Calpurnia, at least initially, appears to have some command and power over Caesar, when she demands he stay at home instead of going to the Senate House, “You shall not stir out of your house today” (2.2.9) Calpurnia issues this practically as a command and not as a request, in some way it is because she is determined for Caesar to listen to her and to take her warning seriously; perhaps because this is the only way Calpurnia can speak to Caesar with any chance of him listening. However, as it will prove for the rest of the interaction between Caesar and Calpurnia, Caesar ultimately ignores and undermines her, “Caesar shall forth… When they shall see the face of Caesar, they are vanished” (2.2.10-13). As the critic Peterson suggests “If they
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Although the pleading from Calpurnia did work with Caesar, albeit temporarily, it does not elicit the same response from Brutus, who still remains stubborn in not sharing his secret with Portia. “You are my true and honourable wife, as dear to me as are the ruddy drops that visit my sad heart” (2.1.289-291). Although not successful in pleading as a way of trying to exert influence, from Brutus’ response, unlike Caesar’s to Calpurnia, there is a certain level of respect and love between Portia and Brutus. However, it is Brutus’ only response to Portia’s pleading and still does not reveal anything about his secret, perhaps in the hope of appeasing her and to stop Portia’s questioning him. However, unlike Calpurnia who uses pleading as her final resort, Portia’s final appeal to her husband is to take action in a violent and shocking manner. “I have made strong proof of my constancy, giving myself a voluntary wound here, in the thigh” (2.1.300-302). The critic Paster argues that “hers is not the involuntary wound of the leaking female body but the honorifically gendered, purgative, voluntary wound of the male. She has bled not, like Lavinia, with a wound that cannot heal, but like Coriolanus…” (Paster, 1989). In a …show more content…
In her madness, Ophelia has perhaps confused Laertes with Hamlet, or she has mixed the two men together and views them as one. The flowers of remembrance are then intended for Laertes, to remember their father but also intended for Hamlet to remember, if not his love for her, at least his affection. “I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died.” (4.5.184-185). Although not directed as to who the violets should be given to, it is possible that they were intended for Hamlet, (despite Hamlet not being on stage) as “Violet is for faithfullnesse” (Robinson, 1878) so Ophelia could be remembering the warning given by Laertes in Act 1, Scene 3. “A violet in the youth of primy nature, forward not permanent, sweet not lasting…” (1.3.7-8). In doing this, Ophelia has confused not just Laertes with Hamlet, but with every character involved in shunning and silencing her and can no longer recognise them as individuals. As mentioned by Leverenz, “there are many voices in Ophelia's madness speaking through her, all making sense, and none of them her own.” (Leverenz, p.294). Like Ophelia at the end of Hamlet, by the end of Julius Caesar neither Calpurnia nor Portia have any command or power as Calpurnia disappears when her warnings is ignored and Portia, though
Although the pleading from Calpurnia did work with Caesar, albeit temporarily, it does not elicit the same response from Brutus, who still remains stubborn in not sharing his secret with Portia. “You are my true and honourable wife, as dear to me as are the ruddy drops that visit my sad heart” (2.1.289-291). Although not successful in pleading as a way of trying to exert influence, from Brutus’ response, unlike Caesar’s to Calpurnia, there is a certain level of respect and love between Portia and Brutus. However, it is Brutus’ only response to Portia’s pleading and still does not reveal anything about his secret, perhaps in the hope of appeasing her and to stop Portia’s questioning him. However, unlike Calpurnia who uses pleading as her final resort, Portia’s final appeal to her husband is to take action in a violent and shocking manner. “I have made strong proof of my constancy, giving myself a voluntary wound here, in the thigh” (2.1.300-302). The critic Paster argues that “hers is not the involuntary wound of the leaking female body but the honorifically gendered, purgative, voluntary wound of the male. She has bled not, like Lavinia, with a wound that cannot heal, but like Coriolanus…” (Paster, 1989). In a …show more content…
In her madness, Ophelia has perhaps confused Laertes with Hamlet, or she has mixed the two men together and views them as one. The flowers of remembrance are then intended for Laertes, to remember their father but also intended for Hamlet to remember, if not his love for her, at least his affection. “I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died.” (4.5.184-185). Although not directed as to who the violets should be given to, it is possible that they were intended for Hamlet, (despite Hamlet not being on stage) as “Violet is for faithfullnesse” (Robinson, 1878) so Ophelia could be remembering the warning given by Laertes in Act 1, Scene 3. “A violet in the youth of primy nature, forward not permanent, sweet not lasting…” (1.3.7-8). In doing this, Ophelia has confused not just Laertes with Hamlet, but with every character involved in shunning and silencing her and can no longer recognise them as individuals. As mentioned by Leverenz, “there are many voices in Ophelia's madness speaking through her, all making sense, and none of them her own.” (Leverenz, p.294). Like Ophelia at the end of Hamlet, by the end of Julius Caesar neither Calpurnia nor Portia have any command or power as Calpurnia disappears when her warnings is ignored and Portia, though