These guards referred to in the first act, show their fear for their lord’s status, as Cleopatra’s dominance over him shows “the triple pillar of the world transformed into a strumpet’s fool”. The mention of the word “strumpet” instantly shows us how these followers of Antony hate Cleopatra for what she is doing to this great man. I agree with this, and seeing Antony throwing all his power, all his glory, his status, away for one woman who he has fallen helplessly in love with, makes me feel pity for him, sympathy. He has been bewitched by this “Enchanting queen” and would rather “Let Rome in Tiber melt” to simply stay with her. He is not the first man to have come under this ’spell’ as we find out from Charmian that not long ago Cleopatra was in a relationship with Caesar and Charmian mocks Cleopatra for her ever changing love of men. Cleopatra, as ever is quick witted, and covers her tracks by saying that she was young, inexperienced and naïve then, and she moves the subject on by saying that she will write so many letters and messages to Antony that she’ll “unpeople Egypt”. Her dominance is shown here not to be only Antony but over everybody she has contact with.
This is further emphasized by a number of scenes. Firstly in Act two: scene five, a messenger enters, and tries to tell Cleopatra his news. His efforts are cut off by Cleopatra’s continued interruptions and threats. She says that if he tells her antonym is dead, shell die, but if he says Antony is alive and well, then shell reward him. When speaking to her, people must be careful what they say because of her shrewdness and power, which makes her dangerous. When the messenger finally manages to deliver his news, her anger rises, and she begins to blame and beat the messenger. He is insignificant to her and so she thinks nothing of taking her anger out on him. Another example of Cleopatra’s control over people in her presence is in the form of Dolabella, a follower of Caesar who betrays his leader to tell Cleopatra of his lord’s plans. He says that he his Cleopatra’s “servant” and that by his love for her he has fulfilled his promise to confirm her thoughts of what Caesar may have in store for her in Rome. This shows how she uses her manipulative powers to her advantage, and helps me to decide that I don’t lose any respect for Antony, as he is not the only person under Cleopatra’s control. It helps me to sympathise more with Antony as he gives everything away including his life to try to be with Cleopatra, when she doesn’t seem to show true feelings for him, as he does for her. It seems that his one flaw in life was to fall for this woman, like so many others had before him.
I sympathise with Antony also because throughout the play, he tries to do that right thing, he tries to keep everyone happy, and this is the internal dilemma that he faces. Lepidus, a so called equal of Antony stands up for him, when Caesar is mocking Antony and his recent actions. “I must not think there are evils enow to darken all his goodness”. This shows how among his equals and followers he holds a great deal of respect that commands a great deal of loyalty such as Enobarbus, who dies because of his heart break at deserting Antony. Many see Antony as a perfect ‘goodly’ figure, whom they look up to, as said earlier in a act of hero worship. His public image and sense of duty draws him towards Rome, and to add to his respect, he goes out of his way to try to keep the peace with Caesar by marrying his sister. His private and personal life however draws him towards Egypt, “I’the East my pleasure lies”. The east is where the sun rises and so it may be symbolic of this is now where the source of the light in his life comes from not only physically but also metaphorically speaking as Cleopatra is ‘the light of his life’.
Cleopatras dominance doesn’t help me to lose respect or sympathy for Antony, but helps to add to these. Cleopatra is his downfall, and she has been the downfall of others before him. It is tragic that a lazy gaze that set his eyes upon her to begin with, was the beginning of the fall of this great figure that so many admired and who could have gone on to be the great ruler of Rome, rather than letting the rather more ‘back-stabbing’ Caesar do so.
