Antony and Cleopatra
Tags: tragedy

Plot synopsis:
Mark Antony – one of the triumvirs of the Roman Republic, along with Octavius and Lepidus – has neglected his soldierly duties after being beguiled by Egypt's Queen, Cleopatra. He ignores Rome's domestic problems, including the fact that his third wife Fulvia rebelled against Octavius and then died.
Octavius calls Antony back to Rome from Alexandria to help him fight against Sextus Pompey, Menecrates, and Menas, three notorious pirates of the Mediterranean. At Alexandria, Cleopatra begs Antony not to go, and though he repeatedly affirms his deep passionate love for her, he eventually leaves.
The triumvirs meet in Rome, where Antony and Octavius put to rest, for now, their disagreements. Octavius' general, Agrippa, suggests that Antony should marry Octavius's sister, Octavia, in order to cement the friendly bond between the two men. Antony accepts. Antony's lieutenant Enobarbus, though, knows that Octavia can never satisfy him after Cleopatra. In a famous passage, he describes Cleopatra's charms: "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / Her infinite variety: other women cloy / The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry / Where most she satisfies."
A soothsayer warns Antony that he is sure to lose if he ever tries to fight Octavius.
In Egypt, Cleopatra learns of Antony's marriage to Octavia and takes furious revenge upon the messenger that brings her the news. She grows content only when her courtiers assure her that Octavia is homely: short, low-browed, round-faced and with bad hair.
Before battle, the triumvirs parley with Sextus Pompey, and offer him a truce. He can retain Sicily and Sardinia, but he must help them "rid the sea of pirates" and send them tributes. After some hesitation Sextus agrees. They engage in a drunken celebration on Sextus' galley, though the austere Octavius leaves early and sober from the party. Menas suggests to Sextus that he kill the three triumvirs and make himself ruler of the Roman Republic, but he refuses, finding it dishonourable. After Antony departs Rome for Athens, Octavius and Lepidus break their truce with Sextus and war against him. This is unapproved by Antony, and he is furious.
Antony returns to Alexandria and crowns Cleopatra and himself as rulers of Egypt and the eastern third of the Roman Republic (which was Antony's share as one of the triumvirs). He accuses Octavius of not giving him his fair share of Sextus' lands, and is angry that Lepidus, whom Octavius has imprisoned, is out of the triumvirate. Octavius agrees to the former demand, but otherwise is very displeased with what Antony has done.
Antony prepares to battle Octavius. Enobarbus urges Antony to fight on land, where he has the advantage, instead of by sea, where the navy of Octavius is lighter, more mobile and better manned. Antony refuses, since Octavius has dared him to fight at sea. Cleopatra pledges her fleet to aid Antony. However, during the Battle of Actium off the western coast of Greece, Cleopatra flees with her sixty ships, and Antony follows her, leaving his forces to ruin. Ashamed of what he has done for the love of Cleopatra, Antony reproaches her for making him a coward, but also sets this true and deep love above all else, saying "Give me a kiss; even this repays me."
Octavius sends a messenger to ask Cleopatra to give up Antony and come over to his side. She hesitates, and flirts with the messenger, when Antony walks in and angrily denounces her behavior. He sends the messenger to be whipped. Eventually, he forgives Cleopatra and pledges to fight another battle for her, this time on land.
On the eve of the battle, Antony's soldiers hear strange portents, which they interpret as the god Hercules abandoning his protection of Antony. Furthermore, Enobarbus, Antony's long-serving lieutenant, deserts him and goes over to Octavius' side. Rather than confiscating Enobarbus' goods, which Enobarbus did not take with him when he fled, Antony orders them to be sent to Enobarbus. Enobarbus is so overwhelmed by Antony's generosity, and so ashamed of his own disloyalty, that he dies from a broken heart.
Antony loses the battle as his troops desert en masse and he denounces Cleopatra: "This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me." He resolves to kill her for the treachery. Cleopatra decides that the only way to win back Antony's love is to send him word that she killed herself, dying with his name on her lips. She locks herself in her monument, and awaits Antony's return.
