Forms of appeal

In “Royal Bodies”, Hilary Mantel engages her audience through three main forms of appeal: the appeal to the audience’s emotions (pathos); the appeal to the audience’s deductive reason (logos); and finally, the appeal to authority and credibility (ethos).

Ethos

Hilary Mantel employs ethos in her speech when she uses her personal experiences with members of the British royal family. Although she has not met Prince Charles or the queen personally, she has witnessed their behaviour first-hand and, as a consequence, Mantel believes that her experience helped shape her view of the monarchy:

A few years ago I saw the Prince of Wales at a public award ceremony. I had never seen him before, and at once I thought: what a beautiful suit! What sublime tailoring...