The central concerns of the Antony and Cleopatra as illustrated by Act 1, Scene 3, lines 24 - 41.

From the opening scene of the play, we see public displays of the love that Antony and Cleopatra have for each other. Antony even comments that:

Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch

Of the ranged empire fall! Here is my space.         (1.1. 35-36)

These words show that Antony’s political power often takes second place to his love for Cleopatra (Bookrags, 2003). This also demonstrates how passionate and sensual Antony is when he is in Egypt – living for the here and now. Cleopatra’s use of the words “riotous madness” (1.3.29) illustrates a crucial feature of their relationship – one that is without restraint, extremely passionate and keeps them from knowing their true and better selves (Guidelines, 1999: 32).

One of the most central concerns of the play is illustrated above by the relationship between Cleopatra and Antony; namely can the private be separated from the public and political domain? The political versus private cannot be that clear cut however as these two domains interlink: The public affection that Antony and Cleopatra display shows the world how they feel about each other and part of their attraction to each other is that they both want power. “They value their positions as world figures, and their affection is grounded in this appreciation” (Hudson Shakespeare Company, 1998b: no page number). Antony even promises to “piece her opulent throne with kingdoms” (1.5.48), and she sees him as “Emperor Antony” (5.2.75) (Hudson Shakespeare Company, 1998b).

It is within these two domains that Antony continuously experiences conflict. This conflict between his public duty towards Rome and his personal desire and love for the Egyptian queen are seen throughout the play. The audience is made aware of this conflict at the beginning of the play by Philo who refers to Antony as the “Triple pillar of the world transformed / Into a strumpet’s fool” (1.1.12 – 13). We thus see that Antony can be a great military leader and he has gained a lot of respect from the Roman people, including Octavius, Enobarbus and all the other soldiers that follow him. Antony’s great and masculine qualities, like honour, are however becoming tainted because of his passionate relationship with Cleopatra (Branco, 2003). He is becoming a fool and this is witnessed throughout the play when Antony is with Cleopatra. At a time when Antony should be fighting alongside his followers, he has been indulging in the pleasures of Egypt, putting passion ahead of his reason.

Hence, we can see that reason versus passion is another central concern of the play. This conflict is observed most in Antony: He continuously shifts between the two worlds of Rome and Egypt, struggling between his feelings of honour, reason and duty and his feelings of love and passion. It is when these two worlds combine that the conflict peaks beyond what he can handle (Johnston, 1999).

Thus, when Rome invades Egypt, Antony has to act like a Roman soldier in Egypt. Although he tries to do this, he cannot balance the two feelings of reason versus passion (Johnston, 1999). His passion (his heart) gets in the way of his reasoning (his head). This was observed at the battle of Actium. Despite his past successes on land, the objections of his captains and the plea of a soldier, he fights by sea as Cleopatra requested (Vignier, 2004). When Cleopatra retreated, so did he – “he flies after her” “like a doting mallard” (3.10. 19 - 20). Scarus comments that he "never saw an action of such shame; / Experience, manhood, honor, ne'er before / Did violate so itself" (3.10.20-22). It is thus Antony’s passion that is initially his downfall: By following passion instead of his reason, logic and responsibility (as Octavius Caesar always does), he loses much of his Empire to Octavius and many of his followers. Octavius (the shrewd, calculating and reasonable man) is contrasted against Antony as he does not let his interests and desires come before his obligation and duty to Rome (Branco, 2003).

We see that since Actium, Antony has been struggling to retain some sense of his honour and himself. He is psychologically defeated and seems to have lost all his reason, as is evident when he has Thidias whipped in Act 3.12. It is at this point that Enobarbus deserts Antony - "When valor preys on reason, / It eats the sword it fights with" (3.13.199-200). Enobarbus cannot serve a master who no longer acts rationally and who wants to still challenge Octavius in combat. Octavius has won the war and Enobarbus sees how Antony has lost his reason. Antony’s need to fight Octavius is however a desperate attempt to try and gain some of his honour back. When Antony realises that his troops are surrendering to Octavius, he blames Cleopatra for his defeat. “All is lost!

This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me” (4.12. 9 – 10).

Cleopatra, fearing Antony’s anger towards her, sends word that she has killed herself and he decides that suicide is the only choice for him. His love for her must win in the end. He asks his soldiers to kill him – “Let him that loves me strike me dead" (4.14.111). He wants to reclaim his honour by dying a Roman death (honour and reason) while simultaneously dying for Cleopatra (passion). When he finds out that she is not dead, he is carried to her and dies in her arms. In death, Antony returns to being a true, noble Roman - “a Roman by a Roman / Valiantly vanquished” (4.15.59-60). His passion (which caused his downfall) is thus also his greatest strength. He has managed to combine reason and passion through his death.

Once Antony dies, Cleopatra becomes the main focus of the play. Her last act – one that would seem very private – is in fact public. She kills herself to not only unite herself with Antony but to prevent Egypt from seeing her taken prisoner and being paraded (Hudson Shakespeare Company, 1998a). Cleopatra is thus able to put personal emotion aside to duty. Her suicide shows Octavius that the spirit of the East (of Egypt) and its passions cannot be defeated. “Though she is queen of Egypt, she dies the 'Roman death, and for the sake of her public honour” (Williams in Rabinowitz, Weinberg & Williams, 2005). Thus, both Antony and Cleopatra die honourable public deaths and their memory lives on.

This essay looked at the main concerns in the play – namely reason versus passion and the private versus the public. It is evident that Antony and Cleopatra, though a tragic love story, concerns itself with the power struggle that people face as they try and balance their public and private lives. The deaths of Cleopatra and Antony show that the private and public cannot really be separated. Their private emotions had an influence on the public world (e.g. the public displays of their relationship throughout the play) and their actions not only affected themselves but also affected the nations they came from (e.g. Antony’s actions in Actium and his treatment of Octavia) (Branco, 2003). In the end, Antony became a man ruled by both passion and reason – a Roman soldier and a passionate Egyptian lover. Thus showing that the two worlds are not as separate as we may think they are.  

Reference List

1. Bookrags, 2003. “The Diminishing of Antony." BookRags Essay Workshop. Received from the World Wide Web on 25th June 2005. Web address: 
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8. Williams, M. 2005. “Anthony and Cleopatra” In Rabinowitz, I, Weinberg, A & Williams, M. Society: A Literary Perspective (study guide). Pretoria: University of South Africa.