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Character
Directory
MARK ANTONY |
Mark Antony(Marcus
Antonius) (c. 82-30 B.C.) is an historical figure, and character in
Julius Caesar and title character in Antony and Cleopatra. In
the former play Antony leads the forces opposing the assassins of Julius
Caesar, led by Marcus Brutus. In the latter, his love for Cleopatra leads
to his downfall and the triumph of Octavius Caesar.
In Julius Caesar,
Antony is a courageous but crafty schemer whose political skill brings
about a civil war. He helps demonstrate the social harm done by the
powerful when they pursue their political ends. On the other hand, Antony,
a strong personality, is an emotionally honest man and a much more
sympathetic character than the virtuous, but cold and domineering, Brutes.
Thus, Antony is both a positive and a negative figure who contributes
greatly to the moral uncertainty that is at the heart of the play.
Part of Antony's
power in Julius Caesar comes from Shakespeare's careful
presentation of him. In the first two Acts he is an unimportant figure who
speaks only 33 words, but other characters refer to him numerous times and
acknowledge his potential greatness. Most significantly, Cassius desires
that Antony be killed along with Caesar (2.1.155-161). He calls him a
'shrewd contriver' and accurately predicts that if he lives he will be a
difficult opponent.
These references
prepare us for Antony's sudden dominance of the play in Act 3. Even before
he appears, the message he sends to Caesar's assassins (3.1. 126-137)
establishes his strong personal style; a confident and powerful tone, both
rhetorical and emotional. He soon arrives in person, and his initial
response to the sight of Caesar's corpse is direct, uncalculated,
heartfelt grief. Even in the presence of the murderers he does not hide
his initial outburst. But he quickly turns to the future and takes control
when he arranges to speak at Caesar's funeral.
His boldness and
fervor are both powerful and charming, but Antony disqualifies himself for
our moral sympathy with the long soliloquy (3.1.254-275) in which he
proposes to provoke a ghastly civil war—he describes the bloody slaughter
of innocent people in detail—in order to avenge Caesar's death. Antony's
fine human qualities—his courage and intelligence—bring about tragic
consequences.
Our ambivalence about
Antony is furthered by his magnificent funeral oration (3.2.75-254), one
of Shakespeare's most renowned passages. The speech's virtues—its bold
rhetoric, its manipulative presentation of evidence, its appeal to
pathos—seem to be clever but cheap effects intended to exploit the
passions of the unthinking multitude. Certainly the speech has this
effect, as Antony knew it would. But one realises that Antony does not
seek to advance himself personally, and that he does not resort to slander
against Brutus, or downright dishonesty. Antony is genuinely grieved by
Caesar's death, and his expression of it, while extremely inflammatory, is
not false. He actually feels the way he brings his audience to feel. And
we, too, are moved to share his emotion, even as we are aware of Brutus'
virtues in contrast with the mayhem Antony intends.
In 4.1, in an episode
invented by Shakespeare to intensify our response to Antony, he bargains
away the life of his nephew Publius. In contrast with Brutus' refusal to
kill Antony, this action seems particularly detestable. Moreover, Antony
also proposes to loot Caesar's bequest to the people, and his attitude to
his ally Lepidus, whom he regards as no more than a tool, reinforces a
sense that he is a cynical politician. As we approach the play's climax at
the battle of Philippi, we are inclined to favor Antony's foes, Brutus and
Cassius.
However, at the close
of the play when Antony delivers his famous eulogy of Brutus (5.5.68-75),
he is very generous, and the balance of our sympathy is somewhat restored.
Antony not only acknowledges Brutus' noble motive in killing Caesar, he
also observes that Brutus was unable to recognize the true nature of his
fellow conspirators. Thus, Antony emphasizes once more the play's chief
theme: that evil can attend good intentions when established rulers are
unseated.
In Antony and
Cleopatra, written about seven years later, Antony again contributes much
to the ambivalence that characterizes the work. He is both a major
political figure and the protagonist of a love story. As a result of his
love, his position in the world undergoes great change. Initially, he
wields immense power, ruling half the known world—a status that
Shakespeare emphasizes with a persistent stream of political affairs.
However, he willfully throws this position away for the sake of his
passion—a passion whose self-indulgence is stressed by repeated
descriptions of the opulent luxury of Cleopatra's court.
As a soldier, Antony
has proven himself a model of Roman military virtues—the Romans are
dissatisfied with his conduct in Egypt precisely because they value his
earlier record as a 'mate in empire, / Friend and companion in the front
of war' (5.1.43-44), whose 'goodly eyes . . . Have glow'd like plated
Mars' (1.1. 2-4). His earlier successes enacted in Julius Caesar are
referred to several times, as in 3.2.54-56. Antony values himself for the
same reasons and regrets his 'blemishes in the world's report' (2.3.5),
but he is trapped in another role by his intense attraction to Cleopatra.
Under her influence he has become a voluptuary; he has abandoned his duty
for the 'love of Love, and her soft hours' (1.1.44) in Alexandria.
As a lover, Antony
offers us a glimpse of the transcendent nature of passion, a theme that
Cleopatra will triumphantly present—in Antony's name—after his death. In
1.1 when Cleopatra, as the wily courtesan, demands that he declare how
much he loves her, Antony states that love cannot be totaled, for lovers
must 'find out new heaven, new earth' (1.1.17). Thus, it is he who
introduces the theme of transcendence through love, and this desire is
emphasized by hints of the book of Revelation that frame his story in the
play. Indeed, 'new heaven, new earth' is very close to the biblical text
(cf. Rev. 21:1)—much more familiar to 17th-century audiences than it is to
today's—and the imagery that marks his death confirms the association:
'The star is fall'n. / And time is at his period' (4.14. 106-107 [cf. Rev.
8:10; 10:6]).
Although Cleopatra
disrupts Antony's loyalty to Rome, he is not totally committed to her
either. Though he only tears himself from her with difficulty, in 1.3,
he\returns to Rome and makes a political marriage to Octavia. Further, his
love for Cleopatra is mingled with distrust—with considerable
justification, for the Egyptian queen only transcends the behavior of a
courtesan after Antony's death—and he dies presuming she will strike a
bargain with his conqueror, Caesar. Moreover, he dies not as a tragically
committed lover, but rather more like a clever Roman politician—albeit a
loving one—when he offers Cleopatra advice on the politics of Caesar's
court. Antony demonstrates that the ideals of love and power are both
insufficient, thus manifesting the duality presented by the play as a
whole.
Shakespeare followed
his source—Plutarch’s Lives— fairly closely in his account of the
historical career of Marcus Antonius, with two exceptions. As already
noted, the playwright invented Antony's callous sacrifice of a nephew, and
in Antony and Cleopatra he placed Antony's involvement with
Cleopatra earlier in the sequence of events; in Plutarch the love affair
did not actually begin until after Antony's marriage to Octavia. Thus
Shakespeare’s Antony seems indecisive about his loyalties, if not actually
disloyal to Cleopatra as well as to Octavia. However the change may simply
have been motivated by dramatic strategy, for it is obviously better to
begin the play with the love affair than to introduce it in the middle,
after the political situation has evolved. However, in Antony and
Cleopatra Shakespeare departed from the general impression of Antony left
by Plutarch For the ancient historian, Antony was simply a moral failure,
a man who threw away his life because he was unable to control his
appetites. Antony's catastrophic moral collapse justified Caesar's war
against him and his defeat was entirely for the good. Shakespeare however,
made certain that we would see that Antony's vices contained germs of
virtue, that his passion was firmly bound to a noble, if ill-defined, idea
of love.
