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Much more central to Shakespeare's treatment of love in Antony and Cleopatra is the blocking force created by their public prominence and by the pressure of public roles on supposedly private emotions. How far do you agree?

By Craig Roberts

Antony and Cleopatra are not merely public figures, for their prominence borders on the colossal, the divine; they are figures which possess a god-like status. Antony is often associated with "Mars", and Cleopatra "Venus" -the gods of war and love. Thus their divine labels are also tools for categorisation: Antony is the god of war, the fighter; Cleopatra the goddess of love, the object of affection and passion. Indeed, in the first scene, Antony's dialogue with Cleopatra borders on a Petrarchan discourse: Cleopatra is being wooed in her divine role as love personified.
However, Antony and Cleopatra exceed such divine presentations: they surpass these god-like frameworks to be perceived in even greater terms. As Enobarbus suggests, Cleopatra is a woman capable of "O'er-picturing that Venus where we see / The fancy outwork nature": and to excel a goddess is to excel divinity itself, to become not merely great but unimaginably public. Knight muses in The Imperial Theme, that the love of Antony and Cleopatra must be as immense as their presentations; that audiences should perceive their colossal natures as indicators of the strength of their affections; and I, in part, agree with such a conclusion. The destruction of their relationship is thus made more poignant by the colossal nature of their love.
An alternative perception would see Antony and Cleopatra as the objects of excessive exaggeration. They are not merely individuals, but the embodiments of roles. According to Philo, Antony glows "like plated Mars"; and in Caesar's imagination Cleopatra is a figure conceived "In th' abiliments of the goddess Isis". Such perceptions are imaginative extremes, decorations of the individual characters. According to Eros, "the worship of the whole world lies" with Antony -and to worship an individual is to exaggerate their character to an extreme of religious idolatry: it is neither a realistic perception, nor a healthy one; and Antony is doomed to fall from the pedestal on which he is so often placed. He is merely a "man of men" and not a god. Cleopatra is equally exaggerated through the presentations of other characters. Few will forget Enobarbus' exaltation in act II, scene ii, where she is placed on a barge surrounded by children "like smiling cupids" and elevated to the status of a deity. Nonetheless, she is destined to fall from her pedestal just like Antony, for she is "No more but [e'en] a woman". Thus Shakespeare presents his audience with a culture where the perception and exaggeration of roles has become a disease. But Shakespeare's extreme polarisation of roles, in this global and almighty sense, helps to distinguish the inherent differences in a character's nature and their function. Cleopatra the queen is not Cleopatra the woman; nor Antony the man, Antony the fighter.
Cleopatra is usually perceived in her role, as a "Most gracious Majesty!" or a "most sweet queen" and thus she is forced to contest her true nature as a woman, with a woman's needs and desires. Equally, she recognises that Antony the man has been surpassed by Antony the warrior through the coinage of his name:

I'll humbly signify what is in his name,
That magical word of war
(III.i.30-1)

and a name is nothing more than a label, a "magical word" to inspire admiration, fear, or contempt. Indeed, Cleopatra indicates that perceptions of Antony are intrinsically unstable, that "Though he be painted one way like a Gorgon, / The other way ís a Mars", and the audience should be vary of perceiving Antony in his exaggerated form, for it is merely the coinage of imagination impressed on an individual. The audience is also made aware of the instability of perceptions in act I, scene ii, where Antony and Cleopatra are mistakenly identified:

Eno. Hush, here comes Antony.
Char. Not he, the Queen.

It is dangerous for an audience to perpetuate such exaggerated, and often misguided, perceptions of character; for ultimately these rigid and crippling perceptions play a part in the destruction of their love affair.

