Aim​: ​How can we understand the character of Brutus by examining his actions

involving his servants, wife and conspirators?

Do Now​: ​REPHRASE ALL QUESTIONS AS PART OF YOUR ANSWER!!!

What qualities/characteristics/expectations do you believe must be present in a marriage in order for it to be
successful? Why?
The qualities/characteristics/expectation that I believe must be present in a marriage for it to be successful is
good communication skills, trust, you have to have the same mindset so there’s not a long of arguments. Also,
you need. You have to care for the person and be honest with them at all times.

The Four Humours in Medieval Medicine

Humorism, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing the makeup and

workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians
and philosophers, arguing that an excess or deficiency of any of ​four​ distinct
bodily fluids in a person—known as ​humors​ or ​humours​—directly influences
their temperament and health.

The four humors of Hippocratic medicine (​i.e. Ancient Greek medicine)​ are black
bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood and each corresponds to one of the
traditional “four temperaments.” Based on Hippocratic medicine, it was believed
that the four humors were to be in balanced proportions with regard to amount
and strength of each humor for a body to be healthy. Although advances in
research and chemistry discredited humoralism by the nineteenth century, the theory had dominated Western
medical thinking for more than 2,000 years.

The following table shows the four humors with their corresponding elements, seasons, sites of formation, and
resulting temperaments:

Humour Season Ages Element Organ Qualities Temperament

moist & Sanguine

Blood spring infancy air liver warm ➢ (enthusiastic, active, social; can
engage in risky behavior)

warm & Choleric

Yellow bile summer youth fire spleen dry ➢ (independent, decisive, leader,
rational, ambitious)

Melancholic
Black bile autumn adulthood earth gallbladder dry & cold ➢ (thoughtful, reserved, strive for
perfection, anxious at times)

Phlegmatic
cold & ➢ (sympathetic to others’
Phlegm winter old age water brain/lungs moist problems, cares about others,
but tries to hide their own
emotions, peaceful, quiet)
These statues depicting the four humours were part of the “​grande commande”​ which was a commission ordered
by Louis XIV for statues intended to decorate the gardens of the Palace of Versailles

Julius Caesar
Act II, scene i (cont’d)

BRUTUS
Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily;
Let not our looks put on our purposes, 235
But bear it as our Roman actors do,
With untired spirits and formal constancy:
And so good morrow to you every one.
[Exeunt all but BRUTUS]
Boy! Lucius! Fast asleep? It is no matter;
Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber: 240
Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies,
Which busy care draws in the brains of men;
Therefore thou sleep'st so sound.
[Enter PORTIA]
PORTIA
Brutus, my lord!
BRUTUS
Portia, what mean you? wherefore rise you now? 245
It is not for your health thus to commit
Your weak condition to the raw cold morning.
PORTIA
Nor for yours neither. You've ungently, Brutus,
Stole from my bed: and yesternight, at supper,
You suddenly arose, and walk'd about, 250
Musing and sighing, with your arms across,
And when I ask'd you what the matter was,
You stared upon me with ungentle looks;
I urged you further; then you scratch'd your head,
And too impatiently stamp'd with your foot; 255
Yet I insisted, yet you answer'd not,
But, with an angry wafture of your hand,
Gave sign for me to leave you: so I did;
Fearing to strengthen that impatience
Which seem'd too much enkindled, and withal 260
Hoping it was but an effect of humour,
Which sometime hath his hour with every man.
It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep,
And could it work so much upon your shape
As it hath much prevail'd on your condition, 265
I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord,
Make me acquainted with your cause of grief.
BRUTUS
I am not well in health, and that is all.
PORTIA
Brutus is wise, and, were he not in health,
He would embrace the means to come by it. 270
BRUTUS
Why, so I do. Good Portia, go to bed.
PORTIA
Is Brutus sick? and ​is it physical
To walk unbraced and suck up the humours
Of the dank (​ damp & cold)​ morning?​ What, is Brutus sick,
And will he steal out of his wholesome bed, 275
To dare the vile contagion of the night
And tempt the rheumy ​(watery)​ 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, 280
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, 285
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. 290
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, 295
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.
BRUTUS
You are my true and honourable wife, 300
As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
That visit my sad heart.
PORTIA
If this were true, then should I know this secret.
I grant I am a woman; but withal
A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife: 305
I grant I am a woman; but withal
A woman well-reputed, Cato's daughter.
Think you I am no stronger than my sex,
Being so father'd and so husbanded?
Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em: 310
I have made strong proof of my constancy,
Giving myself a voluntary wound
Here, in the thigh: can I bear that with patience.
And not my husband's secrets?
BRUTUS
O ye gods, 315
Render me worthy of this noble wife!
[Knocking within]
Hark, hark! one knocks: Portia, go in awhile;
And by and by thy bosom shall partake
The secrets of my heart.
All my engagements I will construe to thee,
All the charactery of my sad brows: 320
Leave me with haste.
[Exit PORTIA]
Lucius, who's that knocks?
[Re-enter LUCIUS with LIGARIUS]
LUCIUS
He is a sick man that would speak with you.
BRUTUS
Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of.
Boy, stand aside. Caius Ligarius! How? 325
LIGARIUS
Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue.
BRUTUS
O, what a time have you chose out, brave Caius,
To wear a kerchief! Would you were not sick!
LIGARIUS
I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand
Any exploit worthy the name of honour. 330
BRUTUS
Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius,
Had you a healthful ear to hear of it.
LIGARIUS
By all the gods that Romans bow before,
I here discard my sickness! Soul of Rome!
Brave son, derived from honourable loins! 335
Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjured up
My mortified spirit. Now bid me run,
And I will strive with things impossible;
Yea, get the better of them. What's to do?
BRUTUS
A piece of work that will make sick men whole. 340
LIGARIUS
But are not some whole that we must make sick?
BRUTUS
That must we also. What it is, my Caius,
I shall unfold to thee, as we are going
To whom it must be done.
LIGARIUS
Set on your foot, 345
And with a heart new-fired I follow you,
To do I know not what: but it sufficeth
That Brutus leads me on.
BRUTUS
Follow me, then.

