anthony+cleopatra=<3

Antony & Cleopatra Extract #12 (II, 6)
From l. 50 'The beds i'th'East are soft' to l. 83 'Come.'

This extract describes a meeting between Antony, Caesar, Lepidus and Pompey. There is also a dialogue between Enobarbus and Pompey. It is situated towards the beginning of the play,
during the second act (after Antony marries Octavia): the "three pillars of the world" meet with their enemy Pompey, and decide to come to an agreement, according to some exchanges o
f land. This passage is not descriptive but only shows the c
onfrontation between rulers in a difficult strategic context. This political joust reflects the relationships between the characters: we will look at Pompey and Antony, and also Enobarbus and Pompey.

"The beds i'th’ East are soft, and thanks to you | That called me timelier than my purpose hither | For have gained by't. "
Here, Antony is grateful to Pompey for having brought him back to "Roman" politics — Antony acknowledges a gain to being Roman, strict and cold-blooded. He sets himself against his softer, Egyptian character and is ready to do politics. Caesar, Lepidus and Antony approach Pompey as an equal, and prefer to concede Sicily and Sardinia to avoid conflict. Here, the relationships, seem peaceful though there are apparent tensions, especially before the extract ("Which do not be entreated to, but weigh | What is worth embraced - | And what may follow to try a larger fortune") though also when Pompey mentions Cleopatra (“[Antony], Your fine Egyptian cookery shall have the fame. | I have heard that Julius Caesar grew fat with feasting there.”). Pompey seems to be lightly mocking Antony's renowned links with Cleopatra, but there is a real enmity between them: "Mark Antony put me to some impatience"; "Thou dost o'ercount me of my father's house". This enmity brings a glimpse through Roman history by reminding Cleopatra's links with Julius Caesar; we see how the tension is expressed with the attempts to dominate politically the situation. For the sake of Rome's politics, Antony and Caesar try to show a united front before Pompey (they speak together and even finish each other's sentences lines 31/32) and though Pompey openly prefers Caesar to Antony, he follows an egalitarian policy line 61, observing that Antony follow the same rules as each of them. From lines 50 to 57, the characters make small talk, to show that there is no rivalry between them and they can seal the agreement. However, when Pompey says fortune shall never make him her vassal, we could understand that Pompey is superficially changed by the course of events, but in his heart, his desire to avenge his father is still intact. He could also be reflecting one of the play's tensions: the inevitability of death and the tragic destiny of each character — Pompey isn‘t talking only politics, but also about the role of fate, which we can see eternally pushing Antony and most characters towards doomed attempts to find peace (the marriage with Octavia, deciding to meet enemies at sea). Pompey concludes the exchange by suggesting a series of friendly feasts, and this pleases everyone, though this form of (Egyptian) culinary pleasure is usually considered disgraceful and contrary to Roman values. This scene indeed contrasts with the “softer” qualities of Egypt; however we see in each character a certain appetite for Egypt. In this sense, Antony's presence here yields ambiguous value, for he holds, in the mind of most, greatness in his Roman aspect, and in the mind of those accustomed to Egyptian values, greatness in his relationship with the overflowing, luxuriant, and exotic Cleopatra.
We see this with Enobarbus's awkwardness in this surrounding — as a soldier he is uncomfortable dealing with politicians in general, but he is also uncomfortable with the idea of Antony facing criticism about his relationship with Cleopatra, for his respect towards his leader has lead him to understand Egypt not through the single-mindedness of Roman value systems. This is what has allowed him to praise Cleopatra the way he did and forced him to view with discomfort Pompey‘s words. When Enobarbus interrupts him ("No more of that. He did so."), the point is to avoid the subject, and to pay attention to the subject at hand. Pompey describes Enobarbus as 'plain', a 'soldier', though he also 'envies his behaviour', as if recognising an equal: Pompey is obviously joyful and pays little attention to his differences with the soldier, or to his speech. He recognises him and shakes his hand ("I never hated thee [...] — | never loved you much, but I ha' praised ye"). They both simply acknowledge each other, just as another way to signify how both parts have reached an agreement. We can see in the opposition between both characters one of the strongest tensions of the play: indeed many tensions are based around differing characters (Antony and Cleopatra, Rome and Egypt, Politician and Military); though this is not particular to this play, Shakespeare is capable of bringing these conflicts to every level of the story and of the psychological portraits. Relations are based on antagonisms and many characters like Antony or even Enobarbus of a plurality of personality and belief through which Shakespeare is capable of bringing out deep and contrasted conflicts, based and antagonism and respect, and also the beautiful, transcending love of Antony and Cleopatra.

This passage, set in the middle of a political conflict between many influential rulers marks a shift in relations and a shift in the foreground conflicts. However it also allows us to see characters trapped in repetitive attempts to avoid their tragic destiny and the relatively light humour of discussions can reveal, once more in this play the psychological conflicts that shape characters on a private and political scale.