The Brutus-Portia scenes in “Cesare” mark the first introduction of this material in any drama on the same subject. Pescetti portrays Brutus in his domestic relations along the lines later adopted by Shakespeare, and adds touches not traceable to Plutarch, yet included in “Julius Caesar.”
Inasmuch as Pescetti dedicated his tragedy to Alfonso D’Este, whom he hails in his preface as Caesar’s reincarnation, we naturally would expect a delineation of the titular character cast in the most heroic mould. Yet, whatever the intention, the fulfillment seems the very antipode of the promise. The Caesar of Pescetti appears the same weak, vacillating, boastful figure that in Shakespeare has so puzzled his critics, and who occupies in the drama the same position of relative inferiority assigned to him in “Julius Caesar.”
Pescetti was the first dramatist of Caesar’s fortunes to realize the dramatic value of a supernatural background. He presents the ghost of Pompey as the exciting force on his Brutus; Shakespeare introduced the ghost of Caesar to herald his doom. In his attempted distribution of the omens and prodigies, the Italian seems to have anticipated Shakespeare’s similar but vastly superior treatment. With a single puzzling exception, he mentions all the portents later used by Shakespeare, and adds many more culled from the classic authors. Shakespeare includes among the omens several not mentioned by Plutarch; to obtain these he had no occasion to go beyond Pescetti.
The Italian seemed to realize the dramatic value of suspense, and uses this device twice in a manner almost exactly parallel to that of Shakespeare. Like the Cassius of Shakespeare, the Decimus Brutus of Pescetti raises a doubt as to Caesar’s attending the session of the Senate, and the introduction of this element of suspense paves the way for his ultimate persuasion of the Dictator. In Shakespeare’s play the episode performs the same office. But more significant is Pescetti’s employment of the Caesar-Lena scene, which in word and thought constitute a very close parallel to the same scene as it stands in “Julius Caesar.”
“Cesare” seems to shed new light upon the much discussed question of Shakespeare’s indebtedness to Appian, for the historical matter supposedly derived by the great poet from the English translation of the history can be found in the Italian drama, and reappears later in “Julius Caesar,” accompanied by touches peculiar alone to Pescetti’s treatment. The resemblance between these portions of the Italian’s work and the corresponding parts in the English drama, is far stronger than their similarity to their hitherto supposed source.