In a play dominated by men, Portia and Calpurnia are the wives of the two main men in conflict with each other: Brutus and Caesar. After seeing her husband distraught, Portia urges Brutus to tell her what’s wrong and he confides in her, not that it makes any difference. At the same time Calpurnia is attempting to get her husband to stay home with her because she dreamt of his death that day but instead of listening to her, Caesar laughs her off and goes to the Senate House anyway where he is murdered. Thus both wives show how supportive they are of their men and what lengths they will go to in order to keep them safe even if their attempts ultimately fail like Calpurnia’s did.
Brutus’s wife Portia does not speak formally to her husband; instead she speaks her mind freely as if she had a right to which at the time women were often told they did not. Nevertheless Portia often tells Brutus what she observes especially when what she is observing is him, “And could it work so much upon your shape/As it hath much prevailed on your condition,/I should not know you Brutus. Dear my lord,/Make me acquainted with your cause of grief” (Shakespeare II.I.253-256). Clearly Portia cares about her husband dearly and wishes to know what ails him so that she may be able to help him because she cannot bear to see him so distraught thus demonstrating how a good wife behaves.
Calpurnia also tends to speak out of turn in concern for her husband’s safety which she will fear for greatly after dreaming of his murder. She even goes so far as to tell her husband that he will not go outside of their house, “What mean you Caesar? Think you to walk forth?/You shall not stir out of your house to-day” (Shakespeare II.II.8-9). While both of these wives are being informal when addressing their husbands, however, Calpurnia is a bit more forceful for she is not asking what is wrong with Caesar as Portia did with Brutus but is giving him a direct command because she fears for his life.
Calpurnia will go on to advise the Roman emperor even though she cannot give an exact reason for her concern except for the feelings a nightmare gave her. She will urge him to send someone else, Mark Antony, which in hindsight was a wise counsel for Antony could be trusted when all the others were conspiring to kill Caesar, “We’ll send Mark Antony to the Senate House,/And he shall say you are not well to-day./Let me upon my knee prevail in this” (Shakespeare II.II.52-54). Now obviously Calpurnia does not succeed but she still illustrates how a wife cares about her husband to the point that she would speak out of turn which was not common during the time because she loves him dearly and does not want to see him harmed as Portia did not want to see Brutus distraught.
While both Portia and Calpurnia are illustrations of a loving wife whose primary concern is her husband’s safety, I believe Calpurnia is more supportive for instead of just asking Caesar what is wrong with him, she tries to counsel him by giving direct orders. By doing so Calpurnia demonstrates how she is willing to face the consequences of speaking so to her husband who is also the emperor because she does not want to see him killed. Regardless of their attempts to assist their husbands, however, both of their husbands do what they want for that was how it was back then: the men made the decisions and the wives obeyed.
Work Cited
Shakespeare, William, and Lawrence Mason. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. New Haven: Yale UP, 1919. Print.
