The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra

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1. ACT I.

   In Alexandria, Antony is sunk in pleasure with Cleopatra and ignores the news from Rome — until word that his wife Fulvia is dead and that young Pompey threatens the seas calls him back. Cleopatra plays out an extravagant farewell; in Rome, Octavius Caesar and Lepidus deplore Antony's idleness.

   1. Scene 1 — Alexandria. A Room in CLEOPATRA'S palace.

      Philo and Demetrius lament that their great general has become 'a strumpet's fool.' Antony and Cleopatra enter teasing each other about how much they love; when messengers arrive from Rome, Antony waves them off — 'Let Rome in Tiber melt' — and gives himself wholly to Egypt.

   2. Scene 2 — Alexandria. Another Room in CLEOPATRA'S palace.

      Cleopatra's women have their fortunes read by a Soothsayer. Alone, Antony hears that Fulvia has died, that his ally Labienus is overrun, and that Pompey is strong at sea; stung by his own neglect, he resolves to 'break off' from Egypt and return to Rome.

   3. Scene 3 — Alexandria. A Room in CLEOPATRA'S palace.

      Cleopatra stages a virtuoso farewell — by turns fainting, jealous of Fulvia, accusing, and tender — to bind Antony to her even as he leaves. He swears his love and departs for Rome.

   4. Scene 4 — Rome. An Apartment in CAESAR'S House.

      In Rome, Octavius Caesar reads out Antony's Egyptian debauchery to Lepidus with cold contempt, then turns to the real danger: Pompey's growing power and the pirates Menas and Menecrates command the sea. Caesar wishes the old soldier Antony would shake off his 'lascivious wassails.'

   5. Scene 5 — Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.

      Languishing without Antony, Cleopatra envies the very horse that bears him and recalls her past conquests of Julius Caesar and Pompey. Alexas brings her an orient pearl and Antony's loving message; she vows to send a daily messenger to Rome.

2. ACT II.

   Pompey gathers strength while the triumvirs patch up their quarrel: Antony marries Caesar's sister Octavia to seal the peace, and Enobarbus famously recalls Cleopatra's first appearance on the river Cydnus. The triumvirs buy off Pompey and feast on his galley, where Menas secretly offers to murder them all and make Pompey lord of the world.

   1. Scene 1 — Messina. A Room in POMPEY'S house.

      At Messina, Pompey counts on Antony's Egyptian idleness to keep him weak. Word that Antony is expected in Rome dismays him, for a reconciled triumvirate is far more dangerous than a divided one.

   2. Scene 2 — Rome. A Room in the House of LEPIDUS.

      Antony and Caesar trade grievances and are reconciled; Agrippa proposes that Antony marry Caesar's sister Octavia to bind them, and Antony agrees. Left behind, Enobarbus paints the legendary picture of Cleopatra in her barge on the Cydnus — 'The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne' — and warns that Antony will never truly leave her.

   3. Scene 3 — Rome. A Room in CAESAR'S House.

      Antony pledges himself to Octavia, but the Soothsayer warns him that near Caesar his guardian spirit is overpowered and his luck fails. Alone, Antony admits 'I' the East my pleasure lies' and resolves to return to Egypt.

   4. Scene 4 — Rome. A street.

      Lepidus, Maecenas, and Agrippa briefly coordinate the movement of their armies toward the campaign against Pompey.

   5. Scene 5 — Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.

      In Alexandria, a Messenger brings Cleopatra word that Antony has married Octavia. She flies into a rage, striking the man and hauling him about by the hair, before collapsing into grief and demanding a full report of her rival.

   6. Scene 6 — Near Misenum.

      Near Misenum, the triumvirs parley with Pompey and agree to terms: he keeps Sicily and Sardinia and clears the sea of pirates in return for peace. Pompey invites them to feast aboard his galley; Enobarbus and Menas, old soldiers, size each other up.

   7. Scene 7 — On board POMPEY'S Galley, lying near Misenum.

      At the drunken feast on Pompey's galley, Menas draws Pompey aside and offers to cut the cable and cut the throats of all three triumvirs, making him master of the world. Pompey refuses — but wishes Menas had done it without asking. Lepidus is carried off dead-drunk as the company sings a Bacchanal.

