In this scene, Portia wishes to act but cannot for she has "a man's mind, but a woman's might." Portia's untenable position — her fear that her husband's plan will be discovered (although she does not know exactly what the plan is) and that she cannot act to help him — add to tension at the end of Act II. Caesar is on his way to the Capitol surrounded by murderers. Artemidorous may offer him a way out if he can only hear it and the soothsayer of this scene looks as though he may offer Caesar another chance. What will happen, however, is, so far, only "a bustling rumor, like a fray, / And the wind brings it from the Capitol."
