Aim: How can an examination of Brutus’ actions involving his servants, wife and conspirators provide perspective into his character?
TEAM DISCUSSION
What qualities/characteristics/expectations do you believe must be present in a marriage in order for it to be successful and thrive? Why?
We had a team discussion about what was important in marriage and not only for it to be successful but for it to thrive and for both participants to be happy. My group discussed how loyalty is extremely important because without loyalty there will be no trust and without trust there is no chance the marriage will be successful. Other groups also added on that arguing is inevitable but it is how you argue that really affects the relationship. This discussion relates to the part of the Shakespeare story we would read later on.
After this discussion we learned about the foyer humors in medieval medicine. There are black bile, yellow bile,phlegm, and blood.
These four humors each correspond 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 the 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.”
These four humors directly describe the type of person the character is.
There are also 4 statues depicting the 4 humors that were part of the “grande commande” which was a commission ordered by Louis XIV and were intended to decorate the gardens of the Palace of Versailles.
We then went on to listen to/read the Act 2 scene 1 (part 3) of Julius Caesar and after that had some questions to answer with our teams.
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)?
Me and my team discussed that Brutus thinks that Lucius is lucky that he is sleeping through the night but Brutus is worried and can't sleep.
2.How does Portia convince Brutus to disclose his secret to her? Provide at least 2 textual examples with line references!
Me and my team discussed that she used persuasion and used the fact that Burtus’s marriage mattered a lot to him.
3.Shakespeare provides clues showing a loving marriage between Brutus and Portia.
Identify 1-2 clues in their dialogue to show, despite their disagreement in this scene, that they have a secure marriage.
Me and my team said that brutus says and proves he loves his wife and these clues are a couple of lines from the story.
4.With your teams, reference the information about the four humours - what humor and temperament is Brutus exposing himself to according to Portia?
How does this compare or contrast with our analysis of him so far, especially considering Act II, scene i?
My groupmate said melancholic but the correct answer was phlegmatic. This is very true for Brutus and he fits the role.
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?
How do you think these traits will affect his role in the remainder of the play?
His strengths are being strong and able to make hard decisions but his weaknesses are his love for his family and friends and being honorable which could mess him up later.
We did not complete the last slide so i have no information on that yet.
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