It is obvious that Antony and Cleopatra, as mere human characters, will not be able to fulfil the expectations of their perceived natures. But this inevitable failure to match the peoples' expectations is a prominent threat to their love affair. There is an underlying violence in the exaggerations of Antony, for he has "burst / The buckles on his breast" and although this violent tone reflects Antony's strength, the comment originates in Philo and implies the violence of the people: a violence that hangs like a shadow over Antony's and Cleopatra's love.
The concern of the people, for Antony and Cleopatra to fulfil the expectations of state, reflects the dominant antagonism of the play: the conflict between the Self as a person with human needs, and the Self as a role with responsibilities. Antony is "The Demi-Atlas of this earth", and although an exaggerated perception in itself, it is a fitting image: Antony bears the weight of excessive responsibilities on his back; if he stumbles, the world crashes down. Indeed, his love for Cleopatra poses a strong threat to the political world; for in his courtship he "will piece / Her opulent throne with kingdoms" and throw the entire political sphere into confusion. Although this is a symbolic sacrifice of land and rule, the repercussions it has on Roman empire are severe: ostensibly, Antony is willing to sacrifice the lands of the empire to Egypt, the enemy. He is, from the racist and power-hungry perspective of Rome -expressed by Philo-

The triple pillar of the world transform'd
Into a strumpet's fool
(I.i.12-3)

and his foolery undermines the sanctity and health of the Roman state. His patriotism, -the primary quality of his Mars-like caricature -is threatened by love; and thus Roman values of patriotism and valour are thrown into turmoil. One should not forget, either, that Antony's presence in Egypt leads to Fulvia's warring against Caesar -the threat posed by Antony's love for Cleopatra is a very real one, and not merely an undermining of Roman ideals. Indeed, Antony would willingly "Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch / Of the rangíd Empire fall!" -an overt indication of the anti-patriotic tendencies engendered by his love. It is the fear of repercussions from this love that embitters many of the characters into a general state of opposition. Scarus laments, with bitterness, that "With very ignorance, we have kiss'd away / Kingdoms and provinces" by allowing Antony's relationship with Cleopatra to go unchallenged. But whether the opposition arises merely from the fear of repercussions, or something more deeply ingrained, is another issue entirely.
Love is the domain of the female, of "Venus", and Cleopatra is parcelled into this feminized role by the male characters. Politics and war are the domains of the man, of "Mars", and Antony is equally positioned into this masculine situation. However, Antony becomes the lover of Cleopatra, and thus feminizes his masculine role; and Cleopatra, as ruler of Egypt, stands apart from the female situation of lover, wife or mother. It should be noted that

Gender roles are polarized sexually, emotionally, and socially within a patriarchal framework and Antony's and Cleopatra's relationship challenges this patriarchal structure. Perhaps this is the true motive for opposing their love: Antony is transgressing the boundaries of the male, by becoming the Petrarchan model of a lover; and Cleopatra, as queen and ruler, is transgressing the boundaries of the female situation by encroaching on the masculine sphere of politics. However, this is a tentative suggestion, for the play often situates the characters within these traditional gender roles. At the beginning of act IV, scene iv, the exchange of Antony and Cleopatra places the characters firmly in their expected roles:

Ant. Eros, mine armor, Eros!
Cleo. Sleep a little.

Cleopatra desires Antony to remain with her in the traditionally female domain of the bed; while, conversely, Antony desires the domain of the male, the domain of conflict and war (symbolised by his request for armour). Ultimately, Antony has a "captain's heart", and can not fulfil the expectations of a feminized lover. Indeed, Antony voices his concern to love in act I, scene ii, where he muses:

These strong Egyptian fetters I must break,
Or lose myself in dotage.

He is afraid to love, afraid to lose his masculine identity. He is a man trapped in a feminized romance; as he explains to Caesar -the challenger to his masculinity -

poisoned hours had bound me up
From mine own knowledge.

In this instance, knowledge is interchangeable with manhood. Cleopatra, symbolised as an asp, is obviously the poisoner of his hours; but by likening her love to poison, he degrades and insults their love. Thus Antonyís fear of feminized love, his fear of becoming more akin to a eunuch, is the weakness that allows Caesar to split his relationship with Cleopatra. Politics, as a masculine sphere, interposes itself between the feminized lovers.
To rejuvenate the political order, to reconcile the warring of Fulvia, Antony is bound to marry Octavia. However, this "ill rooted" marriage is a rank weed which will play its part in Antony's and Cleopatra's downfall. As Franklin M. Dickey commented, Antony's marriage with Octavia exemplifies "the incompatibility of politics with private desire" for, as Menas suggests, "the policy of that purpose made more / in the marriage than the love of the parties." Shakespeare also uses stage directions to indicate the purpose of the marriage: for in act II, scene iii, Caesar and Antony enter with "Octavia between them" as some form of intermediary. She is nothing more than a token of unity and peace. If this were not sufficiently overt, Antony addresses the issue by exclaiming:

