“Let his shames quickly
Drive him to Rome.”
( Ι. iv.73-74)
Rome is portrayed contrastingly as more organised and work-orientated,
Messenger
“Thy biddings have been done; and every hour,
Most noble Caesar, shalt thou have report
How ‘tis abroad.”
( Ι. iv.35-37)
Caesar is very politically aware, saying that he believes that the public will be convinced by anything. He uses the simile that the people are a reed floating on the public tide:
“This common body,
Like to a vagabond upon the stream,”
(Ι. iv. 44-45)
Caesar believes that Antony neglects his political responsibilities and he has a great dislike for his ‘show’ side. Here Caesar’s personal opinion of Antony affects the political aspect that and it can be said that this is the reason he wages war. However, Caesar’s opinions more affect the results of their misunderstanding.
Pompey is very bitter towards the second triumvirate. He wanted to rebel against them to get revenge for his father, Pompey the Great who had a disagreement with Julius Caesar during the time of the first triumvirate and was later killed at the battle of Pharsalus. The second triumvirate, consisting of Marcus Lepidus, Octavius Caesar and Marc Antony begin to get worried when they hear of Pompey’s plans for war. Along with the news of the death of Fulvia, this is the reason why Antony returns to Rome. Yet Pompey only appears to be almost as strong as Caesar in a way that is built up by propaganda. He would not be able to defeat Caesar at battle,
“…;for Pompey’s name strikes more
Than could his war resisted.”
(Ι. iv. 55-56)
The fact that these political problems of war arise is a result of personal grudges and causes trouble, leading to no success as Pompey is defeated by the triumvirs.
In the Roman world, women are generally viewed as the ones to take advantage of and exploit. This is shown by the marriage between Octavia and Antony, where she is so greatly used. The exception to these women is Cleopatra. She shows her powers of manipulation and the control she has over Antony, although in my opinion she does not only want to have power over him, she genuinely does love him. This is shown by the time when they appear together publicly at the Donation Ceremony in Rome. This has the possibility of looking like a political move, on the surface, but it is also likely that Antony and Cleopatra are using this occasion as a way to display their love for each other.
Antony perhaps realises his stupidity and the way that he made the wrong decision by following Cleopatra’s ship in her flee during the battle. His decision, which was one that affected the political side of things, was based on his personal feelings for Cleopatra. Shakespeare uses effective imagery when Antony says to Cleopatra,
“My heart was to thy rudder tied to the strings,
And thou shouldst tow me after.”
Antony is aware of this fact and here, the mixture between the political and personal has only caused problems. Antony is embarrassed about this,
“Hark, the land bids me tread no more upon’t,
It is ashamed to bear me. Friends, come hither.
I am so lated in the world that I
Have lost my way forever.”
(ΙΙΙ. xi. 1-4)
Antony’s decline is shown by this speech. He feels that he has not met his own standards and is ashamed of that. He doesn’t feel that he can ever regain the belief in himself. Cleopatra is traditionally seen in a ‘romantic’ interpretation, by Plutarch for example, to be the cause of Antony’s decline. Her actions have an obvious effect on Antony, but the way in which Antony reacts to them is where he meets his downfall. The awareness of his own decline makes it all the more likely that he will not redeem himself from this outlook. In the speech in Act 3, Scene 11 Antony appears to be incredibly vulnerable and in complete emotional disarray when he says, “..for indeed I have lost command.”
He speaks in a hyperbolic way, saying that the world is ashamed to have him in it and that he is not worthy of life because he has been defeated by his own wrong decisions. He tells his friends to take all his possessions and divide them between themselves, which bears reference to a Will and the fact that Antony may be considering suicide. Antony shows further signs of decline when he says in the speech,
“My very hairs do mutiny, for the white
Reprove the brown for rashness, and they them
For fear and doting.”
The mature part of Antony, with the white hairs is disapproving of the younger part, with brown hairs and he tells it off in a way, for being rash and playing such a large part in his failure.
The notion of honour is repeatedly linked to death throughout the play:
Antony
“Or I will live
Or bathe my dying honour in the blood
Shall make it live again.”
(ΙV. ii. 5-7)
Here, Antony speaks of fighting Caesar and shows that if he is to die, he will be viewed in an honourable manner. Death is obviously a personal matter, which many people fear and which brings out many emotions; while committing suicide could be seen as a political statement, as a means for changing the way the public view you.. Antony and Cleopatra both commit suicide for different reasons yet it is apparent that they both believe that in doing so they will restore their honour. When Antony asks Eros to kill him he gives one of the reasons as he is “no more a soldier.” Antony believes he will gain nobility in the traditional Roman way, whereas Cleopatra believes that for a more personal reason she will be more honest with herself and fulfil the way she wants to be perceived. In the play, honour appears to be a way of the characters portraying themselves in the way they desire to be perceived.
However it could be said that Antony is trying to restore his personal heroic power, as Jonathan Dollimore believes, when arguing that these Roman plays explore a ‘strategy of power’. According to this belief, reputation is what makes a man all he is.
From his reaction to the deaths of Antony and Cleopatra, Caesar appears in a more human light. The political result of the death of Antony affects Caesar’s personal opinion of him and perhaps even of himself. The way his feelings are so mixed about Antony convinces us that he is not as obsessed with victory and power when it comes down to it, as he portrays. He had appeared, throughout most of the play that he would like nothing more than to destroy Antony, yet when he achieves this he is not smug or happy with the result. The way in which he commands that Antony and Cleopatra are put to rest beside one another, shows that he is trying to be fair and that he is perhaps feeling guilty about Antony’s death. Caesar himself is quite aware of this variation in his own character. The self- realisation here is brought on by the fact that Caesar is shocked at the way that he reacts when finally achieving what he had wanted all along. He speaks with such maturity and genuine fairness that it is easy to see why he is such a strong and respected leader by many.
“…A pair so famous. High events as these
Strike those that make them; and their story is
No less in pity than his glory which
Brought them to be lamented.”
(V. ii. (354-357)
WORDS: 1493
Bibliography
Bevington, David (ed.), Antony and Cleopatra (Cambridge University Press, 1990)
York Notes, Antony and Cleopatra
www.sparknotes.com
