Antony and Cleopatra (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series) Page 15

  ACT 3 SCENE 11

  Ashamed, Antony urges his followers to take his remaining gold and defect to Caesar. They refuse, but he urges "Let that be left / Which leaves itself" and his sense of having somehow "left" his true self shows his awareness of the divisions and contradictions in his identity. Cleopatra is led in by her attendants, who urge her to "comfort" Antony. Cleopatra begs his forgiveness for her "fearful sails" and claims that she did not know that he would follow, but Antony argues that she knew his heart was tied to her "rudder" "by th'strings." He says that his sword was "made weak" by his "affection" for her, an acknowledgment of his emasculation. Seeing how upset Cleopatra is, however, he forgives her and asks if his messenger has returned.

  ACT 3 SCENE 12

  Dolabella comments to Caesar that Antony's choice of messenger shows "he is plucked." The Schoolmaster/Ambassador outlines Antony's request that he might be allowed to live in Egypt, or if not, then as a "private man in Athens." Cleopatra sends a message that she "submits" to Caesar's might, and asks for the crown of Egypt. Caesar refuses Antony's request and says that Cleopatra's will only be granted if she either banishes or kills Antony. After the Ambassador leaves, he sends Thidias to "win Cleopatra" from Antony, relying on what he sees as her female weaknesses, as "Women are not / In their best fortunes strong."

  ACT 3 SCENE 13

  Lines 1-42: Enobarbus reassures Cleopatra that it was not her fault that Antony followed her, arguing that "itch of his affection should not then / Have nicked his captainship," emphasizing the tensions between personal emotions and public duties. Antony arrives, discussing Caesar's response. He sends the Ambassador back with an offer to meet Caesar in single combat. In the first of several asides in this scene, showing his growing distance from Antony, Enobarbus observes that Antony's judgment has decreased with his fortunes.

  Lines 43-233: In Antony's absence, Caesar's messenger suggests that Cleopatra "embraced" Antony out of fear rather than love. Cleopatra agrees with this and suggests her willingness to place herself in Caesar's power, delivering flattering messages. As Thidias kisses her hand, however, Antony interrupts in a jealous rage, ordering that Thidias be whipped. He declares "I am / Antony yet," in strong contrast to his confused sense of self in Act 3 Scene 11. Then he turns on Cleopatra. He insults her as a "boggler" and compares her to Octavia, "a gem of women," ironically forgetting that this allegiance was born out of dire political necessity. Cleopatra manages to reassure him of her loyalty and fidelity. Antony forgives her, declaring that they will have a feast. Alone, Enobarbus decides that Antony has lost all reason and that he cannot stay loyal to his master.

  ACT 4 SCENE 1

  Though angry at Antony's insults and his treatment of Thidias, Caesar merely laughs at Antony's challenge. He prepares for a final battle.

  ACT 4 SCENE 2

  Antony receives Caesar's refusal of single combat and declares that he will fight Caesar "By sea and land," emphasizing that this is a matter of honor. He then morbidly bids farewell to his followers and Enobarbus chastises him for making them weep, saying "Transform us not to women," again equating women with weakness. Antony rallies and declares that they will be victorious.

  ACT 4 SCENE 3

  Antony's soldiers hear strange music and believe that it is the god Hercules abandoning their leader.

  ACT 4 SCENE 4

  This scene contrasts impending conflict with a gentle domesticity between Antony and Cleopatra, as she helps him to put on his armor. He leaves, confident, and giving her a "soldier's kiss," but her uncertainty as to the outcome becomes clear once he has gone.

  ACT 4 SCENE 5

  A soldier informs Antony that Enobarbus has defected to Caesar, but has left his "chests and treasure" behind. Antony does not blame Enobarbus, recognizing that his own declining "fortunes have / Corrupted honest men." He magnanimously gives instructions that Enobarbus' treasure is to be sent after him.

  ACT 4 SCENE 6

  Caesar orders that Antony is to be taken alive and that those who have defected are to be placed in the front of the attack so that Antony "may seem to spend his fury / Upon himself," an image that reinforces the sense of Antony's inner conflict. A soldier gives Enobarbus his treasure, observing that Antony "Continues still a Jove." Overcome with shame, Enobarbus decides that he would rather die than fight against Antony.

