Portia is Brutus' devoted wife. She doesn't get a whole lot of stage time but we think she's an interesting figure, especially when it comes to the play's concern with gender dynamics.
When Brutus refuses to confide in Portia, she takes issue with his secrecy: as a married couple, she says, they should have no secrets.
Dear my lord,
Make me acquainted with your cause of grief.
[...]
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.(2.1.275-276; 302-310)
In other words, Portia is sick and tired of being excluded from her husband's world just because she's a woman. She also suggests that, when Brutus keeps things from her, he's treating her like a "harlot [prostitute], not his wife."
Portia's desire to be close to her husband seems reasonable enough. But Portia also has the annoying habit of talking about women (including herself) as though they're weaker than men.
I grant I am a woman; but withal
A woman well-reputed, Cato's daughter.
Think you I am no stronger than my sex,
Being so fathered and so husbanded?
Tell me your counsels; I will not disclose 'em.
I have made strong proof of my constancy,
Giving myself a voluntary wound
Here, in the thigh. Can I bear that with patience.
And not my husband's secrets? (2.1.317-325)
Here Portia says she knows she's just a girl, but since she's the daughter and wife of two really awesome men, that makes her better than the average woman. To prove her point, she stabs herself in the thigh without flinching and demands that her husband treat her with more respect. Yikes! Later she kills herself by swallowing "fire," or hot coals (4.3). This is interesting because it's usually men who are prone to violence in the play.
History Snack: When Portia says she knows she's just "a woman" but she also thinks she's "stronger" and more constant (i.e., steady and masculine) than most, she sounds a lot like Queen Elizabeth I (Shakespeare's monarch) who famously said "I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king" ("Speech to the Troops at Tilbury", 1588). Queen Elizabeth I, like Portia, buys into the idea that women are weaker than men but also presents herself as the exception to the rule.
hopefully this helps
Mary Brown's dog symbolizes the child in a way the police can get away with the killing even if the child or citizens are innocent.
The police showing no remorse about killing an innocent life of the dog/child demonstrates the corruption of the environment there.
This is what happens before the story begins in "The Cask of Amontillado", according to my imagination:
Fortunato had always been an arrogant man who loved to laugh at his friends' imperfections or mistakes in general. When Montresor first met him, he was amazed at how clever and generous that man seemed to be. However, such an impression quickly died out: Fortunato turned out to be a rude, unkind, bitter man. That was a huge disappointment for Montresor, who really treasured his friend, at least in the beginning of their friendship.
One day, the two friends were having a casual conversation, when suddenly Fortunato turned to Montresor and said to him: "I'm sure I'm better than you at anything; that's why you were so jealous whenever I came around that girl you fancied..." Montresor was shocked to hear that, to which he replied right away: "Jealous? What are you talking about?" Fortunato had a cynical smile on his face, and said next: "So you think I didn't notice how insecure you felt... Maybe you were afraid she would fall in love with me, not with you..." After hearing that, Montresor was oppressed with anger, and couldn't say a word since if he did so, he would probably burst out in tears of uncontrollable rage.
After having spent the following night in a state of agitated insomnia, Montresor had an idea: inviting Fortunato to go taste some wine in a place where no one would bother them and that would also be suitable for a sweet and irreversible revenge.