I make this marriage for my peace,
I' th' East my pleasure lies
(II.iii.40-1)

and thus Roman politics separates the lovers and Antony allows "The heart of brothers [to] govern in our loves, / And sway our great designs!"
But it is not politics alone that results in the destruction of the relationship; for although Antony attempts suicide by "Falling on his sword" -a Roman method of honourable death -he fails to succeed and merely wounds himself (albeit mortally so). Thus the Roman way is not solely responsible for the tragedy, for the Roman way fails in Antony's suicide: but as a symbol, -the sword as a phallus -masculinity is in some way to blame for his death. Antony thrusts himself on his phallic sword, and, at a symbolic level, he thrusts himself on his penis -the symbol of his manhood.
However, to claim that the only blockage of the relationship arises from a collection of misguided perceptions, political problems, and masculine forces; would prove an inadequate conclusion: for there are also degrees of duplicity and artifice within the relationship which help instigate and develop its tragic conclusion. Indeed, the idea of duplicity is echoed by the geography of the play. References to the "varying tide", the "varying shore" and the "swell at full tide" all point to the idea of character variance, and Knight saw it as an indicator of Antony's varying love for Cleopatra. Indeed, after the global scale of their presentations, an audience can not help but see such references as an indication of their ever-changing natures; for, as Knight suggested, "There is continually this wavering, ebb and flow, of the spirit, a shifting, varying psychology." It is these changing natures that blocks the development of the relationship.
Charmian, in act II, scene v, urges Cleopatra to remain distanced and neutral in her bearing; but in a relationship, where unity is the principle drive of love, to "keep yourself within yourself" as Charmian advocates, would result in emotional estrangement. The internalising of emotions comes between their expression in a relationship; and this is as much to blame for the tragedy as any other reason. Indeed, this sense of female duplicity, of seeming one thing, while internalising the truth, is developed by Iras in act I, scene, ii, as she comments:

you shall paint when you are old.

Although referring to make-up, and the disguising of age; Iras' comment illustrates that the truth is often concealed by characters: and in a relationship of concealment and duplicity, private emotions may not be shared or trusted. Indeed, Cleopatra is capable of duplicity, for she asks Charmian to bend the truth in order to cause Antony discomfort:

If you find him sad,
Say I am dancing; if in mirth, report
That I am sudden sick.
(I.iii.3-4)

and although her request may be taken as a romantic jest, as a game of fun with no serious intention, such an easiness with duplicity reflects the dubious nature of her love. In some respects Cleopatra treats love like a sport, for in fishing she would catch them up and "think them every one an Antony, / And say, `Ah, ha! y' are caught." However, although I have discoloured the nature of Cleopatra's love, I do not doubt its sincerity for "her passions are made of nothing but the finest parts of pure love." I merely wish to stress, as Mason did regarding the play's language, that thematically "there is a shadowy alternative of imputed being" and this undercurrent must affect how we see the relationship. Cleopatra's duplicity, one must remember, instigates Antony's suicide; for through the medium of a messenger, she informs him of her death. It is not the public sphere which is to blame in this, but her own folly.
The differences in the natures of the characters may be defined much further. Egypt, as a luxurious location of feasts and grandeur, is a highly sexualised place. Rome, on the other hand, is characterised by politicians, thinkers, and scenes of intellectuals. What the audience is presented with is not a blocking of intimacy by public prominence, but the blocking of intimacy by racial difference. As Samuel Taylor Coleridge comments: "the audience is presented with ìthe love of passion and appetite opposed to the love of affection and instinct" -in other words: the love of a Roman stands in opposition to the love of an Egyptian.
Cleopatra is a highly sexualised woman, and a symbol of Egyptian luxury, lust and passion. She uses sexual innuendo in her considerations of Antony's war-horse - "happy horse, to bear the weight of Antony!" -and her language often betrays her sexual nature -as it does in act II, scene v, where she addresses the messenger from Rome:

