Most noble Antony,
Let not the piece of virtue which is set
Betwixt us as the cement of our love
To keep it builded, be the ram to batter
The fortress of it. . . .
(See Important Quotations Explained)
Summary: Act II, scene vii
A group of servants discusses Pompey’s dinner party, commenting on
Lepidus’s drunkenness in particular. Pompey enters with his guests
as Antony discusses the Nile River. Lepidus babbles on about crocodiles,
which, according to popular belief, formed spontaneously out of
the river mud. Lepidus asks Antony to describe the crocodile, and
Antony responds with a humorously circular and meaningless definition:
“It is shaped, sir, like itself, and is as broad as it hath breadth”
(II.vii.39–40). Menas pulls Pompey aside
to suggest that they set sail and kill the three triumvirs while
they are still drunk and onboard the boat, thus delivering control
of the Western world into Pompey’s hands. Pompey rails against Menas
for sharing this plan with him. Were the deed done without his knowledge, Pompey
says, he would have praised it, but now that he knows, it would
violate his honor. In an angry aside, Menas expresses his disappointment
with Pompey and swears that he will leave his master’s service.
Meanwhile, the triumvirs and their host continue their drunken revelry,
eventually joining hands, dancing, and singing before they leave
the ship and stumble off to bed.
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Act II, scene vii →
Summary: Act III, scene i
Ventidius, fighting for Antony, defeats the Parthians,
killing their king’s son. One of Ventidius’s soldiers urges him
to push on into Parthia and win more glory, but Ventidius says he
should not. If he were too successful in war, he explains, he would
fall out of Antony’s favor and not be able to advance as a member
of Antony’s forces. Instead, Ventidius halts his army and writes
to Antony, informing him of his victory.
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Act III, scene i →
Summary: Act III, scene ii
Agrippa and Enobarbus discuss the current state of affairs:
Pompey has gone, Octavia and Caesar are saddened by their nearing
separation, and Lepidus is still sick from his night of heavy drinking. Agrippa
and Enobarbus mock Lepidus, the weakest of the three triumvirs,
who trips over himself in order to stay on good terms with both
Antony and Caesar. A trumpet blares, and Lepidus, Antony, and Caesar
enter. Caesar bids farewell to Antony and his sister, urging his
new brother-in-law never to mistreat Octavia and thereby drive a
wedge between himself and Antony. Antony implores Caesar not to
offend him, making assurances that he will not justify Caesar’s
fears. Antony and Octavia depart, leaving Lepidus and Caesar in
Rome.
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Act III, scene ii →
Summary: Act III, scene iii
Cleopatra’s messenger returns to report on Antony’s bride.
He tells Cleopatra that Octavia is shorter than she and that Octavia
has a low voice and is rather lifeless. This news pleases Cleopatra,
who delights in thinking that Antony’s bride is stupid and short.
She decides that, given Octavia’s lack of positive attributes, Antony
cannot possibly enjoy being with her for long. She promises to reward the
messenger for his good service, showers him with gold, and asks him
not to think of her too harshly for her past treatment of him. She then
tells Charmian that Antony will almost certainly return to her.
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Act III, scene iii →
Analysis: Act II, scene vii; Act III, scenes
i–iii
Both Ventidius’s speech after the victory over Parthia
and the events of the party challenge and complicate our understanding
of honor. Ventidius’s contemplation of his performance in battle
in Act II, scene i offers a definition of honor based on prowess
in battle. Ventidius explains that it would not be honorable to
conquer too extensively, since eclipsing his captain’s fame would
reflect poorly on himself. Whereas Pompey’s definition of honor
has to do with appearance, Ventidius’s has to do with ambition.
Ultimately, it is clear that Ventidius contemplates his honorable
leading of the army as a way of achieving greater status; he ends
his speech describing the perils of overachievement with the words,
“I could do more to do Antonius good, / But ’twould offend him,
and in his offence / Should my performance perish” (III.i.25–27).
Ventidius seems to care at least as much about Antony’s opinion
of his performance in war as about his sense of honor.
Pompey’s sense of honor, however, is based on surface
appearances. His desire that the triumvirate be deposed might easily
be seen as dishonorable, since he appears to be making peace with them.
However, he believes that he retains his honor by not acting on
his dishonorable feelings. When Menas suggests that he be allowed
to assassinate the triumvirs in order to deliver world power into
Pompey’s hands, Pompey’s reasoning for condemning Menas’s plan shows
that it is not the act itself that would challenge Pompey’s public
honor, but rather its appearance:
