The Accuracy of Portia: A Woman Who Shows Her Courage Through Self-Pain

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Recommended: Critically analyze the role of brutus in julius caesar

Winston Churchill once said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Throughout William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Portia Catonis, Brutus’s wife, acts as a supporting character who also brings conflict into the side plot of their marriage. She not only stands up to Brutus, but also inflicts self-harm and commits suicide, which mark her life. William Shakespeare pays close heed to Portia’s historical figure in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, including her marriage to Brutus, her outstanding courage, and her other characteristics.
Shakespeare portrays Portia to be courageous and understanding in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Portia was known historically to love philosophy and also obtained courage just as Shakespeare’s depiction of Portia does. In The Roman Life in the Days of Cicero, Alfred John Church includes Plutarch’s The Lives of Julius Caesar by describing Portia of having “understanding courage.” This shows how Shakespeare includes similar characteristics to historical Portia in his literature. She constantly shows her affection towards Brutus–affection that he fails to reciprocate–because of his guilty and questionable conscience. She goes to him and says, “I, Brutus, being the daughter of Cato, was given to you in marriage, not like a concubine, to partake only in the common intercourse of bed and board, but to bear a part in all your good and all your evil fortunes; and for your part, as regards your care for me, I find no reason to complain; but from me, what evidence of my love, what satisfaction can you receive, if I may not share with you in bearing your hidden griefs, nor to be admitted to any of your counsels that require secrecy and tr...

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...r getting through to Brutus. She courageously proves her undying love by ending her life to start anew with her dead lover.

Works Cited

Church, Alfred John. "CATO, BRUTUS, AND PORCIA." Roman Life in the Days of Cicero. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1883. N. pag. Print.
Plutarch, Thomas North, and T. J. B. Spencer. Shakespeare's Plutarch; the Lives of Julius Caesar, Brutus, Marcus Antonius, and Coriolanus in the Translation of Sir Thomas North. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1964. Print.
River, Charles, ed. Notorious Assassins: The Life and Legacy of Marcus Brutus. N.p.: CreateSpace Independent Platform, 2013. Kindle.
Robertson, Donald. "Lady Stoics #1: Porcia Catonis." Stoicism and the Art of Happiness. Wordpress.com, 11 Dec. 2013. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (1599). N.p.: n.p., n.d. George Mason University. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.

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