Her plan fails: rather than rushing back in remorse to see the "dead" Cleopatra, Antony decides that his own life is no longer worth living. He begs one of his aides, Eros, to run him through with a sword, but Eros cannot bear to do it and kills himself. Antony admires Eros' courage and attempts to do the same, but only succeeds in wounding himself. In great pain, he learns that Cleopatra is indeed alive. He is hoisted up to her in her monument and dies in her arms.
Octavius goes to Cleopatra trying to persuade her to surrender. She angrily refuses since she can imagine nothing worse than being led in chains through the streets of Rome, proclaimed a villain for the ages. She imagines that "the quick comedians / Extemporally will stage us, and present / Our Alexandrian revels: Antony / Shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see / Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness / I' th' posture of a whore." This speech is full of dramatic irony, because in Shakespeare's time Cleopatra really was played by a "squeaking boy" and Shakespeare's play does depict Antony's drunken revels.
Cleopatra is betrayed and taken into custody by the Romans. She gives Octavius what she claims is a complete account of her wealth but is betrayed by her treasurer, who claims she is holding treasure back. Octavius reassures her that he is not interested in her wealth, but Dolabella warns her that he intends to parade her at his triumph.
Cleopatra kills herself using the poison of an asp. She dies calmly and ecstatically, imagining how she will meet Antony again in the afterlife. Her serving maids, Iras and Charmian, die also, with Iras dying from heartbreak and Charmian killing herself with another asp. Octavius discovers the dead bodies and experiences conflicting emotions. Antony's and Cleopatra's deaths leave him free to become the first Roman Emperor, but he also feels some kind of sympathy for them: "She shall be buried by her Antony. / No grave upon the earth shall clip in it / A pair so famous..." He orders a public military funeral.

Review: I was in high school when I saw this version of "Antony and Cleopatra" on the short-lived, occasional "ABC Theatre" on the US ABC television network.
I had read Shakespeare in English Literature class, of course, and had even attended some local productions of Shakespeare plays, but seeing this production totally changed my view of the Bard, even theatre in general.
This was the first time I ever watched a play and felt as if I was watching something real, viewing snippets of life in progress.
The actors weren't mouthing lines and feigning emotions - they were real and they believed, and that made me believe as well.Perhaps the intervening years have affected my memory, dimming the details, but I cannot forget the awe I felt watching Patrick Stewart's Enobarbus.
When I had read the play in school, Enobarbus was a minor character, and his speeches weren't important.
Stewart's performance changed that.
Cleopatra's knowing chuckle as she spoke of her "salad days" was a lament as well a whimsey.At that age, I may have been ripe for a change in my world view, but I cannot deny that it was "Antony and Cleopatra" that provided it.
Ever since I have compared my response to a performance to that I felt from this production.
Patrick Stewart has certainly gone on to "bigger and better" things in the last quarter century, but for me he'll always be Enobarbus, the man who defined Shakespeare for me..
Good acting in television version of the Shakespeare play.
Good acting in this version; however, as befits a lower-budget television version, the sets are awful.
This makes it harder for the actors to convince the viewers that they are indeed watching a story taking place in Rome or Egypt.
Thankfully the actors are able to overcome this obstacle in most scenes.
Patrick Stewart shines as Enobarbus.
I had to blink twice after seeing the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air butler Geoffrey (Joseph Marcell) in a small role.
Janet Suzman plays the role of Cleopatra well.
Suzman isn't as beautiful as one might expect for an actress portraying Cleopatra, but she exhibits the powerful sensuality that surrounds the character..
Though the acting from the Royal Shakespeare company is first rate, this version of Antony and Cleopatra is little more than a photographed stage play.
And a bit long for the cinema at that.The title roles are played well by Richard Johnson and Janet Suzman.
The story has been told three times in contemporary verse in the cinema by Theda Bara, Claudette Colbert, and Elizabeth Taylor as the seductive Queen of Egypt who tried to bend one too many conquerors to her will by use of her legendary charms.William Shakespeare's Mark Antony was a principal character in two of his plays, Julius Caesar where he skillfully picked up the leadership of his late patriarch Caesar and routed the conspirators who assassinated the legendary conqueror.To give legitimacy to his enterprise, Antony was forced into partnership with Octavian Caesar, Julius's grandnephew and a legion commander Lepidus made the triumvir of three.
This play is a story of the dissolution of that partnership caused in no small part by Cleopatra.Sex may have more a part in Antony and Cleopatra than in any other work of Shakespeare.