[Exeunt]

1. Consider our previous discussions about the ​motif​ of sleep in this play. What is the significance of Brutus’
actions and comments concerning Lucius (lines 239-243)?
The significance of Brutus’ actions and comments concerning Lucius because it shows ant since Lucius is
sleeping very soundly, Brutus is getting very jealous because he hasn’t been able to get to sleep because of the
decision to help kill Caesar or not. Without sleep, your emotions change and he might say or do things he
wouldn’t have done before.

2. How does Portia convince Brutus to disclose his secret to her? Provide at least 2 textual examples with line
references!
Portia convinces Brutus to disclose a secret to her by saying that if she really was his wife, then he should share
all his secrets with her. If he didn't share this big secret or share his feelings with her, then she shouldn’t be his
wife. 2 textual references are You stared upon me with ungentle looks;I urged you further; then you scratch'd
your head, And too impatiently stamp'd with your foot;” and “A woman well-reputed, Cato's daughter. Think you
I am no stronger than my sex, Being so father'd and so husbanded?

3. Shakespeare provides clues showing a loving marriage between Brutus and Portia.
a. Identify 1-2 clues in their ​dialogue​ to show, despite their disagreement in this scene, that they have
a secure marriage.
2 clues in the dialogue that shows Brutus’ and Portia’s secure marriage is…, “You are my true and honourable
wife, as dear to me as are the ruddy drops, that visit my sad heart.” Also, “Dear my lord, Make me acquainted
with your cause of grief.”

4. With your teams, reference the information about the ​four humours​ - what ​humor​ and ​temperament​ is
Brutus exposing himself to according to Portia?
a. How does this compare or contrast with our analysis of him so far, especially considering Act II,
scene i?

Brutus is a phlegmatic because he is hiding his emotions and he in the text it says, damp and cold which
are the characteristics of a phlegmatic person. In the beginning I thought he was a a melancholy person
because he tries to solve problems but doesn’t go too far like when they wanted to kill Antony and he
didn't.

5. Consider Brutus’ roles in this scene - master to young Lucius, husband to Portia, and senator and citizen of
Rome. What strengths and weaknesses are emerging overall in Brutus’ character?
a. How do you think these traits will affect his role in the remainder of the play?
The strengths and weaknesses that are emerging overall in Brutus’ character is that he is hiding his
feelings and struggles to his own wife which is a weakness and can jeopardize their marriage. One of
his strengths is that he is an honorable person because while almost everyone else wanted to kill
Antony, he said they shouldn’t because they should just do what they were doing in the first place and
not do anything extra. These traits will be bad in the end because. Predict that in the end Brutus and his
co-conspirators will fight on who kills who.