ARISTOTLE RHETORIC

Logos, Pathos, and Ethos in Queen Elizabeth’s speech to the troops.

LOGOS:
The speech is structured in a certain way: 

 First, she focuses on gaining trust by starting with “My loving people” and “we”. This
suggests that she believes everyone is equal. 

 Then, she explains why she’s there (she mainly states that she should be trusted
because of what she had achieved and the fact that she is also ready to fight and die
amongst the troops). 

 She mentions the Enemy and God (this could also be regarded as pathos). To describe
who the former is and refer to the help of the latter (as they are Christians)

 In her speech, there is a logical chain of events: war -->reward. She prepares her
people for the reward, still making sure they know that it is the troops that have to
fight and win.

 The Queen also points out the commander.

 The promise of victory is essential in the speech, since it is mostly a present thing
while the reward is something in the future, waiting for those only who are the
winners. (PRESENT-->FUTURE)

PATHOS:
Queen Elizabeth appeals to the troops’ emotions:

 By saying “My loving people” she gains their trust.

 She uses positive adjectives and phrases such as: “faithful”, “strength”, “loyal” etc.,
mainly to show that she and her people are good, worth the reward. That is how she
flatters the troops.

 The enemy is described in a negative way in order to make her people want to fight
and win even more.
  She also states that she is ready to die amongst the troops and to her, it makes sense to
act this way.’

 Queen Elizabeth uses numerous anaphoras (“for my God, and for my kingdom, and
my people, my honour and my blood.”), epiphoras (as in the previous quote), as well
as amplifications.

 Her description as a weak woman and the metaphor she uses

ETHOS:
The Queen tries to explain her credibility:

 She uses various adjectives, direct speech and she makes it clear who is the recipient
of her words.
 The repetition of some words (e.g. “live”, “die”, “king”, “god”) is also the key to
making people trust her.
 Queen Elizabeth acknowledges that she is a woman but she reminds the troops that
she can fight like a man and act like a king.because she is a queen but a daughter of a
mighty King
 She also mentions being the general, the judge.
 Most importantly, she is a ruler that will do whatever she can to save her kingdom and
support her troops.
 She is the head of the church and has a God on her side