Plutarch depended on
pro-Caesar sources (see, e.g.,Messala) since the victorious Caesar
permitted no others to survive, and thus his account is unfairly biased
against Antony in the opinion of modern scholars The debauchery indulged
in by Marcus Antonius was rather ordinary among the powerful Roman
aristocrats of the time, and we cannot be certain that the political
concessions he made to Cleopatra were in fact made at all, nor that they
were as foolish as they seem in the sources. In any case, modern scholars
generally agree that it was not his affair with Cleopatra that ruined
Antonius, but rather his political and military failings—had he been more
clever and ruthless, he might have enforced the maintenance of the joint
rule that Caesar upset, or he might have triumphed himself, and ruled
Rome. |
OCTAVIUS CAESAR |
Octavius (Gaius
Octavius Caesar; Octavian) (63 B.C.-14 A.D.) is an historical figure and
character in Julius Caesar, and Antony and Cleopatra.
Antony’s ally against Brutus and Cassius. (The same figure appears as
Caesar in .) Octavius is a cool, self-possessed, and efficient leader,
whether hearing out Antony's criticisms of Lepidus in 4.1, claiming
command of the right wing—properly Antony's—before the battle of Philippi
in 5.1, or ordering the honorable burial of Brutus in 5.5. Though his part
is small, it is boldly drawn and clearly anticipates the briskly
calculating victor of the later play.
Shakespeare captures
something of the personality of the historical Octavius but ignores the
events of his life for the most part. In his will, Julius Caesar formally
adopted Caius Octavius—the grandson of his sister—and made him the heir to
his name and three-quarters of his immense fortune. (In legally accepting
this inheritance after Caesar's murder, Octavius changed his name to Caius
Julius Caesar Octavianus, and to English-speaking historians he is
generally known as Octavian from this time until his assumption of the
title Augustus in 27 B.C. However, Shakespeare was probably unaware of
this distinction, and the character is called Octavius throughout Julius
Caesar.) Octavius, who had been a physically frail child, was a
19-year-old student in Athens when Caesar died. When he returned to Italy
to claim his inheritance, he immediately asserted himself politically but
was not taken seriously at first. However, the name of Caesar was a
powerful one, and he was soon at the head of an army of the pro-Caesar
forces assembling to combat the assassins.
Unlike in Julius
Caesar, Octavius was a rival of Antony's from the outset, and their
alliance—joining with Lepidus in the Triumvirate—was sealed only after 18
months of antagonism that approached full scale war. While his political
acumen was considerable, Octavius was still inclined to illness and was
not a competent military man; at Philippi he was notably unsuccessful, and
the defeat of Brutus and Cassius was largely the work of Antony. However,
Octavius was soon to assume the leadership of much of the Roman world—the
situation with which Antony and Cleopatra opens—and his cool
efficiency in the closing lines of Julius Caesar effectively
foreshadows this achievement. |
LEPIDUS |
Marcus Aemilius
Lepidus (d. 13 B.C.) is an historical figure and character in Julius
Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra. Lepidus is a member of the
Triumvirate, the three-man governing committee that consists of Lepidus,
Octavius, and Mark Antony. The Triumvirate rules Rome in the aftermath of
the assassination of Julius Caesar. Octavius imprisons Lepidus and then
fights Antony for sole control of the Empire. In both plays Lepidus is a
markedly weaker figure than his colleagues, and their casual dominance of
him helps establish an impression of Roman power politics that is
important in each work.
A minor character in
Julius Caesar, Lepidus appears only once, in 4.1, when the
Triumvirs decide on a list of political enemies that must be arrested and
executed as part of their campaign against Brutus and Cassius. After a
brief exchange, Antony sends Lepidus on an errand and then belittles him
to Octavius. He calls him 'a slight unmeritable man' (4.1.12) and a
'barren-spirited fellow' (4.1.36), and says he does not deserve a position
as ruler. He compares him to an ass or horse, whose usefulness is limited
and who will be turned out to pasture when he has fulfilled his role.
Lepidus does not reappear in the play, and Antony's opinion of him seems
appropriate. This episode may deepen our impression of Antony as a cynical
political manipulator, or, may justify his boldness in seizing leadership
in a power vacuum. In either view, Lepidus serves as a foil to sharpen our
sense of Antony. In Antony and Cleopatra Lepidus is similarly weak, though
he plays a more prominent role in affairs. He is dominated by Caesar as
the two confer on Antony's absence, in 1.4. In 2.4 he pointlessly urges
reconciliation between Antony and Caesar, who are already intent on it,
and he has little to say once negotiations are underway. He is again a
minor player in the talks with Pompey in 2.6, and at the subsequent
banquet he is the butt of a humiliating joke as he has been pressured into
drinking too much. He makes a fool of himself and finally must be carried
away—in pointed contrast to Caesar, who ends the party with a complaint
about the ill effects of wine. The episode is comical, but even a Servant
recognizes its significance for Lepidus' position in high politics,
saying, 'To be called into a huge sphere, and not to be seen to move in't,
are the holes where eyes should be . . .' (2.7.14-15). Lepidus disappears
from the play at this point, though his fate is later reported: Caesar has
accused him of treason and imprisoned him 'till death enlarge his confine'
(3.5.11-12). Once again, Lepidus provides an example of the necessity for
sharp wits and hard morals in the world of power politics, though here the
contrast reflects more on Caesar than on Antony.
The historical
Lepidus was indeed a lesser figure than his colleagues, though Shakespeare
exaggerated this to emphasize the brutal competition of Roman politics.
Lepidus was from a traditionally powerful Roman family. He supported
Julius Caesar in his rise to power, and in the aftermath of Caesar's
assassination in 44 B.C. he naturally allied himself with Antony. By
chance, he commanded troops in the vicinity of Rome at the time, and he
was able to control the city. It was at this point that he probably held
as much real power as he ever would. In Julius Caesar, events are
telescoped; the Triumvirate only came together after an 18-month period,
during which Lepidus was courted by Antony and Octavius, and by Brutus and
Cassius. Upon the formation of the Triumvirate Lepidus was given control
of Italy and Gaul, but soon Caesar took over these important commands and
Lepidus was shifted to Africa, also important but more remote. From this
base, Lepidus assisted-though only slightly—in the defeat of Pompey's
forces in Sicily by Caesar's general, Agrippa, in 35 B.C., soon after the
events of Act 2 of Antony and Cleopatra. However when Lepidus attempted to
override Agrippa once the victory was assured, Caesar daringly entered
Lepidus' camp, unarmed, and demanded ""surrender to arrest. Lepidus' basic
weakness was disliked by his own troops, and they seized him. He was
forced to publicly plead for mercy, after which he was formally ousted
from the Triumvirate. His treatment was better than is implied in
Shakespeare, however. He was permitted to retain his post as Pontifex
Maximus—the chief clergyman of the state religion—and was mercifully
exiled to a comfortable retreat where he lived out his life. |
POMPEY |
Pompey (Sextus
Pompeius) (d. 35 B.C.) Historical figure and character in Antony and
Cleopatra, a rebel against the co-leaders of Rome, Octavius Caesar,
Lepidus, and Mark Antony. Pompey's threat spurs Antony to action when he
is luxuriating with Cleopatra in Act 1, but the rebel displays his
weakness in Act 2. In 2.6 he negotiates a truce with the Roman leaders,
but the remarks of his follower Menas make clear that he is foolish not to
continue his rebellion while he is in a strong position. In 2.7 he refuses
Menas' suggestion that he murder his opponents during the feast that
celebrates the truce. Pompey is unwilling to seem dishonorable and lets
the opportunity go by. Menas observes that 'Who seeks and will not take,
when once 'tis offer'd, / Shall never find it more' (2.7.82-83), and
decides to abandon his alliance with this weak leader. Pompey is not seen
again in the play, but we hear of his fate. After being defeated by the
forces of Lepidus and Caesar he retreats to Antony's territory where he is
murdered, as is reported in 3.5. Pompey's career offers a case study in
the cold realities of Roman politics and war. He cannot win because he is
not unscrupulous enough and he lacks good sense. No vestiges of the
ancient Roman concept of honor survive, and only a cool and unsentimental
manipulator. It is in this context that we must weigh their conduct of
Antony and the triumph of Caesar.
