Shakespeare used multiple omens to foreshadow the deaths of Caesar and Brutus. One such omen was the symbolization of the female characters of the play. The women of William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Portia and Calpurnia, are portrayed as weak, not as women of power.
Portia was unable to get Brutus to tell him what was wrong with him, even after getting on her knees and begging him. “And upon my knees I charm you, by my once-commended beauty, by all your vows of love and that great vow which did incorporate and make us one that you unfold to me, your self, your half (2.1.897-901).” Brutus’s response to her begging is that he was not feeling well and nothing more, but Portia could tell that there was something else going …show more content…
Portia wants to be equal to her husband, but Brutus is unwilling to tell her anything about the conspiracy. Brutus wants to be a strong figure, and he doesn’t believe that women are equal to men, so Portia decides that the only way she can become as strong as a man is to prove that she can handle pain. Brutus is unaffected by the suicide of his wife, and this shows that he does not have full control of his emotions. He commits suicide soon after Portia in order to defend his dignity (Matsuo …show more content…
If she had been characterized as a woman of strength, she would have been able to persuade Caesar not to go to the Senate House, further putting a stop to his death. In trying to get Caesar to stay home instead of going to the Senate House, Calpurnia told him about the nightmare she had that Caesar’s statue had blood spilling out, and she said, “Alas, my lord, your wisdom is consumed in confidence. Do not go forth today. Call it my fear that keeps you in the house, and not your own. We’ll send Mark Antony to the senate house, and he shall say you are not well today (2.2.1027-1032).” After Decius persuaded Caesar that the dream was misinterpreted, Caesar responded that he would go to the Senate House anyway, but if Calpurnia had been portrayed as a strong woman, she would have been able to stop him from going.
Shakespeare portrayed Calpurnia as weak in order to show that Caesar was strong. At the very beginning of the play, Mark Antony was running in the race at the Feast of Lupercal, and Caesar told him to brush by Calpurnia in order to make her more fertile because they were unable to have children (1.2.89-92). Caesar felt weak because he was unable to impregnate Calpurnia, so he pushed all the responsibility on her, and made it seem like she was the one that was infertile (Matsuo 1). Shakespeare’s point in adding this part of the play was to delineate Caesar as a strong
Portia was unable to get Brutus to tell him what was wrong with him, even after getting on her knees and begging him. “And upon my knees I charm you, by my once-commended beauty, by all your vows of love and that great vow which did incorporate and make us one that you unfold to me, your self, your half (2.1.897-901).” Brutus’s response to her begging is that he was not feeling well and nothing more, but Portia could tell that there was something else going …show more content…
Portia wants to be equal to her husband, but Brutus is unwilling to tell her anything about the conspiracy. Brutus wants to be a strong figure, and he doesn’t believe that women are equal to men, so Portia decides that the only way she can become as strong as a man is to prove that she can handle pain. Brutus is unaffected by the suicide of his wife, and this shows that he does not have full control of his emotions. He commits suicide soon after Portia in order to defend his dignity (Matsuo …show more content…
If she had been characterized as a woman of strength, she would have been able to persuade Caesar not to go to the Senate House, further putting a stop to his death. In trying to get Caesar to stay home instead of going to the Senate House, Calpurnia told him about the nightmare she had that Caesar’s statue had blood spilling out, and she said, “Alas, my lord, your wisdom is consumed in confidence. Do not go forth today. Call it my fear that keeps you in the house, and not your own. We’ll send Mark Antony to the senate house, and he shall say you are not well today (2.2.1027-1032).” After Decius persuaded Caesar that the dream was misinterpreted, Caesar responded that he would go to the Senate House anyway, but if Calpurnia had been portrayed as a strong woman, she would have been able to stop him from going.
Shakespeare portrayed Calpurnia as weak in order to show that Caesar was strong. At the very beginning of the play, Mark Antony was running in the race at the Feast of Lupercal, and Caesar told him to brush by Calpurnia in order to make her more fertile because they were unable to have children (1.2.89-92). Caesar felt weak because he was unable to impregnate Calpurnia, so he pushed all the responsibility on her, and made it seem like she was the one that was infertile (Matsuo 1). Shakespeare’s point in adding this part of the play was to delineate Caesar as a strong