A critical commentary on all the poetic descriptions of Cleopatra
by Enobarbus - Act 2 Scene 2 Line 183 – end
Shakespeare created Enobarbus in order to project our own judgmental dilemma onto a character whose very life depends on a comparable choice. Enobarbus’s speech being analysed shows how he responds, like Antony and his great predecessors, to Cleopatra’s power to provoke desire and compel the imagination.
Enobarbus is also often a chorus to the action, from time to time he voices that common-sense wisdom which is usually forgotten. His descriptions of Cleopatra’s magic fascination; both appreciative and critical, which is why the reader believes and trusts what he says. As a result of this, with his commentary on Cleopatra he is able to lead the audience into believing the two are inseparable without the reader presuming exaggeration.
Firstly, in these speeches Cleopatra is described as irresistible and beautiful beyond belief, a view that is necessary for us to believe in order to buy the fact that a man with so much to lose would be willing to risk it all in order to win her love. Consequently Enobarbus is of great importance as Shakespeare fashioned the character as a means of relaying information to the audience that would otherwise be difficult or awkward to bring forth from other characters – Cleopatra’s beauty.
The picture of Cleopatra that emerges is not unlike the Roman view expressed by Pompey before the meeting, however, it is presented sympathetically and the fact that it comes from Enobarbus, who usually speaks plainly and in prose rather than verse, adds to its power and effect, ‘The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne Burned on the water’. The use of this paradoxical metaphor employing the opposing elements of fire and water fuels the visual impact of this dramatic account. ‘O’erpicturing that Venus where we see The fancy outwork nature’, here it is suggested that Cleopatra’s beauty is pictured as almost super-natural and that nature has been perfected and even superseded. Her beauty transcends even the classic artistic representation of Venus. The use of similes heightens and empowers the imagery; Cleopatra is likened to the goddess of love; the pretty, dimpled boys are like cupid; and her gentlewomen are like Nereides, sea nymphs and daughters of the sea god Nereus; and this emphasises her beauty, power and control she can hold over a man. Enobarbus describes the boys as subordinate to Cleopatra; adoringly and watching her every move, bowing respectfully as they attend to her desires, ‘with divers-coloured fans’. Her unquestioned status is clarified by this focus and the audience are aware she can capture anything or anyone under her spell. Therefore, it is no surprise Antony became besotted so easily, left ‘Whistling to th’air’ due to Cleopatra’s magnetic presence. Completely juxtaposed to her magnificent arrival, Shakespeare crashes us back to an earthly reality by referring to their supper as ‘ordinary’, which highlights Cleopatra’s magnificence. The real feast for the evening is for Antony's eyes and the reader knows he has completely surrendered his power he had and is under her enchantment. Language is used very effectively in Enobarbus’s speeches as already illustrated. The sentences in this passage start simply and there is an insistent use of sentences beginning with noun subjects, ‘hop forty places’. Normally such repetition of the same pattern is avoided, but here a rather magnificent monotony is created with it. As the passage goes on, the placement of noun subjects remains essentially the same, giving the effect of rather direct affirmations, which need no logical or temporal connections. This portrays Cleopatra as slightly unnatural, almost opulent and too much would become decadence, yet still however affirms Antony’s desire for her. Enobarbus also introduces numerous ‘wh’ words which elaborate the picture in the manor of adjectives as they separate the words associated with Cleopatra, ‘invisible perfume’, ‘enthroned’ etc, giving each one more emphasis and prominence. The passage is one of such substance because Enobarbus usually sees events prosaically and rationally, yet when he tries to describe the image of Cleopatra he becomes a poet which shows her aura is one that cannot be uncommented on. He uses hyperboles, similes, and paradoxes. Enobarbus’s language he uses to describe Cleopatra is obviously in a Roman style, realistic where the nouns march rhythmically, yet on the other hand, he also elaborates simplicity by the adjectives etc associated with the Egyptian style and his language portrays a golden world in which imagination outdoes nature. It is as though Enobarbus himself is transfigured, even feminized and emasculated, by remembering the sight of Cleopatra in her barge.
