English 304: Shakespeare: Major Plays (Prof. Boyer)

The best beginning procedure is always to familiarize yourself with the cast of characters and then to read the play (or at least an act or a scene) all the way through so that you know what's happening. The notes can help if you're stuck, but try to get the big picture of a scene before getting bogged down in details. Read through, then go back and clear up details. Then you're ready to think about the questions.

Background, Dates, Sources
Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
Act 4
Act 5

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BACKGROUND, DATES, SOURCES

Alexander the Great, son of King Philip of Macedon, conquered Egypt in 332 BCE and began the foundations of the city of Alexandria in 331. When he died on July 10, 323, his generals began the struggle to divide his empire. Egypt falls to his general Ptolemy, who manages to grab Alexander's body in the process so that he can build a tomb in Alexandria, which becomes the intellectual center of the Hellenistic world. Because the Ptolemies follow the Egyptian practice of intermarriage, our Cleopatra (actually Cleopatra VII Philopator) is close to being pure Macedonian Greek. She was born in 70 or 69 BCE; Antony was born in 83 BCE.

Skipping over her earlier life, including her affair (or marriage) with Julius Caesar, both in Alexandria and in Rome (Bernard Shaw's play Caesar and Cleopatra gives a version of this), and her child by Caesar, whom she called Caesarion, we can begin with his assassination in 44 BCE, the central event of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. The event that concludes that play, the Battle of Philippi and the deaths of Brutus and Cassius, took place in the autumn of 42 BC. In the aftermath, the Roman world was ruled by the Triuvirate of Octavian Caesar, Lepidus, and Mark Antony, with Antony responsible for the East. He then met with all the subsidiary kings, including Cleopatra, who came to meet him at Tarsus (where St. Paul came from a few years later) in the autumn of 41 BCE. The famous description of that first meeting occurs in our play at 2.2.200-236. He immediately fell in love (he was 42 and she was 28) and spent the winter of 41-40 with her in Alexandria. That is when and where the play begins. The action of the play goes from there to the decisive defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium of 2 September 31 BCE and on to Cleopatra's death on 10 August 30 BCE. This was the last battle of the long Roman civil wars and the beginning of the period of peace under Octavian, who became Emperor (more or less) with the title Caesar Augustus.

Shakespeare's primary source is Plutarch's Life of Antony, written about 150 years after Antony's death (approximately 120 CE), in Thomas North's 1579 translation. Plutarch knew some family oral traditions concerning Antony's life in Athens, and his source for Cleopatra's death is a now-lost history written by Cleopatra's physician.

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ACT 1

1.1
1.	What does Philo think of the relationship between Antony and Cleopatra (1.1.1-13)? What kinds of images and other motifs appear in his speech? (This speech introduces lots of the language that will appear throughout the play.)
2.	What sort of image of Antony and Cleopatra do we get when we first see them (1.1.14-17)? Again, note the language they use.
3.	How do Antony and Cleopatra respond to the messenger (1.1.18-57)? Who is Fulvia? (Check the note.)
4.	How do Philo and Demetrius respond to what they have seen (1.1.58-64)?
1.2
1.	What sense of Cleopatra's court do you get from the opening scene with the soothsayer (1.2.1-68)?
2.	What image of Antony do you get from Cleopatra in lines 72-73? Is it consistent with what Philo says about him in 1.1.59-61?
3.	What does Antony learn from the first messenger, and how does he respond (1.2.78-106)? How does he respond to the news that his wife is dead (1.2.107-119)?
4.	Does Enobarbus have the same response to Fulvia's death that Antony has (1.2.120-159)? What interesting thing do we learn about Cleopatra in lines 127-131?
5.	How does Antony's tone change at the end of the scene (1.2.160-180)?
1.3
1.	Does what we see of Cleopatra in 1.3.1-12 match what Enobarbus said in 1.2.127-131? Which woman's approach to loving Antony seems right?
2.	How easy is it for Antony to get Cleopatra's permission to leave? How does the present compare with the past (1.3.32-39)?
3.	How does Cleopatra respond to the news of Fulvia's death (1.3.55-78). How does she manage to anger Antony in lines 78-86? How does her tone change in lines 87-92? Are we now closer to the "real" Cleopatra? Or is this just another act?
1.4
1.	What does Caesar say about Antony and Cleopatra in his opening speech (1.4.1-10)? What gender issues does he raise?
2.	What sort of person is Caesar, based on lines 1-33? How does he respond to the first messenger (1.4.33-47)? Read his response to the second message carefully (1.4.55-71). What picture of the old Antony do we get? How does this compare to the Antony we have seen?
3.	How would you describe Caesar based on our first encounter with him?
1.5
1.	How is Cleopatra surviving her separation from Antony? What is she doing to keep in touch?

