Queen Gorgo Address to the Spartan Council: A Rhetorical Analysis

Queen Gorgo Address the Spartan Council, from the movie, "300"

     Zack Snyder’s screenplay, "300" was produced in 2006 based on a T.V. series in 1998. In the movie Zack wrote a scene where Queen Gorgo addressed the Spartan Council to convince them to send the rest of the Spartan troops to aide the King in the war he had started. He wrote, "We must send the entire Spartan army to aide our King in the preservation of not just ourselves, but of our children." Stating authority, establishing an emotional bond, and logic are the techniques Zack skillfully used to create a strong convincing scene for Queen Gorgo’s address to the Council.
     Zack began the speech with the Queen being presented by a Spartan Council Loyalist yo state the Queen’s authority to the Council. This technique immediately establishes that this is a formal speech. He wrote, " May I give the floor now to the wife of Leonidas [The King] and Queen of Sparta." I thought this was a great way to capture the Council’s attention. In order to make the Queen’s point to convince the Council and establish an emotional bond between the Queen and the people for whom she addressed. He wrote, "Councilmen, I stand before you today not only as your Queen: I come to you as a mother; I come to you as a wife; I come to you as a Spartan Woman; I come to you with great humility." This was a great way for the screenwriter to make the Queen’s point to the Council by showing her vulnerability as a person when she stated her humility and concern for the people of Sparta as a Spartan woman. There was another emotional appeal that the Queen stated in the speech, Zack wrote, "We must send the entire Spartan army to aid our King in the preservation of not just ourselves, but of our children." This was a very good way to let the Council know there is a responsibility for all of the people of Sparta that ways on there shoulders. He also wrote the Queen’s speech with appeal based on feelings, beliefs, and values. He scribed, "I am here for all those voices which cannot be heard: mothers, daughters, fathers, sons [and] 300 families that bleed for our rights, and for the very principles this room was built." I think this was an excellent way for the Queen to appeal to the Council in order to make her point.
     There is a turning point in the speech where logic is presented with claims of facts and current events that are happening in the movie. Zack wrote,"[The Queen addressed] We are at war, gentlemen." This was something that put a sort of realization on the Council of what had really happened so they could be persuaded by the Queen to send the army to aide the King. Queen of Sparta tried to appeal to the Council with a logical claim. The Queen claimed, "I am not here to represent Leonidas [The King]; his actions speak louder than my words ever could." I think stating that actions do speak louder than words is a very logical claim and is very obvious but cleaver on her part to keep the attention of the Council.
     Shortly after the Council’s attention would be captured the screen writer then attempts to use reasoning by forcing claims that do not hold enough evidence for the Council to continue to listen to the speech. Zack wrote, "Send our army for hope–hope that a king and his men have not been wasted to the pages of history..." There was no clear evidence that suggests that the King and his men are in real danger other than the Queen claiming that they are at war. This suggestion will probably not help the Queen convince the Council of her argument. There was also another point in the speech where there was a terrible attempt to appeal based on the process of reasoning. Near the end of the speech, the Queen is giving to the council, he wrote, " Send the army for the preservation of liberty." he also wrote, "Send it for Justice." These statements do not hold enough supporting evidence and credibility in them to be convincing of the urgency that the speech has for the Council.
     Overall, I feel that as long as the Council was not biased by who gave a speech, meaning because she was a woman, then I think that this speech was very convincing for the intended purpose of the Spartan army to be sent to aid the King that was at war. The speech that was wrote by Zack is very beneficial to the character in the movie to state her place and concerns in the movie. To be honest if I did not know that this was in a movie I would have believed it to real. The writer uses all three forms of rhetoric to make a convincing speech for the Queen in the movie. Stating authority, establishing an emotional bond, and logic are very good techniques that Zack skillfully brought to keep the attention of the intended audience and me as well.

Snyder, Zack. "Queen Gorgo Address the Spartan Council." from screenplay 300
        Michael E. Eidenmuller: American Rhetoric, Movie Speech, 2007. 01-11