Historians might very well argue that Mark Antony was using Cleopatra as his entrée to gaining alliances with various Roman dependencies in a power play against Octavian.
But Shakespeare was no doubt titillating his 16th century audience with the tales of Cleopatra's erotic technique.
Ahenobarbus, Antony's good friend played here by Patrick Stewart, says that while Octavia's sister's a pretty thing, when you get entangled with Cleopatra, she's so good that men are never satisfied, they keep hungering for more.
So that's the reason why Antony instead of tending to business and keeping an eye on Octavian gradually loses support in Rome where it really counts.
The guy who was so shrewd in Julius Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra is just a love struck fool.
It's the basis for his tragedy.As for Cleopatra, three times wasn't the charm.
Julius Caesar and Mark Antony may have succumbed although there is debate about who was using who.
But in Octavian as played here by Corin Redgrave is all about business.I was interested in the difference between Ahenobarbus in Cecil B.
DeMille's Cleopatra which starred Claudette Colbert and the way Shakespeare writes him and Stewart plays him.
In the DeMille film, Ahenobarbus is played by C.
Aubrey Smith as a stout old soldier who finds it a matter of conscience to leave Antony and support his beloved Roman Empire which he sees embodied now in Octavian.
Patrick Stewart's Ahenobarbus is far more of an opportunist who makes a calculated move at the right time.The money here was spent on talent with the people mentioned and the others in the cast from the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Down the cast list you'll find Ben Kingsley in a minor role.
Look also for a very touching performance by Rosemary McHale as Charmian, Cleopatra's faithful handmaiden who makes the last journey with her.This version of Antony and Cleopatra is not a movie per se, it lacks the production values of one.
The Elizabeth Taylor Cleopatra had the spectacle to go with the acting.
First the good: this production is traditional: set in Ancient Rome, with appropriate costumes.
Almost none of the actors could deliver a Shakespeare line.
Almost none of the actors could deliver a Shakespeare line.
In Anthony and Cleopatra, some lines are rhymes, some are in blank pentameter, and some are in prose.
Here it hardly mattered, since the director and actors had no respect for words.
Cleopatra (Janet Suzman) was light-weight, shrill, cheap -- far from regal.
With lines blurted out, it was hard to understand what was happening, except that the actors were terribly emotional about something or other.
Whenever someone told a joke, and there is a lot of humor in A&P, the actors would laugh and laugh.
The famous description of Cleopatra by Enobarbus ("Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety....") got lost in the noise.
Than again, it might have been distracting to see the lines the actors were supposed to be speaking, in contract to what they were actually yelling out or whispering..
None better for Shakespeare's play.
No, if you want spectacle, get the Taylor/Burton and forget about Shakespeare.
This DVD wins on the Royal Shakespeare Company's deep bench and Trevor Nunn's meticulous direction.
All do well with the verse, and there is none of the glaring miscasting that strangles the BBC version from 1981.Richard Johnson was briefly married to Kim Novak.
He also turned down the role of James Bond because he didn't want to be trapped in a long term contract.
Here he hides his good looks behind a thick beard, and if he is not as grand as Antony might be, he's certainly got most of it right.
Janet Suzman braves the considerable difficulties of Cleopatra without ever becoming unbearable, which you can't say of her competition.
Octavius is played by Corin Redgrave, who once again projects his father's perpetual air of irritable grievance minus the family charm.Patrick Stewart as Enobarbus pounds his competition to dust, and Ben Kingsley and Tim Pigott-Smith in minor roles are testimony to the strength of the company.
Philip Locke and Derek Godfrey also make strong impressions.This version is shot entirely in a TV studio, now a lost and unfamiliar art form.
This may confuse some viewers who need literal settings, but it frees the rest of us to concentrate on the people, the plot and the poetry.
Shakespeare is not about architecture; the movies do that better.Until the Caedmon audio recording with Anthony Quayle and Pamela Brown resurfaces, this DVD is the best way to absorb a packaged version of Shakespeare's play..
Good performances, average movie adaptation.
