. . . yet must Antony
No way excuse his foils when we do bear
So great weight in his lightness.
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Summary: Act I, scene iv
In Rome, young Octavius Caesar complains to Lepidus, the
third triumvir, that Antony has abandoned his responsibilities as
a statesman and, in doing so, has also abandoned the better part
of his manhood. Lepidus attempts to defend Antony, suggesting that
Antony’s weaknesses for fishing, drinking, and reveling are traits
he inherited rather than ones he has chosen. Caesar remains unconvinced, declaring
that Antony has no business enjoying himself in Egypt during a time
of crisis. A messenger arrives with news that Pompey’s forces are
both gathering strength and finding support among those whose prior
allegiance to Caesar arose from fear, not duty. Remembering Antony’s
valiant and unparalleled performance as a soldier, Caesar laments
that Antony is not with them. He and Lepidus agree to raise an army
against Pompey.
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Act I, scene iv →
Summary: Act I, scene v
Cleopatra complains to Charmian that she misses Antony.
She wonders what he is doing and whether he, in turn, is thinking
of her. Alexas enters and presents her with a gift from Antony:
a pearl. He tells the queen that Antony kissed the gemstone upon
leaving Egypt and ordered it be delivered to Cleopatra as a token
of his love. Cleopatra asks if he appeared sad or happy, and she
rejoices when Alexas responds that Antony seemed neither: to appear
sad, Cleopatra says, might have contaminated the moods of his followers,
while a happy countenance could have jeopardized his followers’
belief in his resolve. Cleopatra orders Alexas to prepare twenty
messengers, so that she can write to Antony on each day of his absence.
She promises, if need be, to “unpeople Egypt” by turning all of
its citizens into messengers (I.v.77).
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Act I, scene v →
Summary: Act II, scene i
Pompey discusses the military situation with his lieutenants,
Menecrates and Menas. He feels confident of victory against the
triumvirs not only because he controls the sea and is popular with
the Roman people, but also because he believes that Antony, the
greatest threat to his power, is still in Egypt. Menas reports that
Caesar and Lepidus have raised an army, and another soldier, Varrius,
arrives to tell them that Antony has come to Rome. Menas expresses
his hope that Caesar and Antony’s mutual enmity will give rise to
a battle between the two triumvirs, but Pompey predicts that the
two will come together in order to fend off a common enemy.
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Act II, scene i →
Summary: Act II, scene ii
Lepidus tells Enobarbus that Antony should use “soft and
gentle speech” when speaking to Caesar (II.ii.3).
Enobarbus answers that Antony will speak as plainly and honestly
as any great man should. Antony and Caesar enter with their attendants
and sit down to talk. Caesar complains of the rebellion that Fulvia
and Antony’s brother raised against him. He asks why Antony dismissed
his messengers in Alexandria and accuses Antony of failing in his
obligation to provide military aid to the other triumvirs. Antony
defends himself, and Maecenas, one of Caesar’s companions, suggests
that they put aside their bickering in order to face Pompey. Agrippa,
another of Caesar’s men, suggests that Antony marry Caesar’s sister,
Octavia. This bond, he claims, would cement the men’s affection
for and alliance with one another. Antony consents. Caesar and Antony
shake hands, promising brotherly love, and they agree to march together toward
Pompey’s stronghold on Mount Misenum.
When the triumvirs disperse, Enobarbus tells Agrippa
of the good life they lived in Egypt. He describes how Cleopatra
first came to meet Antony, comparing the queen to Venus, the goddess
of love. Antony, he maintains, will never be able to leave her,
despite his marriage to Octavia.
Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety. Other women cloy
The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry
Where most she satisfies.
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Act II, scene ii →
Analysis: Act I, scenes iv–v; Act II, scenes
i–ii
Unlike Shakespeare’s other great tragedies, Antony
and Cleopatra is not confined to a single geographical
location. Whereas Macbeth unfolds in Scotland and Hamlet in
Denmark’s Elsinore castle, Antony and Cleopatra takes
the audience from one end of the Mediterranean Sea to the other
in the course of a scene change. This technique is noteworthy for
several reasons. First, it shows the global concerns of the play:
traveling from Alexandria to Athens to Rome to Syria demonstrates
the scope of the empire for which Antony, Cleopatra, and Caesar
struggle. Second, the use of rapidly shifting locales shows that
Shakespeare has become less interested in the deep psychological
recesses that he examines in his greatest tragedies and is now addressing
more public concerns. A stylistic result of Shakespeare’s interest
in the broader world is that Antony and Cleopatra lacks
soliloquies, a device that Shakespeare elsewhere uses to reveal
his characters’ hidden thoughts to the audience.
