This is the only reference to Portia throughout the drama. Grévin makes no mention of her, while Garnier, in his “Porcie” (1568) treats of events following the death of Caesar.
[122]. I know of but two notices of these scenes, neither being much more than a mere mention. Neri says: “Su tutte ancora primeggia il Cesare d’Orlando Pescetti, che per il rilievo della figura di Bruto, tratta da Plutarco—vedi la bella scena di Porzia nel secondo atto, etc.” (La Tragedia italiana nel Cinquecento, Ferdinando Neri, Firenze, 1904, p. 158.) It is also referred to by Emilio Bertana in “La tragedia,” Milano, 1904, p. 75 ff.
[123]. Plutarch notes that she was of a “noble courage.”
[124]. That is, Fortune.
[125]. Marcus Brutus, p. 116. Skeat.
In the “Julius Caesar” of Sir William Alexander, (Earl of Stirling) written a few years after Shakespeare’s play, there is a decided similarity between some portions of the Brutus-Portia scenes and those in Pescetti. The prologue seems an echo of Pescetti’s. Nor do these portions have anything verbally in common with Seneca, the model of both tragedies. See Conclusion, page [121].
[126]. Many of the motifs of the Calpurnia-Nurse scene in Pescetti are derived from Muretus. Others are reminiscent of Grévin.
[127]. Malone long ago suggested that this scene probably refers to the popularity of the play on the stage, and that it points to other contemporary dramas on the same subject. Prolegomena, II, ff. 448–9. Ed. 1823. Prof. Sykes sees in it a dramatic device to emphasize the reality of the presentation. “Julius Caesar” note, page 142.
[128]. “Connections between the Drama of France and Great Britain, particularly in the Elizabethan Period.” Harvard Dissertation, 1900 (unpublished), quoted by Ayres.
[129]. Alexander’s Prologue is the first act of the drama. Juno delivers a long monologue and the chorus closes the act. In Muretus, Caesar and the chorus occupy the first act. In Grévin, it is Caesar, Antony and the Chorus of Soldiers. In Pescetti, the Prologue is separate, but like in Alexander the actors therein do not appear in the drama proper.