Read the passage from act 4, scene 3, of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.BRUTUS. No man bears sorrow better. Portia is dead.CASSIUS. Ha! Portia?BRUTUS. She is dead.CASSIUS. How scaped I killing when I crossed you so?O insupportable and touching loss!Upon what sickness?BRUTUS. Impatient of my absence, And grief that young Octavius with Mark AntonyHave made themselves so strong—for with her death That tidings came. With this, she fell distraught,And, her attendants absent, swallowed fire.CASSIUS. And died so?BRUTUS. Even so.CASSIUS. O ye immortal gods!
Answer
A
Brutus's decision to join the conspiracy has led to a catharsis, Cassius making him angry.
B
Brutus's decision to join the conspiracy has led to a catastrophe, the death of his wife.
C
Brutus's decision to join the conspiracy has led to a tragic flaw, Cassius making him angry.
D
Brutus's decision to join the conspiracy has led to a catharsis, the death of his wife.
Explanation
Brutus tells Cassius that Portia has died by swallowing fire while distraught over his absence and the political danger facing him. Her death is a catastrophe—a disastrous event in the tragedy—and the passage connects it to Brutus’s involvement in the conspiracy. The correct choice is “Brutus's decision to join the conspiracy has led to a catastrophe, the death of his wife.”
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