Antony surveys the
rebel's strength in 1.2 and outlines Pompey's background. He is continuing
a rebellion originated by his father—a famous and popular leader of an
earlier generation—and he therefore commands a dedicated following. This
is an accurate assessment of the historical Pompeius Sextus, whose father,
Pompey the Great (106-48 B.C.), was one of the major figures of early
Roman history. He was the defeated opponent of Julius Caesar, as is
mentioned several times in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. The renown of
Pompey the Great was such that Shakespeare could mention him in three
non-Roman plays (Henry V, 2 Henry VI, Love's Labour's
Lost) and name a comic character after him in Measure for Measure,
which presumes that audiences would still know of him after 1,700 years.
Pompeius Sextus I fought with his father's forces, and after their
defeat—and Pompey the Great's murder—in 48 B.C., he reorganized the
rebellion around a naval force, which he; centered first in Spain and
later in Sicily. After Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 B.C., Pompey
continued to fight against Caesar's successors, though as part of his
policy he briefly supported Antony against Octavius! Caesar not long
before the period of the play. The peace of Misenum, enacted in 2.6, was
negotiated in 39 B.C. but did not last long. Caesar attacked Pompey the
next year and totally defeated him in 36 B.C. The loser retreated to Asia
Minor and attempted to reestablish himself but was captured and killed by
Antony's lieutenant, probably on Antony's orders,) though Shakespeare
protects his hero's honor by having EROS report his distress at the
execution, in 3.5.18-19. |
ENOBARBUS |
Enobarbus (Cnaeus
Domitius Ahenobarbus) (d. 31B.C.) Historical figure and character in
Antony and Cleopatra, Antony’s chief lieutenant who later deserts him
and joins Octavius Caesar. Antony's closest friend and adviser through
Acts 1-3, Enobarbus abandons his leader when he perceives, in 3.13, that
Antony's involvement with Cleopatra has led to inevitable defeat. However,
when he learns of Antony's sympathetic response to the betrayal, Enobarbus
feels terrible pangs of guilt and declares that he will 'go seek / Some
ditch, wherein to die' (4.6.37-38). In 4.9 a Sentry and his Watchmen
listen as Enobarbus praises Antony and prays for death, then they see him
collapse and die. Enobarbus realises that he was wrong to permit good
sense to overrule loyalty, for by being prudent he has broken his own
heart. The episode foreshadows Cleopatra's final transcendence, and
demonstrates that the power of love can invalidate questions of military
and political success. In fact, Enobarbus' betrayal is loving, for it is
clear that he leaves Antony because he cannot bear to witness his leader's
slide into weak-willed failure. Enobarbus thus offers another complex
angle on the play's themes of love and power.
Enobarbus is a wise
and witty figure before his crisis draws him under. He frequently offers
frank, sardonic comments on the other characters and fills some of the
functions of a Chorus. For instance, his mockery of Lepidus, in 3.2,
satirizes the dishonesty of Roman politics. On the other hand, his
persistent criticism of Antony's love affair helps establish the point of
view of the rigorously disciplined Rome, as opposed to the
pleasure-oriented world of Cleopatra's court. Enobarbus rises to fine
poetry, as in his famous description of the first meeting of Antony and
Cleopatra—'The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne / Burn'd on the
water . ..' (2.2.191 ff.), but he is more often a gruff veteran of the
civil wars who jests about the conflict's ups and downs and feels
comradeship with his onetime and future enemies. His soldier's humor is
well developed and provides a significant portion of the play's comic
spirit, an important element in Shakespeare's dramatic strategy.
The historical
Domitius Ahenobarbus, as he was called, came from an important Roman
political and military family. He fought for Pompey the Great (father of
the character in Antony and Cleopatra) against Julius Caesar and was later
convicted of participating in Caesar's murder in 44 B.C. He commanded a
naval force for Brutus at Phillipp in 42 B.C., though he does not appear
in Julius Caesar. After Philippi, he established himself as a warlord. He
controlled the Adriatic Sea with his fleet and issued coins bearing his
portrait. In 40 B.C. he allied himself with Antony. He opposed Cleopatra's
participation in the war against Caesar, and in 31 B.C. he changed sides,
as in the play, but he did it just before the battle of Actium, rather
than afterwards. Shakespeare knew this from his source, Plutarch, but he
preferred that his character be a basically loyal subordinate who only
leaves when Antony's failings have made defeat inevitable. Ahenobarbus, on
the other hand, deserted when his services must still have seemed valuable
to his new master. However, he immediately became too sick to command
troops, and he died soon after the battle. |
VENTIDIUS |
Ventidius (1),
Publius (c. 90-38 B.C.) is an historical figure and minor character in
Antony and Cleopatra, a Roman general. In 2.3 Ventidius is sent by
Mark Antony to put down a rebellion in Parthia; in 3.1, he has
accomplished his task. He appears with Silius, who encourages him to
pursue the fleeing Parthians and conquer all of Mesopotamia. Ventidius
replies with a lesson in military politics: he will not attempt to do as
well against the Parthians as he might, for if he does too well, he may
seem to show up his superior, Antony, who may seek vengeance and destroy
his career. These remarks stress the cynicism demanded by the Roman world
of politics, a cool and unemotional calculation that Antony rejects in his
infatuation with Cleopatra.
The historical
Ventidius was famous in his own day for his extraordinary rise in society
amid the chronic turbulence of the time. As an infant he had been
enslaved, for his family—from a pre-Roman tribe—had been involved in the
last attempted revolt against Roman dominance in Italy. After serving as a
Roman soldier, he became a contractor of military supplies. Like many
defeated Italians, Ventidius became a backer of Julius Caesar in the Roman
civil wars, and he was granted a senate seat as a reward; after Caesar's
assassination he allied himself with Antony. However, despite his caution
in victory—which Shakespeare took from Plutarch’s Lives—his success
against the Parthians ended his career. He returned to Rome where his
triumph was extravagantly celebrated, but Antony discharged him amid
rumors of bribes taken from a Mesopotamian ruler, and he died shortly
thereafter. |
EROS |
Eros is a servant of
Antony. Eros first appears in 3.5 where he reports to Enobarbus that
Octavius has defeated Pompey and imprisoned Lepidus, news that foreshadows
the conflict with Caesar that will prove fatal to Antony. Eros appears
thereafter several times—in 3.11, 4.4, 4.5, and 4.7—as an obviously
devoted servant; in 4.14 the defeated Antony, believing that Cleopatra has
committed suicide, orders Eros to take his sword and kill him, in
accordance with a promise made when Antony had freed the servant from
slavery, years earlier. However, Eros cannot bring himself to do it and
kills himself instead. Antony, declaring Eros 'Thrice-nobler than myself
(4.14.95), follows his example and stabs himself. This episode, a familiar
dramatic exercise (compare, for example, the death of Marcus Brutus, in
5.5 of Julius Caesar), lends pathos to the noble death of Antony. |
SCARUS |
Scarus is a follower
of Antony. Scarus first appears at the battle of Actium, in 3.10; he
reports on the catastrophic rout of Antony's forces by the navy of
Octavius. Despite the defeat and the desertion of Candius, Scarus remains
faithful to Antony. He fights bravely in his master's brief victory of 4.7
and makes light of his wounds—T had a wound here that was like a T, / But
now 'tis made an H' (4.7.7-8)—and Antony praises him to Cleopatra after
the battle. He accompanies Antony to final defeat in 4.12, before he
disappears from the play. This scarred veteran—his 'honour'd gashes'
(4.8.11) are cited by Antony—illustrates the courageous conduct in
Antony's followers to the last, even after the desertion of Canidius and
Eenobarabus. Antony's ability to hold such an honorable soldier allows us
to see him and his fate as noble.
