Summary

Having learned some of Brutus’s plan, Portia is highly agitated. As they stand in the street, she tells Lucius to go to the Capitol and report back on everything Brutus says and does. Her orders seem to confuse Lucius, and Portia bemoans how difficult it is for “women to keep counsel.” She is beside herself with anxiety when she sees the soothsayer who first appeared in act 1, scene 2, pass by on his way to the Capitol. Portia stops him and asks if he knows about any harm intended toward Caesar.

The soothsayer responds, “None that I know will be, much that I fear may chance.” He tells Portia that the place where they’re standing will soon be thronged by so many people it could “crowd a feeble man almost to death.” The soothsayer then moves on to a spot “more void” so that Caesar will be able spot him more easily on his way to the Capitol. Speaking quietly to herself, Portia wishes Brutus success in his enterprise and sends Lucius off on his errand.

Analysis

Though the play has only two female characters, out of the two of them, Portia is given a little more agency and stage time than Calpurnia. Her relationship with Brutus, set up against Calpurnia’s with Caesar, is presented as more loving and equitable, in keeping with Brutus’s image as a man of honor. Portia’s agitation in act 2, scene 4 signifies that she has learned some of her husband’s dangerous secret plans and wishes to see them carried out safely. Out in the male space of the street, Portia is faced with the particular dilemma of women in heavily patriarchal societies: she has “a man’s mind / but a woman’s might.”

It is significant to note that “might” here refers not just to physical power but the power to command physical spaces, which is a male prerogative. Portia is frustrated because she wishes to help her husband but is constrained in doing so by her gender-bound role. Unlike the soothsayer, who can move to a place “more void” to avoid crowds, Portia cannot manipulate male-dominated spaces. Yet despite her agency, Portia is the creation of a male playwright rooted in his time. Thus, as she has done before, in this scene she refers to her weak and inconstant nature. Portia’s question to the soothsayer about Caesar’s fate intensifies the suspense for the audience as well.