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ACT 2

2.1
1.	Who is Pompey? Have we heard about him before? Yes we have--see 1.2.167-176, 1.3.44-54, and 1.4.36-55 (including Menecrates and Menas). If we were in the audience at a production (and so did not have the stage directions listing the characters' names), how would we know that this was Pompey? Would we know the names of the other two characters?
2.	What do we know that Pompey doesn't know in the first part of the scene (2.1.1-27)? How does he respond to Varrius's news (2.1.28-52)?
2.2
1.	The meeting between Caesar and Antony presented in this scene took place in the autumn of 40 BCE.
2.	What is Lepidus trying to do and how does Enobarbus respond (2.2.1-13)?
3.	Where is Parthia (2.2.15) and why is it important? Actually, there's no answer here, but since Parthia will come up again, some information will help. Parthia was an independent kingdom in the area of modern Iraq. In 53 BCE its king, Orodes, had defeated a Roman army and killed its leader, Marcus Crassus, a members of the earlier first Triumvirate (of Crassus, Pompey the Great, and Julius Caesar). This defeat and death had not yet been revenged, thirteen years later.
4.	What is the tone of the meeting between Antony and Caesar (17-107)? What are Caesar's three major complaints? (The first is introduced at line 42, the second at line 75, and the third at line 85.) How does Antony respond to each complaint?
5.	After the short interruption by Enobarbus (2.2.108-115), what proposal does Agrippa make to bind Antony and Caesar together (2.2.116-160)? Does Antony agree? Why might Cleopatra be unhappy if she heard what he says? How does their meeting conclude (2.2.161-177)?
6.	How well do Maecenas and Agrippa get along with Enobarbus? What do Maecenas and Agrippa want to know about?
7.	Read Enobarbus's description of the meeting of Antony and Cleopatra carefully (2.2.197-232). This is the meeting at Tarsus mentioned above in the Background section; it took place in the autumn of 41 BCE, which is about a year before the scene we are in. How effective is Enobarbus's description? How does this picture of Cleopatra match with what we've seen and heard so far in the play? For an example of Shakespeare's use of his sources, here is a bit of the passage from North's translation of Plutarch's Life of Antony, which he follows more closely than he does normally with sources: [She took] her barge in the river of Cydnus, the poop whereof was of gold, the sails of purple, and the oars of silver, which kept stroke in rowing after the sound of the music of flutes, hautboys, citherns, viols, and such other instruments as they played upon in the barge. And now for the person of her self: she was laid under a pavilion of cloth of gold of tissue, apparelled and attired like the goddess Venus, commonly drawn in picture; and hard by her, on either hand of her, pretty fair boys apparelled as painters do set forth god Cupid, with little fans in their hands, with the which they fanned wind upon her. Her ladies and gentlewomen also, the fairest of them were apparelled like the nymphs Nereides (which are the mermaids of the waters) and like the Graces, some steering the helm, others tending the tackle and ropes of the barge, out of which there came a wonderful passing sweet savor of perfumes, that perfumed the wharf's side, pestered with innumerable multitudes of people . . . . So that in the end, there ran such multitudes of people one after another to see her, that Antonius was left post alone in the marketplace, in his Imperial seat to give audience.