Antony and Cleopatra (1974) follows the relationship of Marc Anthony and Cleopatra.It dates from the time of the Parthian war to Cleopatra's suicide with a snake.William Shakespeare is the author of the play this movie is based on.He is believed to have written that around 1606-1607.I read the play a little while before I borrowed the VHS from the library.It's not the finest works by the Bard but good anyway.This TV movie is something very average.It works mainly because of the fine performances the actors give.There's some strength in the performance by Richard Johnson who plays Marc Antony.Janet Suzman is wonderful as the Queen of Eqypt.Patrick Stewart is really good as Enobarbus.The way he turns and talks straight to camera is just magnificent.It's also a real treat to see the young Ben Kingsley as Thidias.The drama works from time to time.There's a lot of that in the end.So this was worth seeing..
This movie altogether made me lose faith in humanity.
Most movies are set to stun you with good acting,or at least some acting.
This movie, however, was set to painfully vaporize the viewer!
Cleopatra terrified me in this film.
Not only was Octavia, the one who was supposed to be plain, more attractive than her, but is also a better actor for the simple reason that I didn't have to listen to her for very long.
Stands out among Shakespeare interpretations on film.
The Royal Shakespeare Company's 1974 production of William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, though a slightly truncated version, stands out among Shakespeare interpretations on film for the quality of the direction and the convincing nature of the performances that bring the main protagonists to life as three-dimensional human beings.
Produced by Trevor Nunn and directed by Jon Scofield, the film stars Richard Johnson as the full-bearded Roman statesman/warrior Mark Antony and Janet Suzman as the voluptuous Egyptian Queen Cleopatra whose seductive allure may have changed world history.
Though filmed entirely in a TV studio with extensive use of close-ups, the RSC interpretation is a riveting and involving experience, especially in contrast to the vastly inferior BBC performance of 1981 (I have not seen the Charlton Heston version recently reviewed here).There is no commonly accepted date of publication for Antony and Cleopatra, although most orthodox historians favor the date of 1607 since it was first entered with the Stationers' Register in 1608.
The play was not performed until at least 1607, perhaps because Cleopatra, the ruler of Egypt, bore striking resemblance to Queen Elizabeth I who died in 1603.
Cleopatra, according to Dr. Ren Draya of Blackburn College calls Cleopatra "larger than life", a woman who cannot be explained but can only be felt.
"She is a woman who stands for power but at the end gains lyricism and achieves nobility." Indeed, according to one reviewer, "Antony and Cleopatra is an unusual tragedy in that its protagonists start out flawed and gradually grow to heroic stature over the course of the play." According to Professor Michael Delahoyde of Washington State University, Cleopatra is suggestive of Queen Elizabeth 1, a "drama queen" who used her feminine wiles to gain political advantage.
Perhaps that is the reason why the play was not performed until after the Queen's death, if indeed it had been written prior to that event.
Shakespeare is mostly faithful to his source material, Plutarch's Lives, though he concentrates on the relationship between Anthony and Cleopatra and ignores some of the historical events reported by Plutarch.
Antony alone is a tragic hero in the Plutarch chronicles but, in Shakespeare, Cleopatra is invested with an equally tragic character and soul-searching introspection, delivering eloquent soliloquies that can be compared to those of the most powerful Shakespearean male protagonists.Shakespeare makes no moral judgment at all on either of the main characters and allows the audience the freedom to become emotionally invested in the drama without being spoon fed the prevalent Puritan morality as in the high moral tone of Mary Sidney Herbert's free translation of Garnier's Antoine, published in 1590.
The story revolves around Antony's decision to provide free rein to his impulses by courting the Queen of Egypt rather than carrying out his soldierly duties in Rome and the consequences of such.
Antony, who was one of the ruling triumvirates of Rome along with Octavius known as Augustus Ceasar (Corin Redgrave) and Lepidus (Raymond Westwell), is summoned back to Rome where he makes a deal with Ceasar to marry his widowed sister Octavia (Mary Rutherford) and return to fight Rome's battles against the aggressive Pompey.Not willing to give up his Egyptian connection, however, Antony unleashes a civil war against Ceasar but is defeated at Actium after many of his trusted men including his close friend Enobarbus (Patrick Stewart) desert him and his reputation begins to decline sharply.
Meanwhile, Cleopatra is torn between saving her life and protecting her children by supporting Caesar or remaining loyal to the defeated Antony.
Based on Trevor Nunn's acclaimed 1972 Royal Shakespeare Company production, this is an excellent adaptation of the Bard's tale of love, duty, war, honour and ambition.
