Portia In Julius Caesar Act 2 Essay

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In Act II, Portia uses rhetoric, or persuasion, to try to convince Brutus to tell her what is going on by proving her strength and loyalty to him. Portia does this in a few ways. When first trying to convince Brutus to tell her what is happening with him and why he has been acting so strange, Portia reminds Brutus that she is a part of him, his wife, his other half. She acknowledges that she is there to know his secrets and comfort him. Portia says to Brutus, “Which by the right and virtue of my place / I ought to know of. (kneels) / 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, / Why you are heavy, and what men tonight / Have had to resort to you” (Act II, Scene 1, lines 271-279). …show more content…

She points out that through their marriage, they became two halves of one whole and that they share everything with each other, even their deepest, darkest secrets. She then questions him by saying, “Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus, / Is it excepted I should know no secrets / That appertain to you? Am I yourself / But, as it were, in sort or limitation, / To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, / And talk to you sometimes?” (Act II, Scene 1, lines 283-288). Here she asks Brutus where she fits into his life, or if she even does fit into it at all. By this time, Portia is begging for Brutus to tell her what happened and what is causing him to push her away. Portia wants to know why Brutus has removed himself from her and their marriage and wants to know why she is just laying in the suburbs of his life, there but not

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