Summary: Act II, scene iii
Antony promises Octavia that although his duties will
often force him to be away from her, he will avoid the sexual indiscretions
of his past. Octavia and Caesar depart, and Antony is joined by
the Egyptian soothsayer, who predicts Antony’s return to Egypt.
Antony asks whether he or Caesar has the brighter future, and the
Soothsayer answers that Caesar’s fortune will rise higher. As long
as Antony remains in Rome, the Soothsayer predicts, he will be overshadowed by
Caesar. He advises Antony to leave plenty of space between himself
and Caesar. Antony dismisses the fortune-teller but agrees with his
assessment, and he resigns himself to returning to the East, where
his “pleasure lies” (II.iii.38). Antony summons
Ventidius, a soldier and friend, and commissions him to go east
to make war against the kingdom of Parthia.
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Act II, scene iii →
Summary: Act II, scene iv
Meanwhile, Lepidus orders Maecenas and Agrippa to gather
their soldiers and meet at Mount Misenum, where they shall confront Pompey’s
army.
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Summary: Act II, scene v
In Egypt, Cleopatra amuses herself with her servants Charmian
and Mardian, a eunuch. As she reminisces about Antony, likening
him to a fish that she has caught, a messenger arrives from Italy.
Noting his unhappy expression, Cleopatra fears that Antony is dead
and threatens the messenger should he deliver such unwelcome news. The
messenger assures the queen that her lover is alive and well, but admits
that Antony has married Octavia. Cleopatra strikes the messenger
furiously, but he insists that he must tell her the truth. Cleopatra
admits that it is beneath her station to treat a menial servant
so viciously, but she cannot help upbraiding the man as she forces
him to repeat that Antony belongs to another. She finally dismisses
the messenger, then sends him orders to go and see Octavia so that
he may report her features—how old she is, how she acts, even the color
of her hair.
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Summary: Act II, scene vi
Before waging a war, Pompey and the triumvirs hold a meeting. Pompey
tells Caesar, Lepidus, and Antony that he is fighting to avenge
his father, whose defeat by Julius Caesar led him into Egypt, where
he was killed. Antony informs Pompey that despite the latter’s strength
at sea, the triumvirs’ army will prevail. The three offer Pompey
rule over Sicily and Sardinia should he agree to rid the sea of pirates
and to send payments of wheat to Rome as a tax. Pompey admits that
he was ready to accept this offer until Antony offended him by refusing
to acknowledge the hospitality he showed Antony’s mother on her
recent visit to Sicily. Antony assures Pompey that he intended to
offer a gracious thanks, at which the men shake hands and make peace.
Pompey invites the Romans aboard his ship for dinner,
and the triumvirs join him. Enobarbus and Menas stay behind discussing their
military careers, the current political situation, and Antony’s marriage
to Octavia. Enobarbus repeats that he is sure Antony will inevitably
return to Egypt. After the talk, the two go to dinner.
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Analysis: Act II, scenes iii–vi
Although the contradictory impressions we are given of
the major characters may be confusing, they allow us to gain a more
complex understanding of each character by seeing him or her from
a variety of viewpoints. For example, in the opening scenes of the
play, Demetrius and Philo complain that their general has sacrificed
his better self for the sake of a gypsy’s lust. Three scenes later,
Caesar describes Antony’s incomparable prowess in battle, confirming
the audience’s impression of the general’s military might. When
Antony appears in Act II, scene iii, however, he seems less interested
in maintaining this heroic reputation than in pursuing his own pleasure.
We may find it difficult to decide whether the Antony we see is
the celebrated war hero or a man corrupted by his desires for fame
and romance. The play does not offer simple answers to such questions,
because it declines to privilege one point of view over another.
Throughout, we must balance Caesar’s impressions with Enobarbus’s
in order to reconcile Cleopatra’s understanding of Antony with Antony’s
understanding of himself. Antony, like each character in the play,
is the product of three distinct elements: what other characters
think of him, what he thinks of himself, and what he does.
