Summary

In Brutus’s tent, Cassius drops his formal front and accuses Brutus of humiliating him by punishing Lucius Pella, Cassius’s friend, on the charge of taking bribes, despite Cassius’s written entreaties to spare Pella. Brutus, however, scolds Cassius for having “wronged [himself] to write in such a case,” leading Cassius to assail Brutus for his rigidity in such turbulent times. Brutus retorts that Cassius has developed an “itching palm,” insinuating that Cassius has developed a taste for bribes, a charge which leaves Cassius incensed. Brutus reminds Cassius of the Ides of March, when Caesar bled for justice’s sake. Given the enormity of their actions to rebuild Rome, the conspirators should display impeccable morals. Cassius warns Brutus not to “bait” him, and the two enter a bitter argument. One of the charges Brutus levies against Cassius is miserliness, citing the fact that Cassius refused to lend Brutus gold to pay off his soldiers. Cassius claims that he never refused Brutus and that his message was badly communicated. He says Brutus has “rived,” or broken, his heart by exaggerating his friend’s faults. After a dramatic exchange in which Cassius tells Brutus to kill him so that he will be spared Brutus’s judgment and dislike, Cassius and Brutus shake hands and reconcile.

Brutus asks Lucillus and Titinius to have the army camp at their location for the night. Cassius asks them to bring back Messala afterward. Over wine, Cassius questions the usually stoic Brutus about his rare display of rage earlier in the day. Brutus responds that his anger arose from his grief over Portia's death. Shocked at Brutus’s “insupportable and touching loss,” Cassius asks how Portia died. Brutus tells him that, worrying about Brutus and fearing that Antony and Octavius had grown too powerful, Portia gave into despair and committed suicide by “swallowing fire.” Overcome with melancholy, Brutus says he simply wants to drown his sorrows in wine.

Cassius and Brutus are joined by Messala. Already mindful that Antony and Octavius are moving arms toward Philippi, Brutus asks Messala for new intelligence. Messala reveals that the Triumvirate has accused a hundred senators—rather than seventy, as Brutus had previously believed—with treason, including Cicero.

Cassius opposes Brutus’s decision to march toward Antony and Octavius, suggesting they should be defensive and wear out the enemy instead. Brutus disagrees with Cassius, arguing that Antony and Octavius’s army grows stronger every day, while Brutus and Cassius’s army is already at its full strength, which must be seized like the “tide in the affairs of men, / Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.”

Relenting to Brutus’s point of view, Cassius leaves. Brutus asks Lucius, Varro, and Claudius to stay in his tent so he can send Cassius a message if necessary. As the others fall asleep, a restless, sleepless Brutus begins reading to calm his mind. Caesar's ghost enters the tent, leaving Brutus disoriented and petrified. Brutus asks the ghost who and what it is “that makest [his] blood cold and [his] hair to stare.” The ghost cryptically replies, “Thy evil spirit, Brutus.” It tells Brutus it will see him again at Philippi and vanishes. Brutus wakes up Lucius, Varro, and Claudius, who tell him they did not see anything. Brutus asks Varro and Claudius to go to Cassius and tell him to begin mobilizing soldiers. Brutus's army will follow.

Analysis

Brutus’s accusation that Cassius has an “itching palm” highlights the isolation of Brutus’s lofty principles in the world of realpolitik. Though Rome has been purified by the death of Caesar, Brutus is no closer to his ideal world than before. In fact, the petty behavior of Cassius only serves to highlight that perhaps Brutus alone among the conspirators was guided by the “general” cause. The last scene of act 4 heightens the pathos of Brutus’s character, deepening the sense of him as a tragic hero. After he and Cassius reconcile, he tells Cassius of Portia’s suicide, a sorrow he tries to drown in wine. The appearance of Caesar’s reproachful ghost is perhaps an outward projection of Brutus’s guilt. Ironically, the supernatural element symbolizes Brutus’s return to reality. He now understands the enormity of his crime and its consequence, as well as the truth about his perfect, noble enterprise. As earlier in the play, signs and supernatural visions point to a troubled fate for their recipient.