8.	What is Agrippa referring to in his response (2.2.232-234)? The Caesar here is Julius Caesar; Agrippa is referring to Cleopatra's earlier attachment and son, mentioned in the Background section above.
9.	Does Enobarbus think the marriage between Antony and Octavia will work? Does his description of Cleopatra's power (2.2.238-245) match what we've seen?
2.3
1.	How does Antony justify his past life to Octavia (2.3.1-9)? What sort of person does she appear to be in this first brief appearance?
2.	What message does the Soothsayer have for Antony (2.3.10-29).
3.	How does Antony respond (2.3.30-38)? What will he do?
4.	Who is Ventidius and where is he going (2.3.38-40)?
2.4
1.	What do we learn from this scene?
2.5
1.	How is Cleopatra passing the time while Antony is gone (2.5.1-23)? What incidents does she remember? Critics have recently been interested in the cross-dressing she describes in lines 22-23, even sometimes seeing something similar in the confusion between Antony and Cleopatra at 1.2.69.
2.	What news does the messenger have for Cleopatra (2.5.23-107)? How does Cleopatra receive the news and the messenger? How does this scene add to our picture of Cleopatra?
3.	Critics also find Cleopatra's comments at 2.5.117-118 interesting in terms of ways of seeing the multiple aspects of Antony's character.
2.6
1.	This meeting between Pompey and the Triumvirs took place in 39 BCE.
2.	What do Pompey and the Triumvirs agree to (2.6.1-59)? Why did Pompey almost back out of the agreement?
3.	What's next? (See 2.6.60-65.) What are they talking about in lines 65-72? (Again, the Caesar here is Julius Caesar; for the story alluded to here, see the Shaw play or any Cleopatra movie.)
4.	How doe Pompey and Enobarbus get along with each other (2.6.73-83)?
5.	How do Enobarbus and Menas get along (2.6.84-132)? What do they think of Pompey's decision not to fight? What do they think of Antony's marriage to Octavia?
2.7
1.	How is the party going, and how is Lepidus doing (2.7.1-15)?
2.	How effective are Antony's descriptions to Lepidus of things Egyptian (2.7.16-33 and 38-46)? Is Lepidus satisfied? What does that tell us about Lepidus? Does Lepidus really deserve to be on equal political footing with Caesar and Antony? Do they respect him? Why does he have that position, then? (Hint: think of the Shakespeare in Love line "He's the money.")
3.	What does Menas suggest to Pompey, and how does Pompey respond (2.7.34-36 and 50-77)? What is Menas's response to this (2.7.78-80)? Has Pompey made the right decision?
4.	How much of a party person is Caesar?
5.	What makes this feast into an Alexandrian feast (2.7.89)? What are the "Egyptian bacchanals" that they dance (2.7.97)? Who does the dancing, and what form does the dancing take (2.7.97-113)? This is the sort of excessive revelry that's supposed to be typical of Antony's life in Egypt. How much have we seen of "Alexandrian revels" before this? Whom do we actually see performing the "Egyptian bacchanals"? Perhaps the Rome/Egypt opposition isn't as simple as the play seems to be making it out to be.
6.	Who's the party pooper (2.7.114-121)? Surprised? Which character is smart enough not to drive home in this condition (2.7.125)?

