Julius Caesar · Act 2, Scene 1
Portia monologue from Julius Caesar
- Play
- William Shakespeare
- Women
- Playing age 20s–50s
- About 1:00
- Classical · verse
Portia’s monologue from the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (Act 2, Scene 1). A classical piece for women with a playing age of 20s–50s, running about 1:00.
The full speech. Read it out loud twice before you start working it.
Portia’s monologue
Is Brutus sick? and is it physical
To walk unbraced and suck up the humours
Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus sick,
And will he steal out of his wholesome bed,
To dare the vile contagion of the night
And tempt the rheumy 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,
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,
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.
Public domain text.
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About Julius Caesar
- Julius Caesar was one of the first plays staged at the new Globe Theatre, in 1599.
- Shakespeare drew on Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans.
- Caesar is killed in Act 3; Brutus has the most lines in the play.
All 13 monologues from Julius Caesar All 135 William Shakespeare monologues
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