EL150: Antony & Cleopatra Acts 3-5

Shakespeare, "Antony and Cleopatra" Acts 3-5

Well I can't say I didn't see the end of the play coming. Everyone is dead except for Caesar. But the interesting part to me was the timespan between their deaths. Antony dies in Act 4, and I expected Cleopatra to die right then and there (ala Romeo and Juliet)... but instead, we get this brief set of scenes regarding the intentions of Caesar.

Caesar's actions at the end of the play (promising to treat Cleo nicely, yet being a bad guy and wanting to keep her as a trophy) reminded me of Billy Zane's character in Titanic. We know he's a terrible bad guy, we get it... but he still has to pull out a gun and shoot some people before we really get it: you are a villain. So just in case the audience didn't quite get it... Caesar isn't a guy we should like.

But as I mentioned in my notes about the first half of this play, one of these characters had to be somewhat like-able in order for me to care about their deaths. Enobarbus was pretty like-able during the whole play-- he was sage-like and level-headed, like that calm sidekick that acts as the voice of reason in the most trying of times (aside: which is not Pluck.). But he died so early-ish in the ending... and yet no nobly. So I don't know how to feel about him. In the end, though, I did sort of like Antony. He was the anti-hero of the play who decided to die with the little bit of honor he had left.

I didn't care for Cleopatra... whatsoever. she was manipulative, two-faced, and cowardly. As Dr. Jerz mentioned in class, this could come across differently depending on the actress. Some might play her more innocently than others; but looking at the text, I clearly think that Shakespeare wrote her as an evil woman. Her "lover" has just (unsuccessfully) stabbed himself, and wants nothing more than to hug and kiss her before he dies... and she makes all these folks hoist him up to her. She refuses to come out of her monument (that tells you something about her conceited personality: locking herself in a monument instead of a room or cave) and greet her dying boyfriend.

The ending scenes of this play act as a sharp contrast to Romeo and Juliet. They aren't star-crossed lovers, but pride-minded politicians. Politicians who are very bad at killing themselves.

If played right, Antony's death could be really hilarious. In fact, this whole play would make a great comedy errors.