The situation is considered as foul incest as the respect for the King had not been observed. The aspect of culture and interest conflict and the brand of foul incest is evidence that Claudius and Gertrude had broken a specific tradition. The prince certainly suspects that something fishy is in the air and that the death might not have come as a coincidence or accident. Rhetoric and eloquence are brought out when the events of death and remarrying are linked to the ghost. In this case, one may establish that eloquence and rhetoric are two linked facts in such a way that one leads to another. In addition, it may be said that one is a component of the other considering the scenes of the Ghost and revelations.

Prince hamlets fears and concerns are confirmed when his father’s ghost visits the royal castle. Definitely, his father’s ghost could not rest in peace in a culture where they believed that the spirit of the dead have a place where they rest in peace. It might have been a perception, but the prince receives from his father claiming that it cannot rest in peace. The Ghost confirms that Claudius is responsible for Hamlets death and urges the Prince to avenge the lost blood. However, vengeance is only directed to Claudius with the queen’s fate left in the hands of the gods. At some point, Prince Hamlet fails to establish the authenticity of the ghost but at the same time, the turn of events seems to create a point of intersection. He thinks a lot about the idea and often found in a dilemma not able to establish the truth behind the ghost as well as the new King, Claudius.

Once Claudius suspects Hamlet’s intentions, he takes the first step to framing him in several deaths and later sends him to exile. The turn of events leads to the death of three important people in the royal family that included Claudius, the prince, and the queen. William Shakespeare uses eloquence to establish rhetoric, which is in agreement with Denis’ perception. The chain of events in the life of Prince Hamilton makes it evident that Claudius killed King Hamilton. Prince Hamilton’s doubts about the Ghost are revealed although in a slow turn of events that eventually leads to his death. The royal lineage is truncated, and the throne is taken over by another family.

The Metamorphoses of Ovid

The Metamorphoses of Ovid is a collection of 15 books, which contribute to the renaissance eloquence. In expressing the power of art, Ovid makes the use of art to suggest that the aspect of art helps people to surpass suffering. Two groups of people are condemned in the Metamorphoses include those who cannot appreciate art and those who cannot create art. The author does not give a defense to Phaeton, who is blind, a condition that cannot allow the person to perceive vision. The author believes that art has an enormous power that can get the attention of the blind. He expects the blind to appreciate the beauty entailed in art. The rhetoric nature in which the aspect of blindness is presented aims to establish eloquence that proves the power of art is real. The art of rhetoric is also used to create eloquence as seen in the competition of art between Ulysses and Ajax. Ovid creatively backs up his statement by stating that the option of avoiding death is living for long, which seems controversial and impossible. However, in the artistic world, this is possible because art can live long never to die.

In depicting the rhetoric and eloquence, Ovid also uses the aspect of punishment and reward from the gods. According to Ovid, the god’s in the narration were considered as violent in nature, but their punishment could not be viewed as random. One of the characters punished in the book is Lycaon, who was so evil in attempting to kill Jupiter while sleeping. On the other hand, the god’s present two characters, Deucalion, and Pyrrha, with rewards. Another form of punishment is evident when Bacchus decides to punish her daughters, Minyas, and Pentheus after they failed to worship the God. People with good intentions are rewarded while those with evil intentions or deeds are punished. Morality and belief emerge from the aspect of punishments and rewards, which depict how rhetoric acts contribute to Renaissance eloquence as presented by Ovid.

Conclusion

Denis concentrated on the aspect of eloquence and attempted to detach it from the rhetoric. For instance, in the dancing speech, the concept of eloquence Denis proves that eloquence is not a subset of rhetoric but one way of achieving rhetoric. In attempting to understand the claims presented by Denis, three sources, Metamorphoses, Hamilton and the Hebrews were reviewed. In Hebrews, the story of Jesus is reviewed, linked to the prophecies, Old Testament prophets and the concept of Christianity. In Hamilton, the circumstances and events that happen in the life of Prince Hamilton such as the death of his father and encounters with the ghost are reviewed. In the metamorphosis aspects such as appreciation of art, punishment and reward are presented by the author. In all the three sources, the aspect of eloquence is established, as people tend to believe in a specific way after facing certain circumstances. Although in the there might be inconsistencies in how rhetoric and eloquence is presented, the claims presented by Denis can be considered as true.