Dramatis Personae
MARK ANTONY: A Triumvir of Rome.
OCTAVIUS CAESAR: Another Triumvir, a cold, calculating politician.
LEPIDUS: The third, weak Triumvir.
CLEOPATRA: Queen of Egypt.
ENOBARBUS: Antony's loyal friend and soldier.
OCTAVIA: Caesar's sister, married to Antony for political alliance.
CHARMIAN and IRAS: Attendants on Cleopatra.
ACT I
SCENE I. Alexandria. A room in Cleopatra's palace.
Enter MARK ANTONY and CLEOPATRA.
ANTONY
Nay, but this dotage of our general's
O'erflows the measure: those his goodly eyes,
That o'er the files and musters of the war
Have glow'd like plated Mars, now bend, now turn,
The office and devotion of their view
Upon a tawny front: his captain's heart,
Which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst
The buckles on his breast, reneges all temper,
And is become the bellows and the fan
To cool a gipsy's lust. Look, where they come!
Take but good note, and you shall see in him
The triple pillar of the world transform'd
Into a strumpet's fool.
CLEOPATRA
If it be love indeed, tell me how much.
ANTONY
There's beggary in the love that can be reckon'd.
CLEOPATRA
I'll set a bourn how far to be beloved.
ANTONY
Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new earth.
Enter ENOBARBUS.
ENOBARBUS
News, my good lord, from Rome!
ANTONY
Grates me: the sum.
CLEOPATRA
Nay, hear them, Antony:
Fulvia perchance is dead; or Caesar, arm'd,
May stomach that mine honour is so chief
In making him thus dote.
ANTONY
Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch
Of the ranged empire fall! Here is my space.
Kingdoms are clay: our dungy earth alike
Feeds beast as man: the nobleness of life
Is to do thus; when such a mutual pair
And such a twain can do 't, in which I bind,
On pain of punishment, the world to weet
We stand up peerless.
ENOBARBUS
The news is bad, my lord. Fulvia your wife is dead.
ANTONY
The hand that made the news I should have punished,
But here's a queen that makes death proud to take her.
I must to Rome, I must. My duty calls.
Exit ANTONY.
SCENE II. Rome. A room in Caesar's house.
Enter OCTAVIUS CAESAR and LEPIDUS.
CAESAR
You may see, Lepidus, what a night of great,
That from the loop-holes of the sky, the stars
Peep forth.
To a messenger
What news from Alexandria? The letters
Bear ill news of Antony's conduct.
MESSENGER
He feasts and drinks and wastes the time with Egypt's Queen.
He scorns the state, my lord.
LEPIDUS
'Tis not his fault;
He is a soldier, given to sports and pleasures.
CAESAR
This is not well, Lepidus. Antony must return.
The world is split in three, and he neglects his third.
The time of war is near, Sextus Pompey is afoot.
We need a solid front.
Enter ANTONY
ANTONY
Caesar, I am returned. My wife is dead.
My duty calls me back to the affairs of Rome.
CAESAR
Your conduct, Antony, has been less than Roman.
We need a bond, a strength to keep our peace.
My sister, Octavia, is free of suit,
A noble, gentle lady. Take her hand in marriage,
To bind our hearts in one, our empires too.
ANTONY
I take her hand, to seal our peace and might.
A Roman duty, a Roman sacrifice.
Exeunt.
SCENE III. Alexandria. A room in the palace.
Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and IRAS.
CLEOPATRA
He's gone! He's fled! The Roman has forsaken me!
He goes to marry Caesar's sister, a cold, Roman maid!
The world is lost, my heart is broke, my joy is done!
CHARMIAN
Patience, madam. He will return to you.
CLEOPATRA
I sent a messenger to see the girl.
What is her height? Her hair? Her very soul?
If she be short and ugly, he'll return!
My love is lost, my glory is undone!
Exit, distraught.
ACT II
SCENE I. Rome. A room in Caesar's house.
Enter ANTONY and OCTAVIA.
ANTONY
My dearest wife, the bonds of Rome demand
My presence at the war against Pompey.
My duty calls, though my heart stays with you.
OCTAVIA
My lord, I know my duty as a wife.
I married for the peace of Rome, the bond
Between my brother and my noble husband.
Go forth and fight, I shall await your safe return.
ANTONY
A noble woman, cold as Roman marble,
But full of duty and a virtuous soul.
(Aside)
Yet Alexandria calls, the warm Egyptian sun,
The Queen whose passion burns like fire.
Exit ANTONY.
Enter CAESAR.
CAESAR
Sister, he seems a man of duty now.
The marriage mends the rift, the state is safe.
But I do doubt his Roman heart is true.
OCTAVIA
He speaks of duty, sir, and I believe him.
CAESAR
I pray you do. The world is full of trickery.
Exit CAESAR.
SCENE II. Alexandria. A room in the palace.
Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and IRAS.
CLEOPATRA
The messenger is back! The Roman wife?
How does she look? Is she a worthy rival?
MESSENGER
She is a plain and simple maid, my Queen.
Her voice is low, her hair a simple brown,
Her height is short, she lacks your fire and grace.
CLEOPATRA
Ha! Then he will return! He loves the fire,
The passion and the wit that I possess!
The Roman fool will soon be back in Egypt's arms!
Go, Charmian, prepare the barge of gold,
The music, and the silks. We'll make him fall in love
Once more, and scorn his cold and duty-bound wife.
Exeunt, full of glee.