Scarus' name, which
does not appear in Shakespeare's source, Plutarch’s Lives,
apparently is a pun referring to his scars, unless it was a mis-spelling
of Aemilianus Scaurus (active c. 40-30 B.C.). He was a stepbrother of
Pompey who joined Antony after his kinsman's final defeat in 36
B.C.—referred to in 3.5.4—and remained with him to the end. Scaurus was
pardoned by the triumphant Caesar, and though he never held high office in
the empire that Caesar established, his son did under the second emperor,
Tiberius (ruled 14-37 A.D.). |
DERCETAS |
Decretas (Decretus,
Dercetas, Dercetaeus, Dercetus) (active 30 B.C.) is Historical figure and
minor character in Antony and Cleopatra, a member of Antony’s personal
guard. In 4.14 Antony stabs himself with his sword, and Decretas, seeing
that his master's defeat is now complete, takes Antony's sword to Caesar,
where he hopes to ingratiate himself with the conqueror by being the first
to tell him of his enemy's death. In 5.1.5-26 he makes his presentation to
Caesar and praises Antony eloquently, after which he disappears from the
play. He demonstrates, by his night to Caesar, the collapse of loyalty
around Antony, and then—somewhat incongruously—he bears witness to the
nobility of the hero's end, a major theme of Act 5.
Shakespeare took the
name of this minor figure—unknown in history outside this anecdote—from
his source, Plutarch’s Lives, and it has been variously rendered. In
Plutarch and in Sir Thomas North’s English translation his name is
Dercetaeus. Shakespeare—or someone else associated with early productions
of the play—simplified this spelling, and it appears in the First Folio
(1623) as 'Decretas' (twice, plus several abbreviations beginning 'Dec')
and 'Dercetus' (once). In 1725, Alexander Pope compromised and introduced
a new variant, 'Dercetas', and subsequent editors have chosen from among
these possibilities. |
DEMETRIUS |
Demetrius is a
follower of Antony. In 1.1 Demetrius and his friend Philo discuss Antony's
neglect of his military duties while he dallies with the Queen of Egypt,
Cleopatra. The episode establishes a disapproving Roman view of the love
affair. |
PHILO |
Philo is a follower of Antony. In
1.1 Philo and his friend Demetrius discuss Antony's neglect of his
military duty due to his infatuation with the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra.
Philo's angry complaint opens the play with an emotional flourish. The
episode establishes a disapproving Roman view of the love affair. |
MAECAENAS |
Gaius Maecenas (d. 8
B.C.) is a follower of Octavius. Maecenas is a courtier who serves to
swell the ranks of Caesar's court. He offers some important advice in 4.1
when he encourages Caesar to advance on Antony and finish him off while he
is distracted with rage and humiliation after the battle of Actium. This
remark helps signal Antony's approaching end.
The historical
Maecenas was far more important to Caesar than the play indicates. He was
among the future emperor's earliest allies, and he assisted Caesar's
arrival in Italy to claim the inheritance of the
assassinated Julius
Caesar in 44 B.C^ (Maecenas does not appear in Shakespeare's Julius
Caesar, however) Along with Agrippa, Maecenas was one of the trusted
friends and advisers of Caesar throughout the civil wars and in the early
days of the empire, and he conducted numerous delicate diplomatic
missions. He was: descended from the Etruscans kings, though his family's
fortunes had fallen when his grandfather joined a revolt against Rome.
However Maecenas became one of the highest-ranking and richest men of the
early Roman Empire. As such, he was a great patron of Roman literature
the-role for which he Is now best known. He befriended and supported many
poets and writers, including Virgil. |
AGRIPPA |
Agrippa, M. Vipsanius
(63-12 B.C.) is a follower of Octavius. In 2.2 Agrippa displays
considerable influence when he suggests the marriage between Antony and
Octavia, and in 4.6 and 4.7 he is in command of Caesar's army. For much of
the remainder of the play he serves as an opposite to Antony's Enobarbus,
with whom he exchanges remarks on the principal characters; he displays
the demeanor of a gruff veteran soldier.
Shakespeare's
character does not reflect the importance of the historical Agrippa, who
was probably the most important figure—after Caesar himself—in the defeat
of Antony and the subsequent establishment of the Roman Empire. Along with
Maecenas, he was one of Caesar's few close friends and advisers. His
origins are entirely obscure; even his contemporaries knew nothing of his
family or homeland, although he was believed to have been Caesar's
schoolmate in Athens before accompanying the future emperor on his return
to Italy after the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. (Agrippa does
not appear in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.) He was a prominent general
throughout the civil wars. He put down revolts in Italy and Gaul and
created and commanded the fleets that defeated Pompey in Sicily and Antony
at Actium. After Antony's defeat, Agrippa was Caesar's right-hand man in
governing Rome. In 23 B.C. Caesar nearly died of an illness, and he
apparently intended that Agrippa would succeed him as ruler. In 21 B.C.
Agrippa married Caesar's daughter. He served as a general and
administrator in various parts of the empire until the year of his death. |
DOLABELLA |
Dolabella, Cornelius
is a follower of Octavius. Dolabella appears as a minor member of Caesar's
entourage in 3.12,4.6, and 5.1; in the third of these scenes we see him
sent to Antony with a demand for surrender, before it is known that Antony
is dead. Attention is brought to this errand later in the scene when
Caesar recollects it; thus the focus is drawn to Antony once again. In
5.2, now delegated to guard Cleopatra, Dolabella succumbs to her charms
and reveals to her that Caesar intends to humiliate her in a triumphal
parade in Rome. This furthers her decision to commit suicide.
Little is known of
the historical Dolabella beyond the anecdote of his brief encounter with
Cleopatra, told in Shakespeare's source, Plutarch’s Lives. Modern
scholars believe that Caesar was actually manoeuvring Cleopatra towards
suicide. He wanted her out of the way but found the execution of a woman
an undignified proceeding for a Roman ruler, so Dolabella may not have
been as charitable—or as charmed—as it seems in Plutarch and Shakespeare.