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ACT 3

3.1
1.	Meanwhile, what has Ventidius accomplished in Antony's name? Why won't he try to do more? Does this seem like a reasonable explanation? What does it tell us about Antony? (This victory took place on 9 June 38 BCE.)
2.	Where is Antony now (3.1.34-37)?
3.2
1.	What do Agrippa and Enobarbus think of Lepidus (3.2.1-22)?
2.	What is the tone of the departure of Antony and Octavia from Caesar (3.2.23-66)? How do the comments of Agrippa and Enobarbus affect our understanding of the scene?
3.3
1.	How does Cleopatra turn the messenger's description of Octavia to her advantage? Does Cleopatra know what she's doing here?
3.4
1.	Antony and Octavia are living in Athens, in 37 BCE. What is happening to the bond between Antony and Caesar? How does Octavia respond to the strain between the two men? What has she asked to do that Antony agrees to (3.4.24-25)?
3.5
1.	The events mentioned in this scene mark it as 36 BCE. What has happened to Lepidus? What has happened to Pompey? How is Antony responding?
3.6
1.	What has Antony done that Caesar is complaining about (3.6.1-19)? What is being described here are the Donations of Alexandria, giving Cleopatra and her children rule of specific Roman territories under Antony. They took place in the autumn of 34 BCE. How are the Romans responding (3.6.19-22)? What we are getting in this scene are complaints Caesar made against Antony in the propaganda war against him and Cleopatra that Caesar began in 33 BCE and that ultimately led to Rome's declaring war against Cleopatra (but not Antony).
2.	What is Antony complaining about, and how has it been answered (3.6.22-38)?
3.	How does Caesar respond to the arrival of Octavia in Rome (3.6.39-62)? What news does he have for Octavia (3.6.62-78).
4.	Notice how Caesar is shaping the situation to his political ends by defining the meaning of the events (3.6.78-98).
3.7
1.	We have come to a series of scenes portraying the important Battle of Actium, which took place in Greece on 2 Sept. 31 BCE. So we have covered almost 9 years since 2.2. The remainder of the play covers the 11 months between Actium and the death of Cleopatra.
2.	What are Enobarbus and Cleopatra arguing about (3.7.1-19)?
3.	What has surprised Antony, and how does Enobarbus respond (3.7.20-27).
4.	What decision does Antony make in lines 27-28 and what reason does he give? How do Camidius and Enobarbus respond, and what reasons does Antony give (3.7.29-53)? Does this seem to be a good, well-thought-out decision? Does the discussion between the soldier and Camidius change our response to the Antony's decision (3.7.60-81)? What does this do to Antony's status as the hero of a tragedy?
3.8
1.	What does Caesar tell Taurus?
3.9
1.	What does Antony tell Enobarbus?
3.10
1.	What has happened in the battle (3.10.1-23)?
2.	What has Canidius learned, and what will he do (3.10.24-34)? Is this good news for Antony?
3.	What will Enobarbus do (3.10.34-36).
3.11
1.	We are now back in Alexandria, where we remain for the rest of the play.
2.	How does Antony feel and what is he telling his followers to do (3.11.1-24)? What has he decided to do (lines 9-10)?
3.	What happens between Antony and Cleopatra in the rest of the scene (3.11.25-74)? Has Antony forgiven Cleopatra? (Note that although we saw Cleopatra together briefly in 3.7, this is the first time we've seen them together privately since Antony left in 1.3.)
4.	Whom has Antony sent as his ambassador to Caesar (3.11.71)? What does this suggest about Antony's political strength?
3.12
1.	Caesar and his army arrived in Egypt during the summer of 30 BCE. So it is now at least nine months since Antony's defeat at Actium.
2.	What do Antony and Cleopatra request from Caesar, and how does Caesar answer them (3.12.1-25). What does he want Cleopatra to do?
3.	What instructions does he give Thidias (3.12.26-36)? If you were Cleopatra and had heard this, would you trust Caesar?
3.13
1.	Whom does Enobarbus blame for the defeat at Actium (3.13.1-12)?
2.	The ambassador Antony is talking to is the schoolmaster he sent to Caesar, not Caesar's ambassador (Thidias). How does Antony react to what the ambassador says (3.13.13-27)? What challenge does he offer Caesar (3.13.24-27)? Is this a reasonable offer? Will Caesar accept it? How does Enobarbus respond (3.13.28-36 and 40-45)?
3.	What happens between Cleopatra and Thidias in the first part of their meeting (3.13.45-62)? As you read this scene, remember Caesar's instructions to Thidias (3.12.26-36). What "out" is Thidias offering Cleopatra (3.13.55-56)? Does Cleopatra see what he is doing (3.13.60-62)? Does Enobarbus understand what is happening (3.13.62-65)? Where is he going when he leaves?
4.	How does Cleopatra answer Thidias in the next part of the scene (3.13.65-85)?
5.	What does Antony see when he enters, and how does he respond (3.13.85-104)? What does he mean by lines 98-99? Is it a good idea for him to have Caesar's ambassador whipped? (This is something one would do to a slave.)
6.	What happens in the argument between Antony and Cleopatra (3.13.105-131)? What does he think Cleopatra is planning to do?
7.	What does Antony tell Thidias to say to Caesar (3.13.132-154)? What does he mean by lines 144-145)?
8.	How does Cleopatra recover Antony (3.13.155-169)? What does she mean in line 160? What does her ability to win Antony back so easily suggest about him? About her? About their relationship?
9.	What does Antony now plan to do (3.13.170-184). But what will happen first (3.13.184-196)?
10.	How does Enobarbus respond, and what has changed in his plans (3.13.197-203)? Why has this particular scene caused him to decide to leave Antony when he earlier planned to stay (3.10.34-36 and 3.13.40-45)?