ACT III
SCENE I. The War Camp against Pompey.
Enter ANTONY and ENOBARBUS.
ANTONY
The war is done, Pompey is defeated.
Now for Rome and the cold Octavia.
My heart is full of fire, a burning flame
For Egypt's Queen, the star of all my life.
ENOBARBUS
My lord, your duty calls you to your wife.
To break the bond is to declare a war
With Caesar, a cold and calculating foe.
ANTONY
Let Caesar rage! I am the triple pillar of the world!
My love for Cleopatra is more than Rome,
More than the world, more than my duty's call!
I shall to Egypt, to my heart, my soul!
Exit ANTONY.
ENOBARBUS
The general is lost, a goner and a fool.
His passion blinds him to the Roman truth.
This love shall be his ruin, and ours as well.
I fear a war is coming, a bloody end.
Exit ENOBARBUS.
SCENE II. Rome. A room in Caesar's house.
Enter CAESAR and OCTAVIA.
OCTAVIA
My brother, Antony has gone to Egypt!
He scorns his wife, his duty, and all Rome!
CAESAR
The villain! The traitor! I knew his heart was false!
He chose the strumpet queen over his duty,
Over my sister, over all of us!
This means war! We shall march on Egypt's shores,
And bring the traitor to his knees!
The world is not enough for Antony's great pride,
So we shall make it his own bloody tomb!
Exeunt, full of rage and purpose.
ACT IV
SCENE I. The sea off Actium. A great naval battle is afoot.
Alarms and trumpets. ANTONY and ENOBARBUS are on the deck of a ship.
ANTONY
The battle turns against us! The Egyptian fleet
Doth flee like cowards! They cut their sails and run!
The Queen herself doth lead the shameful flight!
ENOBARBUS
My lord, you must pursue her, save the fleet!
All is lost if you do stay and fight alone!
ANTONY
I follow her, my heart is in her keeping!
My honour lost, my glory all undone!
A strumpet's fool, a traitor to my men!
He rushes off to follow Cleopatra's ship.
ENOBARBUS
The general's lost, his reason lost to love.
He flies from glory, flies from his own honour.
I must forsake him, for he is a fool.
My loyalty is dead, my heart doth break
To leave a man I loved, but love no more
For his base folly.
Exit ENOBARBUS, to join Caesar.
SCENE II. Alexandria. A room in the palace.
Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and IRAS.
CLEOPATRA
We fled the fight! The shame is all our own!
Antony is lost, the battle is undone!
We must prepare for Caesar's coming wrath.
I shall hide in my monument, and send a lie
That I am dead, to see if he still loves me.
CHARMIAN
A dangerous game, my Queen. The man is mad with rage.
Enter ANTONY, furious.
ANTONY
You fled the fight, you coward of a queen!
You ruined me, my honour, and my cause!
I should have stayed and fought like a true Roman!
CLEOPATRA
My lord, forgive me! Fear did make me flee!
But I do love you, with a heart so true!
ANTONY
Begone! I have no wife, no love, no queen!
I am a ruin, a broken, lonely man!
He storms out.
CLEOPATRA
Send the news, the lie, that I am dead!
It is my only hope to win him back,
Ere Caesar's legions march upon our shores.
Exit CLEOPATRA
ACT V
SCENE I. Alexandria. A room in the palace.
Enter ANTONY and his SERVANT.
ANTONY
The Queen is dead, they say. She killed herself
For love of me, the noble, passionate soul!
O, I am a villain, a man of stone, to treat her so!
My life is done, my honour is all lost.
There is no Roman act I can perform,
But to die nobly, like a soldier true.
Give me my sword, I shall fall on it,
And join my love in death's cold, silent embrace.
SERVANT
O, my good lord, do not commit this deed!
ANTONY
It is my will! My final act of love!
He falls on his sword, but the wound is not mortal. He groans in pain.
I am not dead! The coward's hand did shake!
Take me to the monument, to her cold, silent tomb!
Exeunt, supporting the wounded Antony.
SCENE II. The monument of Cleopatra.
Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, on top of the monument.
CLEOPATRA
He believes the lie! He comes to mourn his love!
Enter the SERVANT below, with the dying ANTONY.
SERVANT
Mistress, my lord is wounded, near to death!
He begs to see your face one final time!
CLEOPATRA
I cannot come down, the door is sealed!
But pull him up, with ropes and loving hands!
(They use ropes to haul the dying Antony up to the monument.)
ANTONY
O, my love! My life! My queen!
A Roman soldier, and a Roman end,
But in the arms of my Egyptian love!
CLEOPATRA
My lord, my Antony! My heart doth break!
He dies in her arms.
Enter CAESAR, ENOBARBUS, OFFICERS, at the base of the monument.
CAESAR
The play is done, the traitors both are caught.
Antony is dead. Now for the Queen of Egypt.
Come down, fair Queen, and bow before your master.
CLEOPATRA
I will not be a captive in your Roman streets!
I am a Queen, and I shall die a Queen!
Bring forth the asps, the snakes of noble death!
My final act shall be a glorious end,
To join my love, my Antony, in death's sweet, silent sleep!
She takes the asp and holds it to her breast. Charmian and Iras do the same.
CAESAR
The woman is a queen, even in her death!
A noble end to a most tragic tale.
The world is ours, the empire is made whole,
But at the cost of two great lovers' soul.
Bear them to their rest, in a single, glorious tomb,
A lesson to the world of love and tragic doom.
Curtain.
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