#calphurnia

It's already interesting how the play presents them as structural parallels. I'm not gonna talk about 1.2 here, but this beginning scene establishes that link -- first Calphurnia speaks and then, almost immediately after her moment is done, Cassius. Later on, Calphurnia's larger scene (2.2) comes directly after one of Cassius' most impactful scenes in terms of theme/foreshadowing (2.1). And in these scenes they play very similar roles -- Calphurnia as advisor to Caesar, Cassius as advisor to Brutus.

Both characters offer a warning to their respective partners (I'm using "partner" equivocally here, but I think that the fact that they are so obviously paralleled encourages one to extend this comparison as well). Cassius warns Brutus of the danger of leaving Antony alive after Caesar's assassination, and Calphurnia warns Caesar to stay home on the ides of March.

Calphurnia and Cassius both have a unique, almost soothsayer-y role in the play. It is these two who foretell the biggest problems in the play for their partners. Unlike a soothsayer, though, their clairvoyance isn't spiritual in nature, it's rational. Calphurnia echoes this when she says "I never stood on ceremonies..." (2.2.13). As opposed to Caesar and Brutus, who are both blinded in their respective ways to the consequences of their actions, Calphurnia and Cassius are able to see the full scope of things, how the line between heroism and foolishness is often negligible. Both Cassius and Calphurnia contain a sense of humility that Brutus and Caesar lack. Caesar and Brutus are driven by an arrogant idealism, whereas Calphurnia and Cassius think more practically.

The positions that they are in almost demands this way of thinking. Calphurnia, very obviously, plays a secondary role to Caesar. She's his wife in a patriarchal Roman society. She is not afforded the ability to have anything but humility -- it would be above her station to think as grandaciously as Caesar. But Cassius is in a very similar position. When one thinks of Caesar's assassination, it is Brutus they remember, Brutus who takes the fall, Brutus who gets the fame, Brutus whose character is espoused by Antony at the end of the play (5.5.68-75). Cassius is narratively subordinate to Brutus.

And then there is the dialogue of the scenes themselves. Both Caesar and Brutus brush off their respective warnings, and the language used in the scenes is almost identical. To look more closely:

CASSIUS: ...his means, If he improve them, may well stretch so far As to annoy us all; which to prevent, Let Antony and Caesar fall together (2.1.171-174). BRUTUS: And for Mark Antony, think not of him, For he can do no more than Caesar’s arm When Caesar’s head is off (2.1.194-196). CASSIUS: Yet I fear him, For in the engrafted love he bears to Caesar— (2.1.197-198). BRUTUS: Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him (2.1.199).

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CALPHURNIA: What mean you, Caesar? Think you to walk forth? You shall not stir out of your house today (2.2.8-9). CAESAR: Caesar shall forth (2.2.10). CALPHURNIA: Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies, Yet now they fright me (2.2.13-14). CAESAR: What can be avoided Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods? Yet Caesar shall go forth...(2.2.27-29).

Cassius and Calphurnia both begin with a statement, an order, very ambitious for the subordinate role that they both seem to play. Brutus and Caesar dismiss them, and then they both implore again, this time personally. They both bring up fear, interestingly enough, and basically say, "If you won't do it for rational reasons, do it for me instead. I love you. I am scared for you." It makes their second dismissal even more tragic.

Julius Caesar: Calphurnia (Amy Kim Waschke) and Julius Caesar (Armando Durán) at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Photo by Jenny Graham.

The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

Calphurnia, Julius Caesar: Act 2; Scene 2