  ACT 4 SCENE 7

  Caesar's soldiers retreat, pursued by Antony and Scarrus. Scarrus refers to his "brave emperor," restoring Antony to his previous reputation. Eros brings the news that Caesar's armies are beaten and that victory is in sight.

  ACT 4 SCENE 8

  Antony praises his men, promising them victory the next day. Cleopatra arrives and he greets her lovingly, presenting Scarrus to her and asking her to commend him for his bravery. Cleopatra promises Scarrus a golden suit of armor. She and Antony go to parade in triumph through the streets of Alexandria.

  ACT 4 SCENE 9

  Two of Caesar's sentries hear a noise and withdraw to watch. Enobarbus, in shame, begs to be allowed to die. With a cry of "O Antony!" he collapses, and when the sentries try to rouse him, they find that he has died.

  ACT 4 SCENE 10

  Antony sees that Caesar's troops are preparing to fight by sea.

  ACT 4 SCENE 11

  Caesar prepares for battle.

  ACT 4 SCENE 12

  Antony leaves to watch the sea battle. Alone, Scarrus criticizes the condition of the Egyptian fleet. He dwells on the fortune-tellers' reluctance to comment on events and Antony's once-more divided self, that is both "valiant and dejected," has "hope and fear," and "has and has not." Antony returns with news that "All is lost": the Egyptian fleet has surrendered. He blames Cleopatra entirely: she is a "Triple-turned whore" who has "sold" him to Caesar. When she arrives, he threatens to kill her.

  ACT 4 SCENE 13

  Cleopatra and her attendants flee to her monument and she sends Mardian the eunuch to tell Antony that she is dead. Again, we see her in a role akin to that of the director of a play, as she gives Mardian his lines and tells him how he must deliver them: "word it--prithee--piteously."

  ACT 4 SCENE 14

  Antony tells Eros that he does not know himself now that Cleopatra has betrayed him: he "cannot hold" his "visible shape." Mardian enters and Antony tells him that his "vile lady" has "robbed" him of his sword, but Mardian argues that Cleopatra loved Antony. Antony declares his intention to kill Cleopatra, but Mardian claims that she is already dead and that her last words were "Most noble Antony!" Antony tells Eros to "unarm" him and leave. Alone and filled with grief, Antony decides to die so that he can be reconciled with Cleopatra "Where souls do couch on flowers." Calling Eros back, he asks him to kill him, but Eros refuses, killing himself instead so as to "escape the sorrow / Of Antony's death." Antony declares that both Cleopatra and "valiant Eros" have shown themselves more noble than he. He stabs himself. Wounded, he is found by Dercetus, who takes his sword to give to Caesar, and then by Diomedes, sent by Cleopatra who has had "a prophesying fear" that Antony would kill himself. Diomedes explains that Cleopatra is in fact still alive. He calls Antony's guards to carry him to her.

  ACT 4 SCENE 15

  Cleopatra declares that she will never leave her monument. Diomedes arrives and explains that Antony is dying and is being brought to her. They call to each other and once again an intimate moment is played out in public with the guards and attendants as audience. Antony tells Cleopatra that he is "dying, Egypt, dying," but that he is waiting until he has kissed her. Cleopatra is too afraid to leave her monument, fearing capture by Caesar, and so they draw him up to her. They kiss, and Antony tells her to trust only Proculeius. He declares that he is "A Roman by a Roman / Valiantly vanquished," thus restoring himself, at least in his own mind, to his original status. He dies. Cleopatra faints. When she comes around, it becomes clear she does not intend to entrust herself to Caesar as she announces that she will bury Antony and then do "what's brave, what's noble" and take her own life.