3. ACT III.

   The fragile alliance unravels. Antony returns east, enthrones Cleopatra and their children as monarchs, and Caesar — having deposed Lepidus and destroyed Pompey — declares war. Against all advice Antony chooses to fight by sea at Actium, where Cleopatra's flight and his pursuit of her lose the battle and very nearly the world.

   1. Scene 1 — A plain in Syria.

      In Syria, Antony's lieutenant Ventidius has crushed the Parthians, but reflects that a subordinate must not win too brilliantly: a captain who outshines his absent general courts ruin rather than reward.

   2. Scene 2 — Rome. An Ante-chamber in CAESAR'S house.

      At Rome, Enobarbus and Agrippa mock the triumvirs' shows of feeling as Antony and Octavia prepare to leave. Caesar takes a pointedly tender farewell of his sister, warning Antony to use her well.

   3. Scene 3 — Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.

      Cleopatra cross-examines the Messenger about Octavia's height, age, gait, and hair, and is reassured to hear her rival is low, dull, and round-faced. Her jealousy eases into contempt.

   4. Scene 4 — Athens. A Room in ANTONY'S House.

      In Athens, Antony rages that Caesar has made fresh wars, spoken slightingly of him, and broken their league. Octavia, torn between husband and brother, begs leave to go to Rome and mediate; Antony lets her try.

   5. Scene 5 — Athens. Another Room in ANTONY'S House.

      Eros tells Enobarbus the news: Caesar has used Lepidus against Pompey, then deposed and imprisoned him, and Pompey has been murdered. The triumvirate is down to two, and war between Antony and Caesar is now certain.

   6. Scene 6 — Rome. A Room in CAESAR'S House.

      In Rome, Caesar reports with outrage that Antony has publicly enthroned Cleopatra and their children as rulers of the eastern kingdoms. Octavia arrives quietly to mediate, only to learn from her brother that Antony has already gone back to Cleopatra.

   7. Scene 7 — ANTONY'S Camp near the Promontory of Actium.

      At Antony's camp near Actium, Cleopatra insists on being present for the war over Enobarbus's protests. Against the urging of his soldiers, who beg him to fight on land where he is strong, Antony resolves to meet Caesar at sea simply because Caesar dares him to.

   8. Scene 8 — A plain near Actium.

      Caesar orders his land forces to hold back and not give battle by land until the fight at sea is decided.

   9. Scene 9 — Another part of the Plain.

      Antony posts his squadrons where he can watch the sea-fight and judge the action.

   10. Scene 10 — Another part of the Plain.

       The sea-battle is lost: when Cleopatra's ship turns and flees, Antony follows her 'like a doting mallard,' abandoning the fight. Scarus and Enobarbus watch the rout aghast — 'the greater cantle of the world is lost' — and Canidius resolves to surrender his legions to Caesar.

   11. Scene 11 — Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.

       Ashamed and broken, Antony tells his followers to take his treasure and make their peace with Caesar. He cannot even look at Cleopatra — 'thou knew'st too well / My heart was to thy rudder tied' — yet when she weeps a single tear he forgives her with a kiss.

   12. Scene 12 — CAESAR'S camp in Egypt.

       At Caesar's camp, Antony's ambassador — a mere schoolmaster, a measure of his fall — asks that Antony be allowed to live as a private man and Cleopatra keep her crown. Caesar refuses Antony but offers Cleopatra fair terms if she will drive Antony out or kill him, and sends the smooth Thyreus to seduce her from him.

   13. Scene 13 — Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.

       As Enobarbus weighs deserting, Thyreus woos Cleopatra for Caesar and kisses her hand. Antony bursts in, has Thyreus whipped, and turns his fury on Cleopatra before she wins him back; he resolves on one last desperate battle. Watching his master's judgment collapse, Enobarbus decides at last to leave him.

4. ACT IV.

   On the eve of the last battle Antony takes a moving farewell of his servants, and the god Hercules is heard deserting him. He wins a day's victory on land, but when his fleet surrenders at sea he believes Cleopatra has betrayed him. She sends a false word that she is dead; Antony falls on his sword, and is carried, dying, to her monument to die in her arms.

   1. Scene 1 — CAESAR'S Camp at Alexandria.

      Caesar laughs off Antony's challenge to single combat as the raving of a beaten man and prepares to finish him in the coming battle.

