Antony and Cleopatra Flashcards
Stage direction which shows Cleopatra’s theatricality
“She hales him up and down”
How Antony immediately establishes authority over Caesar in Act 2 Scene 2
by asking him to “Sit, sir.” after Caesar says “Sit.”
How Antony likens his marriage with Octavia to a transaction
He says to Caesar “dispatch we / The business we have talked of.”
Political context: Pompey is annoyed with Antony, which shows how interpersonal relationships can have a significant effect on global affairs (they are on the verge of armed conflict as a result)
“I came before you here a man prepared to take this offer. But Mark Antony put me to some impatience.”
How Enobarbus describes Cleopatra’s theatricality
“We cannot call her winds and waters sighs and tears; they are greater storms and tempests than almanacs can report”
How Enobarbus describes Cleopatra’s majesty
“The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne […] The oars were silver […] O’erpicturing that Venus”
How Cleopatra describes herself previous to knowing Antony
“I was / A morsel for a monarch”
Positive description of Cleopatra
“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.”
2 quotations that portray Antony as a strong soldier
- Caesar: “Was borne so like a soldier that thy cheek / So much as lanked not”
- Cleo: “the arm / And burgonet of men”
2 quotations to show how Antony has changed since becoming infatuated with Cleopatra
“The triple pillar of the world transformed into a strumpet’s fool”
“He fishes, drinks, and wastes / The lamps of night in revel; is not more manlike / Than Cleopatra”
Quotation to show how Antony indulges in pleasure
Pompey says “Keep his brain fuming. Epicurean cooks, / Sharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite”
What the Soothsayer says to Antony in comparison to Caesar
“Near him thy angel / Becomes afeard. […] Thy lustre thickens / When he shines by.”
Cleopatra describing Antony as a lover versus Antony as a soldier
“Though he be painted one way like a Gorgon, the other way’s a Mars”
Enobarbus’ (correct) prediction in Act 2 Scene 6 about what Antony will do
“He will to his Egyptian dish again.”
2 quotations to show Antony’s love for Cleopatra
“There’s beggary in the love that can be reckoned”
“Let Rome in Tiber melt and the wide arch / Of the ranged empire fall!”
Antony realising that he must return to his duties in Rome
“These strong Egyptian fetters I must break, / Or lose myself in dotage”
3 key quotations from Antony’s argument with Caesar
“I learn you take things ill which are not so, / Or, being, concern you not.”
“I know you could not lack.”
“No, Lepidus, let him speak. The honour is sacred which he talks on now, / Supposing that I lacked it.”
(conveys his political wisdom)
Antony’s excuse for ignoring his duties
“Poisoned hours had bound me up / From mine own knowledge”
In his first scene with Octavia (his new wife), Antony is already apologising to her for his behaviour
“I have not kept my square”
2 quotations to show Cleopatra’s reaction to Fulvia’s death
“Can Fulvia die?”
“Now I see, I see, / In Fulvia’s death how mine received shall be”
Cleopatra describing how much Antony means to her
“O, my oblivion is a very Antony”
Quote to show the extent of Cleopatra’s love for Antony - she cannot survive without him
“Give me to drink mandragora.” […] “That I might sleep out this great gap of time / My Antony is away.”
When Cleopatra is missing Antony and sexual allusion is used to convey this
“O happy horse, to bear the weight of Antony!”
2 occasions in which Cleopatra echoes Antony
“He shall have every day a several greeting, / Or I’ll unpeople Egypt.”
“Melt Egypt into Nile”
