Suicide In Julius Caesar Essay

Julius Caesar was written by William Shakespeare and within this play there were many suicides which were all seen as very noble for different reasons, in particular Portia and Brutus. Romans view suicide as a noble act while Christians especially in current day view it as a sin. The contrast between the two really show a discrepancy in the schools of thought on suicide back in the Roman Empire compared to present day.
Throughout the play, Portia was consistently portrayed as a dedicated, tenacious wife which led to her downfall. Countless of times she has tried to show her husband, Brutus, her loyalty and what she was capable to endure not only as a wife but also a confidant. In scene 2 Portia practically begs him to tell her what was troubling him. As he kept telling her not to worry, her need
Can I bear that with patience,/And not my husband’s secrets?” (Shakespeare 2.1.307-311). While she is trying to make her argument she also felt as if she had to remind her husband that she is his wife and not his whore which to her meant that she had a right to be there for her husband. Her being in the dark about what was going on led her to commit suicide. Brutus talks to Cassius about her death in Scene 4 but seems so unaffected by it. “Impatient of my absence,/And grief that young Octavius with Mark Antony/Have made themselves so strong—for with her death/That tidings came—with this she fell distract/And, her attendants absent, swallowed fire” (Shakespeare 4.3.157-161). Many Romans, especially women would have viewed this suicide as honorable because she killed herself for the idea that not only it would be a way to escape the inevitable wrath of Antony and Octavius but also because she was so shut out in her husbands life that she felt the only way to become closer to him especially with the war going on, was through death.