   2. Scene 2 — Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.

      Foreboding the end, Antony gathers his household servants and thanks them with such tenderness that they — and he — weep. Enobarbus chides him for unmanning them, even as his own resolve to desert is shaken.

   3. Scene 3 — Alexandria. Before the Palace.

      On the night watch, soldiers hear strange music under the earth and in the air. They read it as a dreadful omen: the god Hercules, whom Antony loved and claimed as ancestor, is abandoning him.

   4. Scene 4 — Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.

      At dawn Cleopatra and Eros buckle on Antony's armour. Heartened by her help and the morning's spirit, he kisses her and marches out to battle full of confidence.

   5. Scene 5 — ANTONY'S camp near Alexandria.

      Antony learns that Enobarbus has deserted to Caesar. Rather than rage, he grieves, blames his own fortunes, and generously orders Enobarbus's abandoned treasure and chests sent after him.

   6. Scene 6 — Alexandria. CAESAR'S camp.

      Caesar orders that Antony be taken alive. When Enobarbus receives the treasure Antony has sent after him, the kindness breaks his heart; he knows himself the lowest of traitors and seeks a ditch in which to die.

   7. Scene 7 — Field of battle between the Camps.

      The land battle goes Antony's way. Agrippa's forces are driven back, and Antony and the wounded Scarus fight so well that they carry the day.

   8. Scene 8 — Under the Walls of Alexandria.

      Victorious for a day, Antony returns to Alexandria in triumph, presents the valiant Scarus to Cleopatra, and bids the city celebrate.

   9. Scene 9 — CAESAR'S camp.

      In Caesar's camp the watch finds Enobarbus in the dark, broken with remorse. Crying out to the moon and to Antony for forgiveness, he dies of a broken heart.

   10. Scene 10 — Ground between the two Camps.

       Antony sees that Caesar means to try the issue by sea again and goes to set his order of battle, hoping to prove himself on the water.

   11. Scene 11 — Another part of the Ground.

       Caesar gives the counter-order: his strength lies on land, so he will hold his advantage there and let Antony come on.

   12. Scene 12 — Another part of the Ground.

       Antony watches in horror as his fleet surrenders to Caesar without a blow. Certain Cleopatra has sold him out — 'this foul Egyptian hath betrayed me' — he vows to kill her, and she flees in terror.

   13. Scene 13 — Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.

       Terrified by Antony's fury, Cleopatra shuts herself in her monument and sends Mardian to tell him she has died with his name on her lips — a lie meant to soften him.

   14. Scene 14 — Alexandria. Another Room.

       Believing Cleopatra dead, Antony feels his very self dissolve and asks Eros to make good an old oath and kill him. Eros kills himself instead; Antony falls on his own sword but bungles the stroke and lingers in agony. Then Diomedes brings word that the queen lives, and the dying Antony is carried to her monument.

   15. Scene 15 — Alexandria. A monument.

       Cleopatra and her women haul the dying Antony up into the monument, refusing to come down where Caesar could seize her. He dies in her arms, urging her to trust Proculeius and to remember his former greatness. Stunned with grief, she faints, then resolves to die 'after the high Roman fashion.'

5. ACT V.

   Caesar mourns the fallen Antony even as he schemes to take Cleopatra alive for his Roman triumph. Captured in her monument and warned of the humiliation he plans, Cleopatra reclaims her sovereignty in the only way left to her: robed and crowned, she dies by the bite of an asp, her women beside her, cheating Caesar of his prize.

   1. Scene 1 — CAESAR'S Camp before Alexandria.

      Dercetas brings Antony's sword to Caesar, who is moved to tears at the death of so great a rival — 'the breaking of so great a thing should make / A greater crack.' Yet he at once sends Proculeius to keep Cleopatra alive, so she may grace his triumph in Rome.

   2. Scene 2 — Alexandria. A Room in the Monument.

      In the monument Cleopatra is surprised and disarmed by Proculeius; Dolabella secretly confirms that Caesar means to lead her through Rome in triumph. After her treasurer Seleucus exposes the wealth she has hidden, and Caesar leaves her with false comfort, she has the Clown smuggle in a basket of figs concealing asps. Robed and crowned, calling for Antony, she dies by their bite; Iras and the faithful Charmian die with her. Caesar enters too late and orders the lovers buried together.

