Letteratura inglese III, prof. Lovascio

ACT II

Before battle, the triumvirs parley with Sextus Pompey, and offer him a truce. He can retain Sicily and Sardinia,

but he must help them "rid the sea of pirates" and send them tributes. After some hesitation Sextus agrees.

They engage in a drunken celebration on Sextus' galley, though the austere Octavius leaves early and sober from

the party. Menas suggests to Sextus that he kill the three triumvirs and make himself ruler of the Roman

Republic, but he refuses, finding it dishonourable. After Antony departs Rome for Athens, Octavius and Lepidus

break their truce with Sextus and war against him. This is unapproved by Antony, and he is furious.

Antony returns to Alexandria and crowns Cleopatra and himself as rulers of Egypt and the eastern third of the

Roman Republic (which was Antony's share as one of the triumvirs). He accuses Octavius of not giving him his

fair share of Sextus' lands, and is angry that Lepidus, whom Octavius has imprisoned, is out of the triumvirate.

Octavius agrees to the former demand, but otherwise is very displeased with what Antony has done.

ACT III / IV

Antony prepares to battle Octavius. Enobarbus urges Antony to fight on land, where he has the advantage,

instead of by sea, where the navy of Octavius is lighter, more mobile and better manned. Antony refuses, since

Octavius has dared him to fight at sea. Cleopatra pledges her fleet to aid Antony. However, during the Battle of

Actium off the western coast of Greece, Cleopatra flees with her sixty ships, and Antony follows her, leaving his

forces to ruin. Ashamed of what he has done for the love of Cleopatra, Antony reproaches her for making him a

coward, but also sets this true and deep love above all else, saying "Give me a kiss; even this repays me."

Octavius sends a messenger to ask Cleopatra to give up Antony and come over to his side. She hesitates, and

flirts with the messenger, when Antony walks in and angrily denounces her behaviour. He sends the messenger

to be whipped. Eventually, he forgives Cleopatra and pledges to fight another battle for her, this time on land.

On the eve of the battle, Antony's soldiers hear strange portents, which they interpret as the

god Hercules abandoning his protection of Antony. Furthermore, Enobarbus, Antony's long-serving lieutenant,

deserts him and goes over to Octavius' side. Rather than confiscating Enobarbus' goods, which Enobarbus did

not take with him when he fled, Antony orders them to be sent to Enobarbus. Enobarbus is so overwhelmed by

Antony's generosity, and so ashamed of his own disloyalty, that he dies from a broken heart.

Antony loses the battle as his troops desert en masse and he denounces Cleopatra: "This foul Egyptian hath

betrayed me." He resolves to kill her for the treachery. Cleopatra decides that the only way to win back

Antony's love is to send him word that she killed herself, dying with his name on her lips. She locks herself in

her monument, and awaits Antony's return.

ACT V

Her plan backfires: rather than rushing back in remorse to see the "dead" Cleopatra, Antony decides that his

own life is no longer worth living. He begs one of his aides, Eros, to run him through with a sword, but Eros

cannot bear to do it and kills himself. Antony admires Eros' courage and attempts to do the same, but only

succeeds in wounding himself. In great pain, he learns that Cleopatra is indeed alive. He is hoisted up to her in

her monument and dies in her arms.

Octavius goes to Cleopatra trying to persuade her to surrender. She angrily refuses since she can imagine

nothing worse than being led in chains through the streets of Rome, proclaimed a villain for the ages. She

imagines that "the quick comedians / Extemporally will stage us, and present / Our Alexandrian revels: Antony /

Shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see / Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness / I' th' posture of a

whore." This speech is full of dramatic irony, because in Shakespeare's time Cleopatra really was played by a

"squeaking boy" and Shakespeare's play does depict Antony's drunken revels.

Cleopatra is betrayed and taken into custody by the Romans. She gives Octavius what she claims is a complete

account of her wealth but is betrayed by her treasurer, who claims she is holding treasure back. Octavius

reassures her that he is not interested in her wealth, but Dolabella warns her that he intends to parade her at

his triumph.

Cleopatra kills herself using the venomous bite of an asp, imagining how she will meet Antony again in the

afterlife. Her serving maids Iras and Charmian also die, Iras from heartbreak and Charmian from another asp.

Octavius discovers the dead bodies and experiences conflicting emotions. Antony's and Cleopatra's deaths leave

him free to become the first Roman Emperor, but he also feels some sympathy for them. He orders a public

military funeral. THEMES

Gender Gender identity is at the core of the play. Antony and Cleopatra are in

love because they are the quintessential man and the quintessential

woman, but it could be that the strength of their relationship erodes their

respective sexual identities (Cleopatra becoming more masculine, and

Antony more feminine). This change alone might be the one that presages

their downfalls.

