"Ellen Schoeters is a member of Actorama + where actors can upload a monologue or scene performance for peer review. What do you think of Ellen Schoeters's performance?"
(0 votes)
| Character | Portia | |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Female | |
| Age Range(s) | Young Adult (20-35), Adult (36-50) | |
| Type of monologue / Character is | In love, Persuasive, Descriptive, Complaining, Frustrated | |
| Type | Dramatic | |
| Period | Renaissance | |
| Genre | Historical, Tragedy | |
| Description | Portia urges Brutus to confide in her | |
| Location | ACT II, Scene 1 | |
Summary
The play starts with Caesar celebrating his victory over Pompey with a military parade through the streets of Rome. The people of Rome show great support for him and some fear that Caesar has gained too much power and will become a dictator. In the first scene of the play we find two tribunes, Flavius and Murellus, scolding two commoners for celebrating Caesar's victory and remove decorations from all Caesar's statues. Cassius, an ambitious Roman general, conspires to kill Caesar together with other politicians, such as Casca, Decius, Cinna, Metellus and Trebonius. Cassius tries to have Brutus join them as Brutus has a great following in the city of Rome. By forging letters to make him think that the people of Rome are angry at Caesar, he manages to convince Brutus to kill Caesar.
After discussing the details of the planned assassination, in ACT II, Scene 1, we find Brutus with his wife Portia in the garden. She is worried because he has behaved oddly lately and he tells her that he is sick.
In this monologue Portia urges her husband to tell her what troubles him. She knows that he is not sick and there is something that worries him. She tells him there shouldn't be any secrets between them.
After discussing the details of the planned assassination, in ACT II, Scene 1, we find Brutus with his wife Portia in the garden. She is worried because he has behaved oddly lately and he tells her that he is sick.
In this monologue Portia urges her husband to tell her what troubles him. She knows that he is not sick and there is something that worries him. She tells him there shouldn't be any secrets between them.
Written by Administrator
| Excerpt |
|---|
| PORTIA Is Brutus sick? and is it physical To walk unbraced and suck up the humours Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus sick, And will he steal out of his wholesome bed, To dare the vile contagion of the night And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air To add unto his sickness? No, my Brutus; You have some sick offence within your mind, Which, by the right and virtue of my place, I ought to know of: and, upon my knees, I charm you, by my once-commended beauty, By all your vows of love and that great vow Which did incorporate and make us one, That you unfold to me, yourself, your half, Why you are heavy, and what men to-night Have had to resort to you: for here have been Some six or seven, who did hide their faces Even from darkness. [BRUTUS Kneel not, gentle Portia.] PORTIA I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus. Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus, Is it excepted I should know no secrets That appertain to you? Am I yourself 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. |