Characters

• Mark Antony protagonist

  Mark Antony, one of the three rulers (triumvirs) of the Roman world after Julius Caesar's assassination, and Rome's greatest soldier. Enthralled by Cleopatra in Egypt, he neglects his duties in Rome; torn between love and empire, he loses the sea-battle at Actium, is beaten by Octavius Caesar, and falls on his own sword after a false report of Cleopatra's death.

• Cleopatra protagonist

  Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt and Antony's lover: dazzling, volatile, theatrical, and politically shrewd. By turns seductive and furious, she captivates Antony and saps his Roman resolve. After his death and her capture by Octavius, she stages a sovereign suicide by the bite of an asp rather than be led as a captive through Rome in triumph.

• Octavius Caesar antagonist

  Octavius Caesar, great-nephew and adopted heir of the assassinated Julius Caesar, and Antony's fellow triumvir and chief rival. Cold, disciplined, and calculating where Antony is passionate, he defeats Antony and Cleopatra and becomes sole master of the Roman world (the future emperor Augustus). Not to be confused with the dead Julius Caesar, who is invoked but never appears.

• Lepidus supporting

  Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the third and weakest of the triumvirs. He strains to keep the peace between Antony and Octavius, gets helplessly drunk at the feast on Pompey's galley, and is soon discarded, deposed and imprisoned by Octavius once he is no longer useful.

• Pompey (Sextus Pompeius) supporting

  Sextus Pompeius, the young Pompey, son of Pompey the Great. Commanding a powerful fleet, he threatens the triumvirs by sea, then makes peace with them at Misenum; he refuses his pirate Menas's offer to murder his guests, and is later destroyed by Octavius. Distinct from his dead father, Pompey the Great, who is also invoked in the play.

• Enobarbus deuteragonist

  Domitius Enobarbus, Antony's blunt, witty, clear-eyed lieutenant and closest friend, and the play's chief commentator. His description of Cleopatra in her barge on the river Cydnus ('The barge she sat in...') is the play's great set-piece. Watching Antony's cause collapse, he deserts to Caesar, then dies of a broken heart, ashamed of his betrayal.

• Octavia supporting

  Octavius Caesar's gentle, virtuous sister, married to Antony to cement the alliance between the two triumvirs. Caught between her brother and her husband, she is abandoned when Antony returns to Cleopatra, the personal injury that helps trigger the final war.

• Eros supporting

  A freedman and devoted servant-friend of Antony. Bound by an oath to kill his master if Antony ever asked it, he is finally ordered to do so after the defeat, but kills himself instead rather than strike Antony, prompting Antony to fall on his own sword.

• Charmian supporting

  Cleopatra's favourite lady-in-waiting: spirited, teasing, and utterly loyal. She shares the queen's banter and her fate, applying an asp to herself and dying beside her mistress, pausing only to set the dead queen's crown straight.

• Iras minor

  One of Cleopatra's attendant ladies, loyal to the end; she falls dead, apparently of grief, just before her mistress takes her own life.

• Agrippa supporting

  A trusted general and counsellor of Octavius Caesar, who proposes the marriage of Antony to Octavia to bind the rival triumvirs together.

• Maecenas minor

  A friend and counsellor of Octavius Caesar.

• Dolabella supporting

  A friend of Octavius Caesar who, moved by Cleopatra, secretly warns her of Caesar's plan to lead her through Rome in triumph, the warning that hardens her resolve to die.

• Menas supporting

  A pirate captain serving the young Pompey. At the feast on Pompey's galley he offers to cut the cable and murder the three triumvirs to make Pompey lord of the world; when Pompey refuses (wishing only that Menas had done it unasked), Menas resolves to leave his service.

• Menecrates minor

  A pirate serving the young Pompey.

• Varrius minor

  A follower of the young Pompey, who brings him news of Antony's movements.

• Ventidius minor

  An officer under Antony who wins a great victory over the Parthians in Antony's name, then prudently declines to press his success, knowing a subordinate who outshines his absent general courts ruin.

• Silius minor

  An officer in Ventidius's army, who urges Ventidius to pursue the fleeing Parthians.

• Canidius minor

  Antony's lieutenant-general on land, who argues against fighting Octavius by sea at Actium; after the defeat he deserts to Caesar.

• Scarus minor

  A brave soldier in Antony's army who fights valiantly at Actium and laments Antony's flight after Cleopatra's retreating ships.