Betrayal Characters in often have to choose between being

Antony and Cleopatra

loyal to their ideals and being loyal to their circumstances.

Characters’ loyalty to one another is constantly called into question by

their quick betrayals of one another.

Love Though love ultimately fails in the end (because the lovers can’t be

together), it is upheld and honoured by the lovers’ suicidal loyalty to each

other. The characters’ actions and reactions to one another are all

love’s ability to

informed by love’s effect on decision-making—specifically,

where love is concerned, and the constant fear of

blind people to reason

losing love.

Power Power in Antony and Cleopatra is ostensibly a political force, as the play

centers on the competition between Antony and Caesar for dominance in

Rome. Not just Rome, but the entire Roman Empire.

Antony refuses to be dominated by Caesar, but he willingly submits his

love and allegiance to Cleopatra. Power is thus a political and a personal

force, one that impacts the desires of individuals in both realms

Guilt and blame Regret and repentance thread through much of Antony and

because can stop betraying each other. Characters can

Cleopatra nobody

be redeemed by their feelings of regret, and we can judge the

earnestness of their feelings by their willingness to apologize—do

they mean it, or are they just bluffing?

really

Regret is also another way of introducing a different perspective in the

play. The fact that each character can experience regret reminds us

their judgments aren’t hard and fast.

that Instead, each of them is a person

capable of making mistakes, and they are all made more human by their

ability to recognize and repent those mistakes. It just kind of sucks that

most of these characters are rulers of vast empires—let's hope our

leaders today aren't quite so arbitrary.

Duty Duty is central to because it exemplifies the honor

Antony and Cleopatra

central to being in a position of power. Duty to the state is explored in the

play, but so is duty to loved ones and one’s self. The conflict between all

these different types of duty provides the central tension of the play.

Antony acts on duty to the state when he marries Octavia, but if he

honors his heart, he has to be with Cleopatra. Friendship is also important

because so much of the play is about how leaders are nothing without the

people who follow them. Cleopatra constantly leans on her servants for

support and advice, and Antony is undone as his own men betray him.

How we view ourselves is often gauged by how others view us, and their

duty to us is a reflection of our own honour.

Choice Sex and passion are central to Passion is especially

Antony and Cleopatra.

important when it comes to decision-making in the play: decisions made

in haste are often foolish, or impermanent. The interplay between

passion and reason is often at stake, and Shakespeare seems to be

suggesting that passion interferes with reason.

Contrasting regions If we ignore all the characters we see that

for a hot second, Antony and

is, at its core, a play about an interaction between Rome and

Cleopatra

Alexandria, Egypt

The contrasting regions keep us from getting too bored with one setting

and provide a lens of interpretation that is neither good nor bad, but

depends on regional values and differences.

CHARACTERS

Antony Antony is one of the three leaders of the Roman Empire and a proven soldier.

We know him from Shakespeare's as guy who bested Brutus and Cassius,

Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar’s murderers.

He’s regarded as a noble and formidable soldier in Rome. His presence in Egypt, however,

tells us that he's neglecting his own state and shows his less noble side—the one that

revels in debauchery and good times.

Antony is noted for his bravery. He submits himself to Cleopatra and admits that he is held

captive by Cleopatra’s powerful spell.

As Antony dies, he wishes the world to remember him as a man who was his own

conqueror. By taking his own life, Antony makes a final resolute act: his death is the final

assurance that he was the master of his own life.

He represents the tension between East and West, between Egyptian delights and Roman

austerity, and between the personal desires of love and valiance. In this way, he’s a

complex character.

Cleopatra Cleopatra is the Queen of Egypt, lover to Antony, and former lover of both Julius Caesar

and Pompey the Elder. She can be used as a case study of both a woman in power and a

woman in love.

In love, Cleopatra is fierce, amorous. Fickle in her affections, Cleopatra is passionate about

all of her lovers, especially Antony. With her last act we can see her devotion to Antony,

choosing to join him in death rather than live without him.

Cleopatra is equally interesting as a woman in power. She rules Egypt. Still, it can also be

interpreted that she’s a woman of power when she decides on suicide.

She is also particularly notable for her strong sexuality and sexual relationships with the

world’s most powerful men. She is one of Shakespeare’s few female characters for whom

sex is not a submission, but a testament to her own glory. As such, Cleopatra is symbolic of

her country. As an earthy and sensual woman, Cleopatra represents Egyptian culture. Her

death signals not only the death of her body, but also the end of a lifestyle in Egypt—one

in which life is lived passionately and is connected to the natural world.

Pompey Pompey the Younger is the son of Pompey the Elder.

He is most notable in the play as a character who is prone to war, but guided by his reason