Is Brutus Sick
A drama monologue from Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. About 1 min.
Portia kneels to her husband Brutus and demands to know the secret keeping him up at night.
- Portia
- 30s to 40s. Brutus’s wife, shut out of his plans
Before dawn, in Brutus’s orchard. He has just told her to go to bed.
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, your self, your half,
Why you are heavy, and what men tonight Have had resort to you;
for here have been Some six or seven, who did hide their faces Even from darkness.
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Public domain, William Shakespeare, 1599. Text from Project Gutenberg #1522.
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