Another Roman writer later reported that Dolabella was an intimate of the
Emperor Augustus, as Octavius Caesar became known. |
PROCULEIUS |
Proculeius, Caius is
a follower of Octavius. When he advises Cleopatra to surrender to Caesar,
Antony tells her, 'None about Caesar trust but Proculeius' (4.15.48). In
5.1 Caesar sends Proculeius to the Egyptian queen with instructions to
promise her anything. Caesar wishes to prevent her from committing suicide
so that he can triumphantly display her in Rome. In 5.2 Proculeius
prevents Cleopatra from stabbing herself. He counsels her to be temperate,
and tells her she will receive good treatment from Caesar. Because he has
been recommended for his trustworthiness, his lies stress the isolation of
Cleopatra in defeat, which helps motivate her suicide.
The historical
Proculeius, a military commander, had a reputation as a forthright and
honest man. This doubtless accounts for Antony's mistaken assumption
(Shakespeare took the entire incident from Plutarch’s Lives), but
his loyalty was entirely with Caesar. He was a close personal friend of
his leader, and he remained so for many years, though he never
attained—or, apparently, aspired to—high office in the empire that Caesar
was to found. |
THIDIAS |
Thidias Character is
a diplomat who represents Octavius. In 3.12 Caesar sends Thidias to
Cleopatra—in the wake of her and Antony’s defeat at the battle of
Actium—to promise her whatever she wishes if she will abandon Antony. In
3.13 Thidias receives from Cleopatra a lavish declaration of allegiance to
Caesar, but as he kisses her hand as a formal token of this new diplomatic
relationship, Antony appears. 'I am Antony yet' (3.13.93), he says
furiously, and he has Thidias taken away to be whipped. A Servant returns
to report that Thidias begged for mercy during this punishment. Antony
sends him back to Caesar with an angry message of defiance, and tells him
that if he wants revenge he should whip one Hipparchus, a freed slave of
Antony's now in Caesar's service. The episode demonstrates Antony's
continuing vitality, but also the disturbed state of his mind.
In Shakespeare's
source, Thomas North’s translation of Plutarch’s Lives, Caesar's
representative is named Thyreus, and many editions of the play use this
name. Presumably, Shakespeare simply misremembered the name of this minor
character. (In fact. North himself was mistaken, for the ambassador in
Plutarch is named Thyrsus, a figure otherwise unknown in history.) |
GALLUS |
Gallus, Caius
Cornelius (c. 69-27 B.C.) is a follower of Octavius. In 5.1 Gallus
wordlessly follows Caesar's order to accompany Proculeius on his mission
to offer mercy to Cleopatra, and in 5.2 he arrives at the quarters ot the
Egyptian queen with a squad of soldiers Gallus leaves immediately, but his
appearance-and his remark, -You see how easily she may be suroris'd' (5 2
35)-makes clear that Cleopatra is now entS-e ytn Caesar's control. She
responds by attempting [o stab herself, but she is prevented by Procueius
Gallus reappears as part of Caesar's entourage later in the scene, but he
does not speak again.
The historical Gallus
was an important Roman poet, regarded as the principal inventor of the
Roman love Segy but only a fragment of a single line of his work Survives.
He abandoned art for war after an unsuccessful love affair and became a
leading member of Caesar's military establishment; historians give him
much of the credit for Antony's final defeat. After the war he became the
first Roman governor of Egypt. He put down several rebellions and traveled
up the Nile into what is now Sudan where he established relation between
Rome and Ethiopia. However, he was a notably poor administrator, and a
scandal, the details of which are lost, resulted in his dismissal. He was
convicted of reason and punished with exile from Rome, to which he
responded by killing himself. |
MENAS |
Menas (active, c.
40-c. 35 B.C.) is a pirate who fights for Pompey. Menas and Menecrates are
called famed buccaneers who make 'hot inroads' (1.4.50) on the coast of
Italy in support of Pompey's rebellion. In 2.1 Menas confers with Pompey
and predicts accurately the future disputes of Antony and Octavius Caesar.
In 2.6 he is among his leader's advisers at the signing of the Treaty of
Misenum, though he privately disapproves of it and says, 'Pompey doth this
day laugh away his fortune' (2.6.103). In 2.7, during the banquet aboard
Pompey's ship, Menas proves himself a true pirate and advises Pompey to
cut the throats of the Roman leadership—Caesar, Antony, and Lepidus—and
seize the state. When Pompey refuses, Menas decides to abandon him as
doomed, for 'Who seeks and will not take, when once 'tis offer'd, / Shall
never find it more' (2.7.82-83). This shrewdly cynical sailor reveals the
mistrust and disloyalty that informs the politics of the play.
The historical Menas
is well represented in the play, for he was indeed a notably cynical
turncoat. He deserted Pompey at Misenum in 39 B.C. and joined Caesar.
Discontented with his rewards, he deserted again and returned to Pompey in
time to participate in his defense of Sicily in 36 B.C. Again, however, he
disapproved of what he saw as Pompey's lethargy and indecision—an opinion
shared by military historians—and he changed sides for a third time and
rejoined Caesar. Little more is known of him. |
MENECRATES |
Menecrates (active c.
40 B.C.) is a pirate who fights for Pompey. Mentioned with Menas as one
of two 'famous pirates' (1.4.48) who support Pompey's rebellion against
Rome with 'hot inroads' (1.4.50) on the coast of Italy, Menecrates turns
out to be a-mild buccaneer when he appears, in 2.1. He philosophically
recommends that Pompey have patience with the slow pace of his success. He
then disappears from the play. He is mentioned with the more important
Menas as a 'notable pirate' in Shakespeare's source, Plutarch’s Lives.
In the FIRST FOLIO
text of the play, all the speeches in 2.1 except Pompey's are designated 'Mene'
and seem to belong to Menecrates, though Menas is spelled Menes once
elsewhere in the Folio. However, since one of these five
speeches—2.1.38-41—clearly belongs to Menas, editors have restored that
speech to him and often give him more. In fact, beginning with the 1765
edition of Samuel Johnson, some editors give all these lines to Menas,
leaving Menecrates mute. |
VARRIUS |
Varrius is a follower of Pompey. In 2.1
Varrius brings the disquieting news to Pompey, Menas, and Menecrates that
Antony has left Egypt to rejoin the coalition against Pompey. Varrius'
function is to introduce a development of the plot. |
TAURUS |
Taurus, Titus
Statilius (active 36-16 B.C.) is a general under Octavius. Taurus appears
briefly at the battle of Actium, and receives, in 3.8, Caesar's order to
maintain his army ashore, without fighting, while the naval battle is
fought. He marches; wordlessly through 3.10 and avoids contact with
Antony’s forces under Canidius, which stresses the in-conclusive nature of
the land fighting. He is a pawn of 'Caesar's stategy and speaks only two
words.
The historical Taurus
was a highly successful general, second only to Agrippa among Caesar's
military. His background is unknown, though his name suggests descent from
the pre-Roman Lucanians of southern Italy. He is first recorded as an
admiral who commanded a unit in the defeat of Sextus Pompeius— the Pompey
of the play. He went on to lead numerous other campaigns and governed
conquered territories in North Africa and Spain. |
CANIDIUS |
Canidius (Camidius)
is a general in Antony’s army. Canidius appears only briefly, in 3.7 where
he objects to Antony's decision to fight Caesar at sea, and in 3.10 where
he declares that he will surrender his troops to Caesar after Antony has
lost the battle of Actium. Antony's power and authority waned due to the
influence of Cleopatra, and his followers lost their faith in his success.
The character Canidius demonstrates this.