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ACT 4

4.1
1.	How do Caesar and Maecenas respond to Antony's challenge and to Antony (4.1.1-10)?
2.	Why does Caesar assume that tomorrow he will fight "the last of many battles" (4.1.11)? Who will be at the front of Caesar's army in the battle (4.1.12-14)? Compared to Antony's generosity, in what terms does Caesar treat the feasting of his army (4.1.15-16)?
4.2
1.	How does Antony respond to this (4.2.1-10)?
2.	What is Antony doing with his servants, and how do Cleopatra and Enobarbus respond (4.2.10-45)?
4.3
1.	What supernatural occurrence takes place in this scene and who is present when it occurs?
4.4
1.	What is the effect of having Cleopatra help Antony arm (4.4.1-18)?
2.	What is Antony's tone as he departs from Cleopatra (4.4.18-34)?
3.	What exactly is Cleopatra thinking about in 4.4.36-38?
4.5
1.	What has happened this morning (4.5.1-10)?
2.	How does Antony respond to the departure of Enobarbus (4.5.10-17)? What does he do for Enobarbus?
4.6
1.	What does Caesar want to happen to Antony (4.6.1-3)? What sort of future does he look forward to (4.6.4-6)? What is his battle plan (4.6.6-10)?
2.	How does Enobarbus respond to Caesar's last statement and to his own situation as a new follower of Caesar (4.6.11-19)? How does he respond to Antony's return of his treasure (4.6.19-29)? How does he see himself and his situation now (4.6.30-39)?
4.7
1.	Is the battle going as expected? Who is winning?
4.8	(4.7 continues in most editions)
1.	Who has won?
4.9	(4.8 in most editions)
1.	How do Antony and Cleopatra respond to the victory? Is the war over?
4.10	(4.9 in most editions)
1.	What do the sentries overhear? What do you think of Enobarbus as a character and of his fate?
4.11	(4.10 in most editions)
1.	Where will the battle be today? Is that good for Antony?
4.12	(4.11 in most editions)
1.	How does Caesar view the day's battle plans?
4.13	(4.12 in most editions)
1.	What bad signs have appeared (4.13.1-9)?
2.	What has happened and whom does Antony blame (4.13.9-30)? How does he respond to Cleopatra (4.13.30-39)? What does he think Cleopatra has done (4.13.39-49)?
4.14	(4.13 in most editions)
1.	What plan does Charmian suggest and Cleopatra accept? Is this a good decision?
4.15	(4.14 in most editions)
1.	How does Antony see himself now (4.15.1-14)? What does he think Cleopatra has done, and what does he plan to do (4.15.15-22)?
2.	What does Mardian tell him and how does he respond (4.15.22-37)?
3.	What are Antony's feelings about Cleopatra as he prepares to die (4.15.37-54)?
4.	Why does Antony feel that he can order Eros to kill him, and what happens (4.15.55-95)?
5.	What happens when Antony tries to kill himself (4.15.95-104)? How do the members of his guard respond (4.15.105-109)? What does Decretus do (4.15.110-112)?
6.	What does Antony learn from Diomedes (4.15.112-128)? What does Antony have his guards do next (4.15.129-138)? Is this how a Roman hero is supposed to die?
4.16	(4.15 in most editions)
1.	How does Cleopatra respond to what has happened to Antony, and what does she do (4.16.1-14)? What does Antony want (4.16.14-22)?
2.	Why won't Cleopatra come to Antony for the one last kiss (4.16.22-30)? What does she suggest instead, and how well does it work (4.16.30-42)?
3.	What does Antony tell Cleopatra to do, and how does she respond (4.16.43-52)? What is the last thing Antony says (4.16.53-61)?
4.	How does Cleopatra respond to Antony's death (4.16.61-70)? How well does her description match the Antony we've seen and heard about in the play?
5.	What does Cleopatra plan to do now (4.16.71-93)?
6.	Caesar captured Alexandria on 1 August 30 BCE. It is not clear exactly when between 1 August and 10 August Antony died.

