Question

read the excerpt from act 2, scene 1, of julius caesar.
brutus. kneel not, gentle portia.
portia. i should not need if you were gentle brutus. within the bond of marriage, tell me, brutus, is it excepted i should know no secrets that appertain to you? am i your self but as it were in sort or limitation? to keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, and talk to you sometimes? dwell i but in the suburbs of your good pleasure? if it be no more, portia is brutus’ harlot, not his wife.
brutus. you are my true and honourable wife, as dear to me as are the ruddy drops that visit my sad heart.
portia. if this were true, then should i know this secret. i grant i am a woman, but withal
what effect does brutus’s secrecy have on his wife, portia? select three options.

• she feels like she is not really brutus’s wife if he cannot be honest with her.
• she thinks that brutus is unfairly keeping her in the dark because she is a woman.
• she forces brutus to tell her about the conspiracy to kill caesar.
• she harms herself to prove to brutus that she is strong enough to keep his secret.
• she joins the conspiracy to go after caesar and says she will wound him.

Explanation:

1. From Portia's lines ("Portia is Brutus’ harlot, not his wife" if he's not honest), she feels not a true wife if he's secretive.
2. She says "I grant I am a woman, but withal" implying she thinks his secrecy is gender - based (keeping her in dark as a woman).
3. She harms herself (though not fully shown here, contextually) to prove she can keep secrets. The other options: she doesn't force him to tell the conspiracy, nor join it.

Answer:

• She feels like she is not really Brutus’s wife if he cannot be honest with her.
• She thinks that Brutus is unfairly keeping her in the dark because she is a woman.
• She harms herself to prove to Brutus that she is strong enough to keep his secret.