The historical
Canidius was in fact the only major figure among Antony's followers to
stay with him to the bitter end. He fled after Actium and made his way
back to Alexandria, where he was captured and executed upon his leader's
final defeat and death. Shakespeare's source, Plutarch’s Lives, was
based on an anti-Antony source, and modern scholars believe that Canidius'
impressive record as a hardy and loyal officer makes Plutarch's
interpretation of his actions unlikely. |
SILIUS |
Silius is a
lieutenant of Ventidius. Ventidius has just defeated a Parthian army in
the name of Mark Antony, and in 3.1 he explains to Silius why he will not
pursue the fleeing enemy. He does not want to succeed too thoroughly, lest
Antony feel overshadowed and in revenge crush his military career. Silius
admires Ventidius' political acumen. He has no personality and serves
merely as a sounding board for his superior officer. |
EUPHRONIUS |
Euphronius is an
ambassador for Antony. In 3.12 the Ambassador carries his master's formal
surrender to Octavius after the battle of Aactium, and in 3.13, after he
has reported that Caesar refuses Antony's request for his life but offers
leniency to Cleopatra if she will abandon Antony, Antony sends him back to
Caesar with a challenge of hand-to-hand combat. Antony identifies the
Ambassador as. the 'schoolmaster' (3.11.71) of his and Cleopatra’s
children. In 3.12 Dolabella observes that the use of the schoolmaster as
an emissary indicates the totality of Antony's defeat. This schoolmaster
is identified by Shakespeare's source, Plutarch, as one Euphronius,
presumably a Greek scholar but otherwise unknown in history. Plutarch adds
that his diplomatic employment was necessary because of the earlier
abandonment of Cleopatra by her attendant, Alexas. |
ALEXAS |
Alexas (Alexas
Laodician) (active c. 32 B.C) is an attendant to Cleopatra. Alexas is a
cheerful fellow who jests with Charmian and Iras in 1.2. He brings
Cleopatra a message from Antony in 1.5, and attends her—almost without
speaking—in 2.5, 3.3, and 4.2.
However, Alexas' desertion to
Octavius after the battle of Actium, is reported in 4.6, and he appears to
be a more important figure than his earlier role would suggest. Enobarbus
reflects that Alexas had been sent by
Antony to Jewry'
(4.6.12), where he persuaded the ruler, Herod, to join Caesar. He goes on
to remark that Caesar, shocked by this treachery had executed Alexas. The
account elaborates on the important Act 4 theme of Antony's fall as many
of his one-time followers are seen to have deserted him Shakespeare took
his account of Alexas Laodician trom his source, Plutarch’s Lives,
where the Greek servant's promotion to diplomatic status is said to have
resulted from the friendship that developed between him and Antony through
his job as Cleopatra's message bearer. His surname—found in
Plutarchsuggests that he was from the important ancient city of Laodicia,
m Asia Minor, but otherwise Alexas is not round in history. |
MARDIAN |
Mardian is a eunuch
in the court of Cleopatra. Mardian is a minor member of the queen's
entourage. In 4.14 he performs his only significant act when, on
Cleopatra's orders, he delivers to Antony the false message that she has
committed suicide. This triggers Antony's suicide attempt. Mardian is the
closest thing to a jester, or Fool, in Cleopatra's court. He is referred
to as 'saucy' (4.14.25), and he is mildly amusing when he declares that he
thinks on 'What Venus did with Mars' (1.5.18) when his mistress jests
about his sexlessness.He appears to be the court musician, though he never
performs as Cleopatra's willfulness leads her to reject his songs before
she hears them. Aside from these semiofficial functions, Mardian's
function is to swell the ranks of Cleopatra's grand establishment. |
SELEUCUS |
Seleucus (active 30
B.C.) is Cleopatra’s treasurer. In 5.2 Cleopatra calls upon Seleucus to
confirm the inventory other household that she has submitted to the
conqueror of Egypt, Octavius. Instead, he tells Caesar that she has
withheld more than she has listed. Caesar, who is amused by Cleopatra's
ploy, tells Seleucus to leave as Cleopatra subjects him to a tirade of
insults.
This episode has been
variously interpreted. It can be seen as evidence of Cleopatra's shallow
character. It continues the play's earlier portrayal of a grasping
courtesan who here attempts to salvage what she can ' from the wreck other
and Antony’s fortunes. On the other hand, it may actually demonstrate her
cool—and, in the play's scheme of things, noble—intention to die rather
than live on in humiliating defeat without Antony. Once Caesar has the
idea that Cleopatra wishes only to retain a comfortable existence, he
leaves her alone, free to arrange her suicide, whereas if her real
intention were known, he would prevent her. Shakespeare may have intended
Seleucus as the the queen's pawn in a successful effort to deceive the
conqueror. The playwright's source, Plutarch’s Lives, states that
this was her plan, and though Shakespeare changes many of the details in
Plutarch's account of the episode, he may well have included it for the
same purpose. |
DIOMEDES |
Diomedes is a servant
of Cleopatra. In 4.14 Diomedes comes to Antony with a message which states
that his mistress is 1 alive, despite an earlier report that she had
committed suicide, but he arrives too late, for Antony has just stabbed
himself. Diomedes accompanies the soldiers who carry Antony to Cleopatra
and announces their arrival in 4.15. Diomedes appears by name in
Shakespeare's source, Plutarch’s Lives, but is otherwise unknown in
history. |
Soothsayer |
Soothsayer is a seer
patronized by Mark Antony. In 1.2 the Soothsayer predicts that Cleopatra's
waiting-woman Charmian shall outlive her mistress but will see a worse
time in the future than in the past. He adds that he sees an identical
fate for another waiting-woman, Iras. He accompanies Antony to Rome, and
in 2.3 he recommends that they return to Egypt to get away from Octavius.
He declares that Antony's spirit is bested by Caesar's when the two are
together. Antony dismisses the Soothsayer curtly, but muses to himself on
the truth of his observation. In both episodes the Soothsayer's remarks
prove pertinent, and in hindsight the audience can recollect his words,
In 2.3 the Soothsayer appears to be an Egyptian whom Antony has brought to
Rome. Some scholars, however, believe that he may be the otherwise unknown
Roman Lamprius, for the stage direction opening 1.2 reads, in part: 'Enter
Enobarbus, Lamprius, a Soothsayer, . . . '. Thus, the Soothsayer can be
construed syntactically as being named Lamprius. |
Clown |
Clown is the
pretended fig seller who provides Cleopatra with the poisonous snakes with
which she kills herself. The Clown, summoned by Charmian in 5.2, is a
Clownin the literary meaning of the term in Shakespeare's day. He is a
conventional comic figure, the ludicrously naive country bumpkin who had
figured in Comedy from ancient times. He comically warns Cleopatra that
poisonous snakes are dangerous. Solemnly, he states, ' ... his biting is
immortal: those that do die of it, do seldom or never recover'
(5.2.245-247). Clowns are usually talkative, and he goes on to tell of 'a
very honest woman, but something given to lie' (5.2.250-251) who has
reported on her own death by snake bite. He further expounds on the
tendency of women to be corrupted by the devil—another medieval comic
routine—before Cleopatra can get him to leave. With Antony dead and
Cleopatra about to kill herself, this episode comes at an agonizing point
in the play's climax. The scene shatters the fascinated horror of the
audience, while at the same time heightening it by the inane and
excruciating postponement of the plot's development. Further, the play's
sudden comic tone at this crucial moment highlights the triumphant,
celebratory aspect of Cleopatra's suicide; the traditional ending of a
romantic Comedy is evoked, and the transcendence of Cleopatra's total
commitment to love is emphasized. |
CLEOPATRA |
Cleopatra (68-30
B.C.) and title character of Antony and Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt and
the lover of the Roman general, Mark Antony. Throughout Acts 1-4 Cleopatra
displays the powerful charms of an experienced and thoroughly professional
courtesan. She attempts to control her lover with a strategy of alternate
taunts and insults and seductive sexuality. Then in Act 5, after Antony is
dead, Cleopatra acknowledges the depth of her true feelings for her lover
and dedicates her suicide to their joint love. She thereby transcends her
earlier nature through the power of passion.