The play nicely explores the contrasting values of Ptolemaic Egypt and the Roman Republic, both of which were approaching their final days during the events portrayed for different but related reasons.
While many of the references to him are retained as it would be difficult to move the plot along if he were not even mentioned, I felt that it was a mistake to excise Pompey's appearances entirely.
He is very conspicuous by his absence, not least because it adversely effects the film's structure in one instance: Mark Antony and Octavius go from being reluctant allies to being at war with each other very suddenly and it is a little jarring.
The production is very much a filmed stage play as the sets are minimalist to basically non- existent.
However, the director Jon Scoffield handles the material very well and I was surprised to discover that this was the only time that he ever directed Shakespeare for the screen.The film stars Richard Johnson in an excellent performance as Mark Antony, a member of the Second Triumvirate of the Roman Republic who spends most of his time in Alexandria with his beloved Cleopatra.
In the wake of Julius Caesar's assassination, she has allied herself with Mark Antony against Caesar's great-nephew and adoptive son Octavius.
While it began as a political arrangement, it has transformed into a passionate love affair by the beginning of the play.
Antony is so bewitched by Cleopatra that he has come to neglect his onerous duties in Rome and seems almost disinterested in the fact that his wife Fulvia and brother Lucius are waging a revolt against his "official" ally Octavius.
In a great moment of self- reflection early in the play, he fears that he is losing himself in dotage but seldom displays the same level of perception afterwards.
Antony is not always a sympathetic character but he is always a compelling one and Johnson does a fantastic job at conveying his deeply felt inner conflict between his love for Cleopatra and his responsibilities to Rome.
Throughout much of the play, Antony seems desperate to convince himself that he is a honourable man, especially when his often ill-advised actions suggest otherwise.
He dies with some degree of contentment, secure in the knowledge that he is "a Roman by a Roman valiantly vanquished."Janet Suzman is suitably theatrical as the Drama Queen of the Nile.
Her performance is generally very good but she does have a tendency to go pretty far over the top whenever she has to shout, with Antony's death scene being the best / worst example of this.
Cleopatra is a fascinating and complex character.
Conversely, she is a strong, powerful and fiercely intelligent woman who knows exactly what she wants and is not afraid to get it.
At one point, she compares ensnaring Antony to catching a fish.
However, she seems to view him not as a prize that she has won but as the love of her life, even if her actions occasionally indicate a lack of loyalty towards him.
In one of the play's most memorable moments, Enobarbus claims that "age cannot wither her nor custom stale her infinite variety," which is indicative of the fact that she is not afraid to use her beauty and sexuality to achieve her aims.
This leads Octavius to describe her as a "whore" and fuels his desire to lead her through Rome as his prisoner.In one of his first major television appearances, Patrick Stewart is wonderful as Enobarbus, Antony's oldest friend and brother-in-arms throughout many a campaign.
In many respects, Enobarbus is the most insightful character in the play as, for instance, he is the first to realise that Antony will return to Cleopatra's side in spite of the fact that he has agreed to marry Octavius' sister Octavia in order to solidify their alliance against the rebellious Pompey.
Over time, he loses his faith in Antony and with good reason as his obsession with Cleopatra has come to cloud his judgement, most notably at the crucial Battle of Actium when he makes the grave strategic error of following her when she and her sixty ships retreat.
Enobarbus defects to Octavius' forces but he is soon overcome with guilt and regret and dies of a broken heart at having betrayed the man whom he loved like a brother.
The always excellent Corin Redgrave is rather smarmy as the mostly unsympathetic antagonist Octavius.
I say "mostly" as many of his criticisms of Antony's neglect of his duties in the early part of the play were perfectly justified.
That said, he is a ruthless man full of vaulting ambition who proves to be a powerful enemy to the title characters.
The film also featured strong performances in roles of varying size from Rosemary McHale as Charmian, Philip Locke as Agrippa, Raymond Westwell as Lepidus, Tim Pigott-Smith as Proculeius, Ben Kingsley as Thidius, Joseph Marcell as Eros, W.
Morgan Sheppard as Scarus and Darien Angadi as Alexas, a role which he would reprise in the 1981 BBC version.Overall, this is an extremely effective adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy.