Compare and contrast the characters of Portia and Calpurnia in Julius Caesar

Portia and Calpurnia are the two most important female characters in William Shakespeare’s masterpiece-‘Julius Caesar’. Both Portia and Calpurnia are seen in the play in their relationships with their respective husbands. Both of them have their own individual characteristics.

Portia is Brutus’s wife and the daughter of a noble Roman named Cato. When Portia finds Brutus leaving his bed and showing signs of a mental disturbance, she feels deeply worried about him. She tries to find out the cause of his secret thinking. She reminds him that she is not an ordinary woman but one who is the daughter of a reputed father and the wife of a reputed husband. Thus, Brutus does recognize her exceptional qualities and soon afterwards reveals his secret to her.

When Brutus has gone to the Senate House, she feels extremely worried about his welfare. She sends the boy Lucius to the Senate House to find out if her husband is safe. In a soliloquy, she admits that she is a very weak woman. She further says that she is about to faint because of the strain upon her mind. She has overestimated her strength and ability to endure misfortune. Much later in the play, Brutus hears that Portia has killed herself out of grief that Antony and Octavius have become so powerful.

Calpurnia is the wife of Julius Caesar. She loves her husband as sincerely and deeply as Portia loves hers. She too feels deeply worried about her husband’s safety and invests great authority in omens and portents. She warns Caesar against going to the Senate on the Ides of March since she has had terrible nightmares and heard reports of many bad omens. Nevertheless, Caesar’s ambition ultimately causes him to disregard her advice.

However, it is noted that Caesar’s attitude towards Calpurnia is widely different from Brutus’s attitude towards Portia. Calpurnia’s manner of talking to Caesar is that is of a petitioner while Portia’s to Brutus is that of a woman who is conscious of her own importance. Calpurnia does not claim equality with Caesar but Portia does with Brutus. As a wife, Portia is aware of her rights, but Calpurnia is not. By comparing with Portia, Calpurnia appears to be a less person. By sharing her husband’s secrets, Portia becomes a passive conspirator. However, both of them kneel before their respective husbands.

In fact, Portia and Calpurnia are indispensable to Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’ who have many specific comparisons and similarities in their characters.