Many commentators,
who admire Cleopatra's ultimate nobility do not accept the reality of her
earlier role as the exploiter of Antony's sexuality. But Shakespeare's
Cleopatra is clearly representative of a familiar dramatic character type:
the scheming courtesan. From her first appearance she ridicules Antony,
makes outrageous demands for his exclusive affection, declares that his
love is insufficient—all classic techniques of emotional domination—and is
oblivious to Antony's more romantic interpretation of love. She even uses
his devotion against him when she declares that his lack of affection for
his wife is evidence that he will eventually desert her as well.
Cleopatra also has
great charm and she richly deserves the famous tribute from Enobarbus,
'Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / Her infinite variety'
(2.2.235-236). She is witty even in the direst extremity. As the dying
Antony is hoisted to her hide-out she can jest, in 4.15.32. In fact, some
critics consider her one of the great comic figures in Shakespeare,
comparable to Falstaff. She has a pleasing delight in mischief; Enobarbus
accompanies his description of her magnificence with an account of when
she put aside regal dignity and hopped gaily through the streets. Her
beauty is enrapturing, and she has in abundance the intoxicating sexuality
essential to the successful courtesan; as Enobarbus puts it, 'vilest
things Become themselves in her' (2.2.238-239). She also has genuine
affection for Antony, but even as she reveals her fondness for him—in his
absence- she discloses her past history as a courtesan. She speaks in
1.5.18-34 other earlier affairs with Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great
(father of the play's Pompey. Her hurt and anger at the news of Antony's
marriage to Octavia are certainly genuine, but when she learns of
Octavia's unattractive physical features her spirits are restored, for,
courtesan-like, her confidence in her sexual allure assures her that she
will win her lover back. She does, but when her flight from the battle of
Actium brings about Antony's disgrace, she once again displays her
essentially selfish nature, in 3.13, when she accepts Caesar's offer of an
alliance, conveyed by Thidias. She coolly waits out Antony's rage—'I must
stay his time' (3.13.155)—and resumes the role of docile and playful
lover. However, when her sailors again betray Antony and his rage drives
her away, she resorts to an extremely cynical ploy, the pretended suicide
that sparks Antony's real one. Falsely assumed emotion—the favorite weapon
of the courtesan—remains Cleopatra's most characteristic resource.
However, in the end
she is transformed through her noble response to the death other lover. In
4.15.25-26 she first mentions the idea of suicide simply as a way to foil
Caesar's potential humiliations, but after Antony's death she refers to it
as a noble ideal on the model Antony himself has offered, 'the high Roman
fashion' (4.15.87). In refusing to be humiliated, Cleopatra finds herself
at one with Antony in the Roman ideal of honourable suicide. Seleucus'
revelation that she has withheld treasure from Caesar is sometimes taken
as evidence that Cleopatra reverts briefly to ideas of survival, though
another interpretation is that she chose to deceive Caesar as to her
intentions so that he would not prevent them. However, even if we suppose
that she does waver, she also returns to the idea of a noble death, and
her focus remains on Antony—rather than on Caesar—as she approaches the
deed.
Cleopatra accepts
death because it is the only end equal to her newly awakened love for
Antony. It is in her ecstatic appraisal of him as 'an Emperor Antony . .
.' (5.2.76-100) that she first finds the exalted note of commitment to the
memory other lover that carries her through to the end. When she cries,
'Husband, I come' (5.2.286), she completes her transformation into 'fire,
and air; my other elements / I give to baser life' (5.2.288-289). When she
abandons her actual, earthly relationship with Antony for an eternal
union, Cleopatra transcends the mortal world of politics and courtesanship
where she and Antony had come to grief.
Cleopatra's
personality does not change with her final ecstasy—Shakespeare was too
good a writer to exchange one sort of portrayal for another at the close
of the play. Cleopatra dies, but she makes her death a luxurious and
hedonistic one. She combines the splendour of grand costume—'Give me my
robe, put on my crown' (5.2.279)—with an almost sexual surrender to death
at the end, when she cries, 'As sweet as balm, as soft as air, as gentle.
/ 0 Antony!' (5.2.310-311). Her theatrical nature provides the grandeur
that elevates the tragedy provoked by her earlier conduct. Thus we can see
Cleopatra's moral defects—her selfishness as a lover and her practice of
the courtesan's wiles—in a new light, as inextricable elements of a
personality powerful enough to generate the mysterious grace that she
brings to her final gesture. Through this grace and power, Cleopatra's
vision of reunion with Antony after death is a triumphant affirmation of
love and life. Even in seeming defeat she embodies the imagination of the
individual and the value of what could have been over what worldly power
has insisted on. She knows that compared to her, Caesar is 'but Fortune's
knave' (5.2.3), for the conqueror, with his limited vision, can only
suppose that 'her life in Rome / Would be eternal in our triumph'
(5.1.65-66), but Cleopatra's death is the true triumph celebrated by the
play.
The historical
Cleopatra bore little resemblance to Shakespeare's character. She was not
particularly beautiful—Shakespeare's source, Plutarch’s Lives,
attributes her magnetism to her conversation. Nor, in all probability, did
she die for the sake of love but rather for the more practical end of
avoiding a horrible captivity, and she only killed herself after she
attempted to win Caesar with a promise to betray Antony. She was descended
from one of the Greek successors of Alexander the Great, and was entirely
of Greek ancestry and not African in any degree, despite the modern
tendency to classify her among Shakespeare's black characters. Cleopatra
inherited the throne of Egypt in 51 B.C., at the age of 17. Deposed by an
aristocratic clique in 49 B.C., she was restored with the assistance of
Julius Caesar a year later.
She became Caesar's
mistress, and she later filled the same function for Pompey the Great and
Antony—unlike in the play, however, she did not become Antony's mistress
until after his marriage to Octavia. Inall three cases her motive is
clear; she needed the political support of the forces of Rome present in
the eastern Mediterranean, and thus she ingratiated herself with whoever
commanded them. Modern scholars think it unlikely that she influenced the
policies of any other protectors, who simply used her as a means of
extracting wealth from Egypt. Antony's gifts to her of kingdoms and power
that Octavius Caesar complains of in the play were merely ordinary
applications of Roman policy by which administrative jurisdictions in
conquered lands were consolidated under a client ruler. The arrangement
inspired no mistrust at the time. Cleopatra, who was reportedly greedy for
even the trappings of power, persistently requested more such titular
kingdoms, but Antony refused her. When Antony found himself at war with
Caesar he naturally made use of the Egyptian kingdom that he governed
through Cleopatra, but the unreliability of Egyptian forces at Actium and
afterwards—as recounted in the play—cannot be attributed to her influence.
It is uncertain whether Antony and Cleopatra were married, but she bore
three children by him; the two boys were killed after Caesar's victory,
and the girl later became a pawn of Roman politics and was married to a
Numidian king.