Ram thou thy fruitful tidings in mine ears,
That long time have been barren.
(II.v.23-4)

But Antony, as a Roman, is dominated, not by the sexual and the luxurious, but by the intellectual and the patriotic. Cleopatraís comment, "A Roman thought hath strook him", illustrates the degree of difficulty Antony has in fitting into an Egyptian culture. Although not a great thinker or strategist, Antony remains bound to intellectual Rome, the place of "Roman thought". The underlying racial differences between his Roman mind, and Cleopatra's "tawny front" may also be at the root of why their relationship fails. If we consider Shakespeare's tragedy Othello, then the blocking force of racial stigma is not such a ludicrous possibility in the opposition to this relationship.
Many individuals hold the opinion that the principle opposition to the relationship of Antony and Cleopatra originates in the blocking force of politics. However, politics, as I earlier alluded, is often a mask for masculine competition. Antony is regarded by Caesar as

my brother, my competitor
(V.i.42)

and thus their relationship is debased as a mere sport, as men vying for dominion. Antony and Caesar are two patriarchal figures of power -one physical and one intellectual -and in a culture of imperial dominance, the presence of two patriarchs can not be sustained. One must be defeated and order reinstated. Indeed, Antony and Caesar "could not stall together", and this allusion to war-horses indicates the strength of their physical conflict (although it is somewhat ironic that Caesar would compare himself to a symbol of physical combat). Caesar wants to be the "Sole sir o' th' world" -in Cleopatra's opinion -and such a view lowers his conflict with Antony to a childish squabble. Ultimate dominance, to become "The universal landlord", is Caesar's goal; and, indeed, it strikes me merely as the childish and conceited desire for power and admiration, the desire to

Let the world see / His nobleness well acted
(V.ii.45)

and to parade and revel in masculine triumph. Caesar is the predator which comes between Antony's and Cleopatra's relationship. But as the ultimate "man of men", Antony is destined to be the ultimate target of patriarchal rivalry -his prominence in public life makes him vulnerable to competition. Cleopatra recognises this in her belief:

my oblivion is a very Antony
(I.iii.90)

but the subtleties of her comment are often overlooked. Her oblivion is an "Antony", it is a name, and nothing more than a name. She recognises that, ultimately, their relationship will be obliterated by their roles in societies, their labels as `Antony' and `Cleopatra' : one meaning warrior, the other queen. The problem with the play, as I earlier mentioned, is that the citizens are unable to distinguish between the people and their roles; between desires and responsibilities. But Cleopatra recognises this, and reconciles it in her own mind with her brave exclamation:

since my lord
Is Antony again, I will be Cleopatra
(III.xiii.185-6)

She does not mean Antony the warrior and Cleopatra the queen: those perceptions are now dead to her; rather she sees Antony the man and, finally, Cleopatra the woman:

No more but [e'en] a woman, and commanded
By such poor passion as the maid that milks
And does the meanest chares.
(IV.xv.73-5)

and by comparing herself to a maid doing chores and housework, she not only distances herself from her royal role and responsibilities: she obliterates them entirely. It is an irony, therefore, that Caesar, who is sadly ignorant, still sees Cleopatra in death, as "being royal" -he could not be furthest from the truth. Cleopatra is being noble to herself.
However, Caesar is not alone in his narrow-minded view of Cleopatra's role. Guards lament: "The star is fallín", and continue to perpetuate their extravagant perceptions; but the audience must forgive them. Indeed, if we must see Cleopatra and Antony brought down by their `globalness' (to coin a phrase) then we must also accept that they themselves brought it about. Cleopatra likens Antony to the Titan in act V, scene ii, by remarking, "His legs bestrid the ocean"; and Antony, in act IV, scene xv, sees himself as "the greatest prince o' th' world". They perceive themselves in an extreme global manner: some of the blame must lie with them. Indeed, it is ironically the ignorant Caesar that comes closest to the crux