Portia
Firstly, Portia attempts to get Brutus to explain himself by displaying that it will benefit both of them. She wants
to become “acquainted with [his] cause of grief” in order to help him, although Brutus is not inclined to tell her
in order to keep the assassination secret. From the Conspirators visit, Portia presumes that something
important is happening and realises that Brutus is part of something bigger.
In addition, Portia displays herself to Brutus with masculine qualities in order to make her seem trustworthy
with information. As “Cato’s daughter,” she understands her value and realises the assistance she can provide.
By stating she is “no stronger than [her] sex,” Portia tries to remove the imminent barrier between men in
power, although is denied and found unsuccessful on Brutus’ word. To further show her determination and
strength of mind, she is able to give herself a “voluntary wound” all to show her trustworthiness, although
Brutus finds her action nowhere near powerful enough to remove the effectiveness of his plan to save Rome.
Finally, Portia uses guilt in an attempt to make Brutus explain his secrets. She uses the “bonds of marriage” to
try to prove that she should know “no secrets that appertain” to Brutus, however Brutus does not recognise
that his relationship with Portia is weakening and denies her once more. By referring to herself as a “harlot,”
she tries to display herself as a poorly-treated wife as a result of Brutus “ungentle looks” and “sick offence,”
however Brutus understands that he has not done this and rather is trying to please everyone.
Portia attempts to get Brutus to explain himself by displaying that it will benefit both of them. She wants to
become “acquainted with his cause of grief” in order to help him, although Brutus is not included to tell her in
order to keep the assasination a secret. From the conspirators' visit, Portia presumes that something important
is happening, realising that she is being excluded from something bigger as a result of her status.
In order to counteract this, Portia displays herself to Brutus with masculine qualities in order to make her seem
trustworthy with information. As Cato’s daughter, she understands her value and realises the assistance she
can provide even without knowing the magnitude of the problem. She attempts to remove the imminent barrier
Cassius
Firstly, he tries to frame Brutus as doin what is best for their city while having selfish requests in mind. His
superiority to Caesar is used through explaining that each person is “born free as Caesar,” however this shows
that there may be some jealousy in his arguments. By explaining that Caesar is “no mightier” than him but
“prodigious grown and fearful,” Cassius attempts to show the danger of Caesar’s imminent rise to kinglihood in
Rome. While it may appear that he wants power when finding it weird that Caesar should “bear the palm
alone,” he actually is fully jealous of Caesar having those benefits when working no less. His further lack of
need for power is detailed when he says that Caesar’s name should not be “sounded more than yours,”
displaying that no singular person should hold extra power; not even himself. By hypothesising on the future of
Rome as citizens “waking under [Caesar’s] huge legs” without evidence of any ambitious behaviour, Cassius is
able to make Brutus believe that Caesar will create destruction to the people in Rome, whereas Caesar’s
death is the catalyst for the wars that break out.
Mark Antony
Anthony allows the conspirators to believe that he respects their decisions through saying he “doubts not of
your wisdom” and wants to shake each person’s “bloody hand.” This allows the conspirators to become less
afraid of himself as a powerful man, which is the deciding factor in allowing him to speak at Anthony’s funeral
and turn the crowds against them. Further, Anthony manipulates Brutus into believing that it is in his best
interests to support and “close in terms of friendship” the new era of Rome, completely disregarding Caesar.
He asks for the “reasons why…Caesar was dangerous” in order to support the people in power further, so in
turn he will be able to gain the responsibility of speaking to the plebeians and creating mutiny in Rome.
Anthony places his reputation in danger by shaking the conspirators hands, detailing that he could be called a
“coward or flatterer,” although it appears to the Conspirators that he did not have the courage to support
Caesar, rather he had the courage to place his reputation in danger in order to trick the people in power in
order to speak at his funeral. By understating his plans by saying he “desires no more” than to just “speak in
the order of his funeral,” he allows Brutus to remove him as a threat to Rome’s democracy. Contrastingly, in a
private sphere, he asks Caesar as a god for forgiveness, although his plans to be “meek and gentle” were in
order to avenge his death. By attempting to “let slip the dogs of war,” he sets the scene for the rest of the play
in order to create mass destruction.