/>   ACT 5 SCENE 1

  Dercetus brings Caesar Antony's sword and explains that he is dead. Caesar feels that this news "should make / A greater crack": after all, Antony represented half the world. He declares that he will mourn Antony because, even though their stars were "Unreconciliable," they were once friends and companions "in the front of war." An Egyptian arrives from Cleopatra to ask what Caesar intends for her and he sends assurance that he means to be "honourable" and "kindly" toward her. After her messenger has gone, however, he sends Proculeius to prevent Cleopatra committing suicide, as he wants her to be brought to Rome as a symbol of his "triumph."

  ACT 5 SCENE 2

  Lines 1-83: Proculeius brings Caesar's greetings to Cleopatra. Although she remembers that Antony told her to trust Proculeius, Cleopatra is suspicious and tells him that she asks for Egypt for her son. While Proculeius talks of Caesar's grace and kindness, soldiers arrive and seize Cleopatra. He gives orders that she be guarded until Caesar comes and, when she draws a dagger, disarms her. He tells her to allow the world to see Caesar's "nobleness well acted," a metatheatrical reference that emphasizes the false nature of Caesar's behavior. She declares that she would rather die in "a ditch in Egypt" than be shown to "the shouting varletry / Of censuring Rome."

  Lines 84-223: Cleopatra describes her visions of Antony to a sympathetic Dolabella. She convinces him to admit that Caesar will lead her in triumph through Rome. Caesar arrives and Cleopatra gives him a paper that she claims lists all of her wealth, but her treasurer, Seleucus, tells Caesar that she has lied. Cleopatra is furious at this betrayal, but Caesar assures her that he is not interested in her wealth, saying that he is "no merchant" and that he feels "care and pity" for her.

  Lines 224-376: Once Caesar has left, Cleopatra sends Charmian to carry out some orders that she has previously given. Dolabella returns briefly and, showing honor and loyalty to Cleopatra, tells her that she and her children are to be sent to Rome. Cleopatra tells Iras what their lives in Rome will be like, as surrounded by "greasy," "thick," and "gross" Romans, they will be displayed and mocked. In a moment of metatheater, she imagines how she and Antony will be staged, and how she will be played by a "squeaking Cleopatra," a "boy" actor "I'th'posture of a whore." Determined against this, she prepares to die, once more staging herself in her "best attires" and her crown. A Guardsman enters with news that a peasant has brought Cleopatra a basket of figs. Played by the company Clown, he is shown in. The basket contains snakes and, after a deliberately incongruous bantering (and sexually suggestive) conversation with the Clown, Cleopatra prepares to die by their bite. As she kisses Iras and Charmian goodbye, Iras falls and dies, and, paralleling Antony's reponse to Eros's death, Cleopatra comments that she has been pre-empted by her follower. She applies an asp to her breast and another to her arm, and with her final thoughts of Antony, dies. The Guards rush in, but only in time to see Charmian die.

  Lines 377-428: Caesar follows Dolabella into the monument where they discover the bodies. Caesar gives the orders for Antony and Cleopatra to be buried together.

  ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA

  IN PERFORMANCE:

  THE RSC AND BEYOND

  The best way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or ideally to participate in it. By examining a range of productions, we may gain a sense of the extraordinary variety of approaches and interpretations that are possible--a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made "our contemporary" four centuries after his death.

  We begin with a brief overview of the play's theatrical and cinematic life, offering historical perspectives on how it has been performed. We then analyze in more detail a series of productions staged over the last half-century by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The sense of dialogue between productions that can only occur when a company is dedicated to the revival and investigation of the Shakespeare canon over a long period, together with the uniquely comprehensive archival resource of promptbooks, program notes, reviews, and interviews held on behalf of the RSC at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, allows an "RSC stage history" to become a crucible in which the chemistry of the play can be explored.

  Finally, we go to the horse's mouth. Modern theater is dominated by the figure of the director, who must hold together the whole play, whereas the actor must concentrate on his or her part. The director's viewpoint is therefore especially valuable. Shakespeare's plasticity is wonderfully revealed when we hear directors of highly successful productions answering the same questions in very different ways.

  FOUR CENTURIES OF ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA: AN OVERVIEW

  Although there is no record of any production of Antony and Cleopatra before the Restoration, scholars believe it was written and first performed in 1606. Versions of two earlier plays revised in 1607, Samuel Daniel's Cleopatra and Barnabe Barnes's Devil's Charter, both contain probable allusions to Shakespeare's play. The Lord Chamberlain's records of 1669 report it was "formerly acted at the Blackfriars," the indoor venue of Shakespeare's company, the King's Men, from 1609 to the closure of the theaters in 1642. It was most likely staged at the Globe Theatre also, and it is assumed that Richard Burbage, the company's leading tragedian, would have played Antony. Speculation as to the identity of the talented, charismatic boy player entrusted with the part of Cleopatra has been great, particularly in view of her anxiety expressed at the idea of seeing "Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness." It has been suggested that Enobarbus may have originally been played in a red wig (his name means "red-beard"), aligning him emblematically with the character of Judas Iscariot in the medieval morality plays, who was traditionally bewigged in red.1

  When the theaters reopened after the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Antony and Cleopatra was assigned to Thomas Killigrew's company, the King's Servants, but never performed. Restoration audiences preferred John Dryden's neoclassical adaptation, All for Love, or The World Well Lost (1677), which takes place in a single day after the Battle of Actium. David Garrick was the first to stage Shakespeare's play again, in a text prepared with the scholar Edward Capell, but it proved one of his less successful ventures, despite Garrick's considerable expenditure on scenery and costumes. Thomas Davies, who played Eros, wrote an assessment of the production in which he argued that Garrick's slight physique was inadequate for Antony:

  His person was not sufficiently important and commanding to represent the part. There is more dignity of action than variety of passion in the character, though it is not deficient in the latter. The actor, who is obliged continually to traverse the stage, should from person attract respect, as well as from the power of speech.2

  Spectacle dominated nineteenth-century revivals such as John Philip Kemble's 1808 production at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, and William Charles Macready's at Drury Lane in 1833. The Gentleman's Magazine complained that Kemble had "merely dovetailed Shakspere [sic] and Dryden; vamped speeches from one with speeches from the other; welted scenes together and in fact 'cobbled' the affair...It did not succeed, as Shakspere's play has since done, when acted with more regard for the author."3 Shakespeare's play was still seen as problematic, though, not least for the role of Cleopatra. Kemble is said to have tried to persuade his sister, Sarah Siddons, the greatest actress of the era, to play the part, but she refused on the grounds that "she should hate herself if she were to act Cleopatra as she knew it ought to be acted."4 The role continued to pose a problem for actresses. Ellen Tree, for example, who played the part in the first American production in New Orleans in 1838, was described as "impeccably pure and decorous in the proper Victorian manner":5 decorum is hardly the characteristic Shakespeare was looking for in the part. The first New York production at the Park Theater in 1846 "only ran for six performances despite expensive scenery and costumes and competent acting."6

  Samuel Phelps staged the first successful production of Shakespeare's play at Sadler's Wells in London in 1849. It was praised for its realistic sets:

  To produce a visible
picture consistent with the poetical one drawn by the dramatist has been the great object of Mr Phelps. His Egyptian views, decorated with all those formal phantasies with which we have been familiarized through modern research, give a strange reality to the scenes in which Cleopatra exercises her fascinations or endures her woes.7

  But it was the performance of Isabella Glyn that made the show:

  The very superior acting of Miss Glyn, as Cleopatra, is of itself enough to create an interest for this revival...The wiles and coquetries which the Egyptian Queen employs to hold more firmly the heart of her lover are represented not only with quick intelligence, but with every appearance of spontaneity.8

  Phelps's Antony was "less delicately shaded" and also "less effective" but played with "great spirit, and is most successful in giving the notion of the half-conscious recklessness with which the infatuated man rushes to his destruction."9

  In the second half of the nineteenth century, the play had some international exposure. Edward Eddy's 1859 production at the Bowery Theater, New York, with himself as Antony and Elizabeth Ponisi as Cleopatra, was an amalgam of Shakespeare's and Dryden's texts. The last production at this old theater on Broadway, it ran for three weeks. Charles Calvert's 1866 production at the Prince's Theatre, Manchester, went on tour and took the play to Australia (Theatre Royal, Melbourne) for the first time.