Sunday, March 1, 2009
Julius Caesar and Men Who Don't Listen to Women
Critics have suggested that women in Julius Caesar just don't get fair treatment. Look at Calphurnia and Portia, whose husbands didn't listen to them at all. Discuss how each experiences "woman's intuition," how they try to warn their husbands of impending danger, and how their husbands react. Why, as some critics have suggested, are Portia and Calphurnia dismissed so easily? (Shmoop Literature, "Study Questions -- The Tragedy of Julius Caesar," shmoop.com/study-questions/literature/william -shakespeare/julius-caesar.html>).
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Men often don’t listen to their wives and they find themselves regretting it when they don’t follow their advice. Caesar reacted poorly when Calphurnia warned him of the dangers she thought he would face. His not listening to the most important female figure in his life ultimately resulted in his bloody death. If he had only listened to his wife, he might have lasted a while longer. Brutus on the other hand, not only didn’t listen to his wife but he also didn’t respect her enough to actually talk to her about what was going on in his life. Portia and Calphurnia are dismissed often because the women figures weren’t considered as important as the men were. They were telling their husbands things that were not believable but that is why they needed trust in their relationships. At one point, Calphurnia begged Caesar to not go because she had had awful dreams of things to come. Julius believed her until the point where someone else interpreted his wife’s dream to mean something different. Before this second interpretation, Caesar planned to stay home like his wife wished but it was clear he really didn’t want to. As soon as her dream was interpreted differently, he immediately went with the one that suited his wants best. It’s as if he didn’t want to do what was best for him or even that he really believed his wife. He really just wanted to make her happy. Neither Brutus nor Caesar respected their wives the way they should have and they both suffered the consequences.
ReplyDeleteAshley Yates
ReplyDeleteMarch 4,2009
Women in Julius Caesar didn’t get fair treatment or acknowledgement. Calphurnia and Portia begged their husbands to listen to them, but, both Caesar and Brutus, ignored their wives and suffered the consequences.
In act two of Julius Caesar, Portia begged her husband to tell her why he was acting so weird. She believed that he was hiding a secret from her and said that if he didn’t tell her she must not be his wife. After pleading and, even, bowing down to Brutus, Portia cut herself to show how determined she was to know the secret.
Also, in act two, Calphurnia begged Caesar not to go to the Capitol. She had seen crazy and unordinary things, such as, a lion roaming the streets and blood splattered on the Capitol, and was afraid for his life. Caesar ignored his wife’s warnings and went to the Capitol and was killed.
Both Calphurnia and Portia were dismayed so easily because their husbands were so powerful, noble, and full of pride that it was hard to change their minds.