Essay-The Role of Women in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

Fellysia:

The significance of the roles of women in the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare can be prodded from the two female characters namely, Calpurnia and Portia, who are instrumental in the world of men they have to live in. Despite the seemingly minor parts that these women have, their presence in the play should be regarded as important as they both bring a trace of foreshadowing to intensify the calamities of the events which will occur subsequently as well as a more lucid view of the personas of their husbands in their private lives.

 

Firstly, the role of Calpurnia as Caesar’s loving wife is paramount in her belief in superstitions that she actually has forewarned Caesar from his tragic death. After her terrifying dream in which she saw Caesar’s statue pouring blood in a fountain while others washed their hands in it, she urges  her husband to cancel his outing resolutely to which it falls to deaf ears. Her dream in Act II, Scene II states that she "saw my statue which like a fountain with an hundred spouts did run pure blood; and many lusty Romans come smiling and did bathe their hands in it," and this poses as a foreshadowing to the death of Caesar by the Senate in the next act when conspirators of his murder bathe their hands in his blood. However, Caesar easily dismisses his wife’s concerns as trivialities and makes up his own interpretation of the dream that he fails to avoid his barbaric death. Thus, Calpurnia, as a wife, has shown her devotion by standing by her husband’s decision to venture through the night amidst her perturbed mind but her role as a woman puts her in a disadvantage that she has to lose her husband.

 

Next, there is Portia who is Brutus’s wife in the play. Her role as a woman bears a more influential effect on her husband. She does not want to merely become a wife but also the confidante of Brutus that she compels him to tell her all his deeds, for she believes she can be a good supporter and motivator to him. Upon witnessing the distraught mind of her husband, she wills him to share his troubles so that she can assist him as his wife. Here, Portia resembles a woman of poise and strong character who realises that she lives among men that she wants to have an active role in men’s businesses. The extent of her love to Brutus and thus, her wish to help him settle his problems is evident when she hurts herself in the thigh with a dagger to prove her readiness to sustain whatever pains which might come with the secret predicament.  This is her way of giving absolute and undeniable support to Brutus's ventures. Moreover, she also serves as a deliverer of foreshadowing in the play as seen in Act II, Scene IV where Portia attempts to see if Caesar is at the capitol. So, she sends Lucius, her servant, to the capitol to ensure that nothing has gone wrong by telling him, "I heard a bustling rumor, like a fray, And the wind brings from the capitol.” Indeed, what she heard as a raucous from the capital will eventually become the riot after the Romans learn about Caesar’s death. 

 

The depiction of these two women in the play serves dual purposes, as foils to their husbands, especially in personal matters and as bearers of foreshadowing  for it is a pivotal element in the story development of Julius Caesar. For these reasons, the female characters’ inclusion in the play should not be underestimated in the male-dominated world the story is set.