• Dercetas minor

  A soldier of Antony's who, after Antony's suicide, takes his sword to Octavius Caesar to win favour with the victor.

• Demetrius minor

  A follower of Antony who, in the opening scene, deplores with Philo how their general has been transformed by his infatuation with Cleopatra.

• Philo minor

  A follower of Antony who opens the play, lamenting that his great general's 'dotage' on Cleopatra has reduced 'the triple pillar of the world' to 'a strumpet's fool.'

• Euphronius (the Ambassador) minor

  A schoolmaster sent as Antony's ambassador to Octavius after the defeat at Actium, a measure of how far Antony has fallen, reduced to using a schoolteacher as his envoy.

• Proculeius minor

  An officer of Octavius Caesar, recommended by the dying Antony to Cleopatra as trustworthy; he surprises and disarms her in her monument to prevent her suicide.

• Thyreus minor

  Octavius Caesar's messenger, sent to win Cleopatra away from Antony. When Antony catches him kissing Cleopatra's hand, he has him whipped. (This edition once misprints his speech-prefix as 'THYMUS.')

• Gallus minor

  An officer of Octavius Caesar, present at the taking of Cleopatra's monument.

• Taurus minor

  Octavius Caesar's lieutenant-general, commanding his land forces at Actium.

• Alexas minor

  An attendant of Cleopatra who carries messages between her and Antony; he later deserts to Caesar and is hanged.

• Mardian minor

  A eunuch in Cleopatra's household. It is his false report, sent at the queen's command, that she has killed herself that drives Antony to his own suicide.

• Seleucus minor

  Cleopatra's treasurer, who, when she presents Caesar with a list of her wealth, betrays that she has held back half of it, exposing her before the conqueror.

• Diomedes minor

  An attendant of Cleopatra, sent too late to tell the dying Antony that the queen is alive after all.

• Soothsayer minor

  An Egyptian fortune-teller who reads the fates of Cleopatra's women and warns Antony that his guardian spirit is overmatched whenever Octavius Caesar is near.

• Clown minor

  A rural fellow who, in the final scene, brings Cleopatra the basket of figs concealing the asps, with rambling, bawdy warnings about 'the worm' whose bite is immortal.

• Messenger ensemble

  Various messengers who carry news across the empire, most memorably the one whom Cleopatra strikes and threatens for reporting Antony's marriage to Octavia.

• First Soldier minor

  A soldier in Antony's army; one of the watch who, on the night before the last battle, hears strange music underground, the sign that the god Hercules is deserting Antony.

• Second Soldier minor

  A soldier in Antony's army; one of the watch who hears the ominous music beneath the earth before the final battle.

• Third Soldier minor

  A soldier in Antony's army; one of the watch who hears the ominous music beneath the earth before the final battle.

• Fourth Soldier minor

  A soldier in Antony's army; one of the watch on the night before the last battle.

• Soldier minor

  An unnamed soldier in Antony's army; one warns Antony to fight by land rather than by sea before Actium.

• Soldiers ensemble

  Soldiers speaking together.

• First Guard minor

  One of the guard. The guards discover the dying Antony, and later find Cleopatra and her women dead in the monument.

• Second Guard minor

  One of the guard at Antony's fall and at Cleopatra's monument.

• Third Guard minor

  One of the guard who refuses to give the despairing Antony the death-blow he begs for.

• Guard minor

  A member of the watch.

• First Servant minor

  A servant at the feast on Pompey's galley, commenting on the drunken triumvirs.

• Second Servant minor

  A servant at the feast on Pompey's galley, commenting on the drunken triumvirs.

• Servant minor

  A serving-man.

• Attendant minor

  An attendant who brings news to Antony.

• First Attendant minor

  An attendant in Cleopatra's palace.

• Second Attendant minor

  An attendant in Cleopatra's palace.

• Officer minor

  An officer in attendance.

• Second Officer minor

  An officer in attendance.

• All ensemble

  Several characters speaking together.

• Both ensemble

  Two characters speaking together.

• Song ensemble

  The Bacchanal sung aboard Pompey's galley ('Come, thou monarch of the vine'), led by a boy and taken up by the company.

Cross-references

• Folger Shakespeare
• MIT plain text
• Wikipedia