Since our class discussion today, I have been wondering about Portia’s character and her ultimate fate. From the beginning of the play, it is clear that she is devoted to her husband, but she is also an odd and perplexing person in regards to her actions. Additionally, Portia is one of only two women in the play, which is noteworthy because the entirety of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is based around men, what they think is right, and their quest for power. What we later see is that, in a twisted way, Portia harming herself is her asserting her autonomy in a man-domineered world.

We first get to know Portia when Brutus is plotting against Caesar, not acting like himself, and keeping it from his wife. She says:

Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus,/ Is it excepted I should know no secrets/ That appertain to you? Am I your self/ But, as it were, in sort or limitation,/ To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed,/ And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs/ Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,/ Portia is Brutus’ harlot, not his wife” (2.1.279-287).

All she wants to do is know what is going on with her husband; she does not like being excluded. She feels as though her husband is treating her like a prostitute rather than a partner and she does not understand his unwillingness to share with her. She does not feel valued and she begs, “Tell me your counsels; I will disclose ‘em” (2.1.99). Tell me! You can trust me! I will not tell a soul! At this point in the play, we sympathize with Portia and understand where she is coming from. It is a terrible thing for one to be left in the dark from the person they love.

Then, she does something slightly (totally) alarming… but effective. She stabs herself in the thigh in an attempt to prove it! Portia continues, “I have made strong proof of my constancy,/ Giving myself a voluntary wound/… Can I bear that with patience/ And not my husband’s secrets?” (2.1.299-302). Portia means business; if she can harm herself (without giving it a second beat) for her husband, her husband should be able to trust her. This is Portia’s way of demonstrating her dedication in the pursuit of gaining her husband’s confidence. He responds “Render me worthy of this noble wife!,” before being interrupted by the conspirators (2.1.304). Brutus did not seriously consider divulging to her until she wounded herself. Portia’s self-harm was essentially a power move and a means of gaining control.

Later, we hear of Portia’s fate when Brutus tells Cassius, “Portia is dead./ …Impatient of my absence,/ And grief that young Octavius with Mark Anthony,/ Have made themselves so strong–for with her death/ That tidings came–with this she fell distract/ And, her attendants absent, swallowed fire” (4.3.148, 152-155). Portia’s husband had fled, her enemies were gaining power, and she was put in a desperate position. She was left cornered and powerless and her last living act was completely self-determined; she chose her fate before somebody else could.

While Portia does not play a big role in this play, in the small amount we read from and about her, it is clear that she learned to wield her power in a world ruled by men–even if it was by harming herself.