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ACT 5

5.1
1.	How do Caesar and his companions respond to the death of Antony (5.1.1-49)?
2.	What does the messenger say Cleopatra wants, and how does Caesar respond (5.1.50-60)?
3.	What instructions does Caesar give to Proculeius (5.1.61-68)? What ultimate plan for Cleopatra does Caesar seem to have? Will he tell this to Cleopatra? What is he most worried about right now in relation to Cleopatra?
4.	Why isn't Dolabella available (5.1.69-72)? What does Caesar seem to mean by "He shall in time be ready" (72)?
5.	What will Caesar do next (5.1.73-77)? Notice that he is preparing "history's" version for Roman consumption--and the victor always writes the history.
5.2
1.	Cleopatra died on 10 August 30 BCE. Despite the implications of 5.1.53 that Cleopatra is still in her monument, historically she returned to her palace for several days and then died there.
2.	How does Cleopatra view her situation at the beginning of the scene (5.2.1-8)?
3.	When Proculeius arrives, what does Cleopatra beg (and for whom), and how does Proculeius respond (5.2.9-34)?
4.	What surprise happens next and how does Proculeius behave (5.2.34.1-36)? What does Cleopatra immediately do, and how does Proculeius respond (5.2.36-47)?
5.	How cooperative will Cleopatra be (5.2.48-61)?
6.	Read Cleopatra's dream of Antony and Dolabella's responses carefully (5.2.70-99). Does her description match the Antony we have seen and heard about? What has been happening to the status of Antony in the play since his death?
7.	How honest is Dolabella in telling Cleopatra what will happen to her (5.2.99-108)?
8.	What is Caesar's offer and threat to Cleopatra (5.2.109-129)?
9.	What's going on in the scene about the inventory (5.2.130-186)? What does she say is in the inventory (lines 134-136)? What does her treasurer say about the inventory, and how does Caesar respond (lines 143-146)? What reason does Cleopatra give for having kept something back (lines 160-166)? What does this little interaction seem like to you? Is it for real? Or is it staged for Caesar's benefit? If staged, why? What would it suggest about Cleopatra's plans if she had set aside some treasure to live on?
10.	Does Cleopatra trust Caesar (5.2.187-188)? Does she understand his motive?
11.	What is the little interchange in 5.2.189-192 about? (Remember this passage later in the scene.)
12.	What does Dolabella tell Cleopatra (5.2.193-203)? What sort of person is Dolabella?
13.	How does Cleopatra imagine she will be portrayed in Rome (5.2.203-217)? What is ironic about lines 215-216? Who is playing Cleopatra in Shakespeare's production? (Actually, the actor would have been an adolescent, not a boy. I suspect Shakespeare is here thinking of a performance by a company consisting entirely of boys about 10, such as could be seen in London at this time.)
14.	What does she tell her women to do, and why (5.2.222-228)? She is repeating her first meeting with Antony, described by Enobarbus in 2.2.197-232. Why is she now thinking of meeting Mark Antony?
15.	And now we get a clown? What is happening in the clown scene, why is it important, and why is it done this way (5.2.229-270)? What is the effect of having this humorous dialogue at this point in the play? Is it time for Shakespeare to retire?
16.	Read the death scene carefully (5.2.271-319). What does she call Antony that she never called him before (lines 278-279)? What is the effect of the image of having Cleopatra appear with a snake at her breast? One element is in lines 299-301--normally seen as a nice domestic touch. But there's something else going on here too, since the goddess Isis (frequently mentioned in the play) was often portrayed with a snake at her breast, and in Egypt Cleopatra as queen was considered a living manifestation of Isis. So she's making both domestic and profound religious claims.
17.	What do you make of the use of the word "play" in this scene (at lines 228 and 309)?
18.	How does Caesar respond to Cleopatra's death (5.2.323-356)?
19.	Some after-history: Caesar had Caesarion (Cleopatra's son by Julius Caesar) killed. But Octavia, over Caesar's objections, raised Antony's children by Fulvia and Cleopatra, as well as her own five children by Antony and a previous husband. Caesar had no direct heir, so it is in fact descendants of Antony and Octavia become Roman Emperors: Claudius (see I Claudius by Robert Graves and the TV series made from it), Gaius (Caligula), and Nero. What a bunch!

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