Before Philo is even finished making his comments, Antony and Cleopatra enter the stage. Philo’s short speech (of only 13 lines) thus prepares the audience for what they see and hear next.
Cleopatra criticizes Antony for always worrying about his wife: “Fulvia perchance is angry” (21). And she also criticizes him for always doing what the much younger Octavius Caesar tells him to do: “the scarce-bearded Caesar” often sends a “powerful mandate” or order to Antony (22-23). Cleoptara actually wants Antony all for herself. She is jealous of Fulvia and envious that Octavius can order Antony away from her. So, her criticism is her attempt to make the proud Antony become angry about what Fulvia or Octavius wants him to do.
And Cleopatra is successful. Antony responds by stating, “Let Rome in Tiber melt” (35). Rome is, of course, the center of the Roman Empire. It is the center of the Roman government. The Tiber is the mighty river that passes through Rome. Antony is thus saying that, for all he cares, the mighty Tiber River can wash Rome away. Antony wants to do what he wants when he wants to do it. And what he wants at that moment is to be in the arms of the enchanting and alluring Cleopatra.
Of course, the problem is that a leader of the tremendous Roman Empire cannot always do what he likes as he likes. The responsibility to the state must come first. Otherwise, the leader is no longer effective and will eventually lose his position of power, authority, and respect. However, when Antony is with Cleopatra, he cannot think reasonably. His emotions overpower his better judgment. And without such judgment, Antony cannot hope to remain as one of the Triumvirate.
At the end of the first scene, Philo tells Demetrius that Antony “comes too short of that great property which still should go with Antony” (60-61). By the word property, Philo is suggesting judgment, reason, and leadership. The word still means always. Antony should always be in possession of sound judgment and the ability to lead. But Philo is also using understatement when he asserts that Antony “comes too short” of possessing (or does not seem to have enough of) those qualities. Actually, Antony does not seem to have those qualities at all.
The second scene begins with a humorous dialogue that, at first, appears to have nothing to do with the plot of the play. Charmian, Alexas, and other servants or followers of Cleopatra speak to a soothsayer (or fortune-teller). The word sooth means truth: a soothsayer always tells the truth. The scene is predominantly comic relief (a short break from the tragic events of the tale). And Renaissance humor was always full of bawdy or obscene jokes. When the soothsayer tells Charmian that she will live longer than Cleopatra, Charmian is pleased with the prediction and states, “I love long life better than figs” (28). The word, figs, was Renaissance slang and refers to genitals. Charmian is thus stating that she loves a long life even more than having sex. And, as the later lines reveal, Charmian loves having sex. The use of the word figs, though, becomes more serious as it also foreshadows the tragic conclusion of the play. A rustic brings a basket of figs to Cleopatra at the end of the play. In the basket are asps (or aspics), small poisonous and deadly snakes like the cobra or viper. Cleopatra uses these snakes to commit suicide. And Charmian’s long life is not long at all. She too uses the asps to kill herself. She lives only a few minutes longer than does Cleopatra.
Another bawdy Renaissance joke occurs when the soothsayer tells Iras that her fortune or fate will be the same as Charmian’s fate (indicating that they will both die at the same time). Iras, however, thinks of the fortune as a joke. She asks the soothsayer if she will have at least “an inch of fortune” more than Charmian (51). An “inch of fortune” means literally having just a slightly better fate or destiny. But when Charmian asks where Iras would like that inch, Iras responds, “Not in my husband’s nose” (54). Rather, she wants that extra inch in her husband’s penis. Iras, like Charmian, also enjoys having sex.
The soothsayer’s predictions, despite all of the obscene jokes, do come true. The soothsayer, then, is a symbol of fate. The scene, in the disguise of comic relief and bawdy humor, is really about death. It is about the short lives that Charmian and Iras will have as they tragically follow their mistress and queen to death.
Shortly following the soothsayer scene is a sequence involving Antony and some messengers.
The first messenger is afraid to tell some bad news to Antony (line 84). The messenger is afraid that Antony will become angry and take out his anger physically upon the messenger. He thinks that Antony may hurt him. But Antony tells him that only a messenger who is a “fool or coward” would be afraid to reveal bad news (85). Antony will not blame the messenger personally for whatever bad or terrible thing has happened. Antony is behaving reasonably. When he is not with Cleopatra, Antony is a rational and sensible man. And he knows that getting angry at a messenger would be irrational.
Actually, these lines foreshadow another messenger scene that comes later. When a messenger brings bad news to Cleopatra, the Queen does indeed take out her anger on the messenger. She actually attacks the messenger. By contrast, then, Cleopatra appears to be always emotional and irrational.
The first messenger informs Antony that enemy forces in Asia have seized property belonging to the Roman Empire (lines 88-92). This is property that Antony and his army should have been protecting. But Antony has been neglecting his duties because of his desire to be with Cleopatra. Antony realizes that his relationship with Cleopatra is hurting both himself and the Roman Empire. He describes himself with a complex metaphor: “We bring forth weeds when our quick winds lie still, and our ills told us is as our earing” (98-100). Antony is using a farm metaphor. A field that should be used for growing corn or some other grain will grow weeds instead if the farmer is idle and does not work the land. The word winds refers to the effort (or lack of effort) of the farmer. The word earing refers to crops, like ears of corn. The lazy farmer will have no corn or wheat. Instead, he can only harvest weeds. Antony loses a bountiful harvest: that is, he loses valuable land. He has been neglecting his duty, and that is bringing harm to Rome. Antony knows very well that he is at fault. He knows that his proper place should be protecting the Roman Empire.
Another messenger informs Antony that his wife, Fulvia, is dead. After the messenger leaves, Antony delivers a short soliloquy expressing his sorrow (lines 111-19). In the past, because he wished to be with Cleopatra always, Antony had wished that Fulvia would die. But now that it has happened, Antony regrets those feelings. Antony refers to Cleopatra as a “present pleasure” that no longer is so pleasurable (113). He declares that he “must from this enchanting queen break off” (117). Cleopatra has bewitched Antony: love is a kind of magic that can trap and overpower even the strongest of men. Antony realizes the harm that his “idleness” – his time with Cleopatra – has created (119). Antony, indirectly, then, is blaming himself for Fulvia’s death.
If Antony had not been neglecting his duties and his wife, Fulvia would still be alive. Antony does place some blame upon Cleopatra. But he realizes that most of the blame rests upon himself.