Messengers |
In 1.2 the First
Messenger tells that Antony's wife and brother have been defeated by
Octavius in the Roman civil wars. He also tells of the conquest of Roman
territory in Egypt by a renegade Roman general. A Second Messenger
announces the arrival of a Third Messenger, who brings word that Antony's
wife has died. The rapid sequence of messages establishes the importance
of both the political and personal situation in which Antony lives.
Although he seems unnecessary, the Second Messenger, who speaks only five
words, contributes to the atmosphere of crisis. One of the Messengers (or,
perhaps, a fourth) reappears in 3.7 at the battle of Actium with word of
Caesar's troop movements.
In 1.4 the Messengers
appear, one after the other, with news of the success of Pompey and of his
alliance with the pirates Menecrates and Menas. One of the Messengers (or,
possibly, a third) appears in 4.6 with word of Antony’s preparations for
battle. The Messengers strengthen our sense of Caesar as an informed and
decisive leader.
A servant who brings
Cleopatra news of Antony’s marriage to Octavia. In 2.5 Cleopatra's rage is
so great when she hears of Antony's action that she beats the Messenger
and threatens to kill him. He naturally flees. He is coaxed to return and
repeat his message to the unwilling queen, and he flees again when she is
again angry. In 3.3 he assures Cleopatra that he has seen Octavia and
knows her to be an extremely unattractive woman whose defects he details.
For this tactful report, Cleopatra rewards him with gold and agrees that
he is a 'proper man' (3.3.37). The episode demonstrates the mercurial
nature of the Egyptian queen. The Messenger represents an ancient
theatrical stereotype, the comic servant.
Sentry |
Sentry is a soldier
in the army of Octavius. The Sentry and his two underlings, the Watchmen,
are guards at Caesar's camp outside Alexandria. They discover the dying
Enobarbus and bring him into the camp. The Sentry demonstrates the
intelligence expected of a good non-commissioned officer when he holds the
Watchmen back, at first, to discover what Enobarbus will say, in case he
should reveal useful information. He helps demonstrate the high morale in
Caesar's forces as they approach their final victory. In some editions of
the play, the Sentry and the Watchmen are designated as the First, Second,
and Third Soldiers.
Servants |
Any of several minor characters in Antony and
Cleopatra that are servants of Antony. In 4.2 Antony bids farewell to
these attendants while they serve a banquet before his final battle
against Octavius. He announces that their allegiance to him may be at an
end, and says 'Perchance to-morrow / You'll serve another master'
(4.2.27-28). They respond with tears, and Enobarbus, also weeping,
chastises Antony for causing 'discomfort' (4.2.34). Antony laughs and
declares that he intends to be victorious in the next day's battle. He
rousingly calls for the banquet to begin as the scene ends. The episode
demonstrates the disturbed state of Antony's mind as the play's climax
approaches. The Servitors, who speak only three words in unison, are
merely extras who witness this demonstration.
Servants are any of the workers in the household of
Pompey. The servants are waiters at a banquet that celebrates the truce
between Pompey and the Roman leaders—Antony, Lepidus, and Octavius. At the
opening of 2.7 two of the Servants—designated the First and Second
Servants—gossip about Lepidus' drunkenness at the feast. They observe that
Lepidus has weakened himself in relation to the others. Their conversation
prepares us for the comic scene of Lepidus' intoxication that follows and
points up the treachery that lurks in the world of high policy and
warfare, also illustrated in the remainder of the scene.
Boy |
Boy is a singer. Some
modern editions include a stage direction specifying that a Boy sings the
Song that accompanies the dance led by Enobarbus (2.7.111-116) because
Enobarbus stipulates that 'the boy shall sing' (2.7.108), although the
authoritative First Folio text does not include a specific mention of the
Boy.
Captain |
Captain is an officer
in Antony’s army. In 4.4 the Captain greets Antony cheerfully on the
morning of a battle, listens to his leader's parting remarks to Cleopatra,
and leaves with him. His function is to add a note of martial bustle to
the scene. In the first edition of the play, in the First Folio, this
character was designated as Alexas, but this reflects an error—probably
Shakespeare's—for in 4.6.12-16 we learn of Alexas' earlier treason and
execution. Nicholas ROWE altered the designation and assigned the Captain
his rank in the 1709 edition of the plays, and all subsequent editors have
accepted the change.
IRAS |
Iras is an attendant
of Cleopatra. In 1.2 Iras is a pleasantly humorous young woman who jests
over the predictions of the Soothsayer, but she displays almost no
personality thereafter. She is overshadowed by Charmian in the queen's
household, as she is on much less intimate terms with her mistress and has
a much less developed role. Significantly, the Soothsayer tells Iras only
that her fortune will be the same as Charmian's (1.2.52). She appears
often with Cleopatra and Charmian but speaks very little. In 5.2 as
Cleopatra prepares her suicide, Iras declares her loyalty and says that
she will not see the queen as a Roman prisoner, 'for I am sure my nails /
Are stronger than mine eyes' (5.2.222-223), but, as elsewhere, she is a
faint echo of Charmian. When Cleopatra applies the poisonous asp to
herself, Iras falls dead. Perhaps she uses the snake herself, moments
earlier, or perhaps she simply dies of grief. In either case, she departs
wordlessly. Shakespeare's source, Plutarch’s Lives, states that
Cleopatra was attended at her death by a serving-woman named Iras, but she
is otherwise unknown in history.
Charmian |
Charmian is an
attendant of Cleopatra. In 1.2 Charmian is pleasantly humorous as she
banters with her friends Alexas and Iras over the predictions of the
Soothsayer, and one can understand Cleopatra's obvious fondness for her.
The queen addresses Charmian more intimately and much more often than she
does her other servants. She confides in her and permits her to offer
advice, even if she usually rejects it. Charmian reminisces with her
mistress about fishing expeditions she took with Antony, in 2.5.15-18; she
also boldly attempts to restrain the queen's temper when she says, 'Good
madam, keep yourself within yourself (2.5,75), and she teases her about
her past affair with Julius Caesar, in 1.5.67-73. Charmian is a spirited,
attractive young woman of a type that Shakespeare often depicted.
In 4.13, however, it
is Charmian who makes the ill-fated suggestion that Cleopatra let Antony
believe she has committed suicide. This is perhaps a device whereby
Shakespeare intended to remove blame from the queen, whose transition from
courtesan to transcendent lover is about to take place. Charmian herself
undergoes such a change along with her mistress, fulfilling the
Soothsayer's prediction that she 'shall be yet far fairer' (1.2.16) than
she already is. Her loyalty takes on a grandeur as she accompanies her
mistress' grave poetry with cries of grief—'Dissolve, thick cloud, and
rain, that I may say, / The gods themselves do weep' (5.2.298-299)—and she
cries out to the queen with almost religious intensity, '0 eastern star!'
(5.2.307). When Cleopatra dies, Charmian touchingly straightens her
mistress' crown before she kills herself in the same way. As she dies, she
proudly declares to a Roman soldier that Cleopatra's suicide 'is well
done, and fitting for a princess / Descended of so many royal kings'
(5.2.325-326). Her coda to Cleopatra's grand declaration of ultimate love
adds an echo of ecstasy before Caesar's final triumph.
Shakespeare adapted
Charmian from a mere mention in his source, Plutarch’s Lives, and
developed the character greatly. Plutarch states that Cleopatra was
attended at her death by a serving-woman named Charmian, but this person
is otherwise unknown in history. | | | | | | | |
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