Well well..,Sadhna aunty actually calls me Cleopatra..:))...Jokes apart.., i have done a decent amount of groundwork before i write the jest of this play..,It could be boring..,But its here to stay..,so here goes...
Throughout “Antony and Cleopatra”, issues of loyalty and betrayal are prominent and are paramount to the play’s progression. Not only are there a number of examples, but also they vary to reveal differing characters with contrasting attitudes and personalities.One of the most important cases, and a clear turning point in the play, is Enobarbus’ decision to leave Antony’s side in favour of siding with Caesar.
The reason this act of betrayal is so significant is that Enobarbus is the one closest to Antony and the one who has stuck by him through thick and thin, epitomising the meaning of loyalty. The fact it is Caesar, Antony’s nemesis, he now sides with would make the news even harder for Antony to accept. Antony’s reaction of immediately sending on Enobarbus’ treasure along with a heart-felt message exemplifies his still-felt loyalty towards Enobarbus, despite his departure. It also further demonstrates to the audience Antony’s noble qualities, which until now have been portrayed more by people’s words of praise rather than his behaviour and actions.
By demonstrating Antony’s nobility in action rather than just words,
Shakespeare gives the audience the opportunity to begin to appreciate how he has earned his reputation over the years. This is something that is important when trying to understanding Antony, and the respect and loyalty that other’s extend towards him.There are two very different types of loyalty demonstrated in the relationship between Antony and Enobarbus, and as a result two different types of betrayal. As a follower, Enobarbus is tied to Antony professionally, and is duty bound to stick by him and remain loyal. As a friend, similar conditions apply, though somewhat differently.
On a professional level, it would have been impractical for Enobarbus to stick by Antony with the impending defeat at the hands of Caesar. Indeed, it is plausible to argue that by sticking by Antony for as long as he did, Enobarbus fulfilled the call of professional duty, resisting the choice to jump ship earlier like many others did. As a friend, Enobarbus found himself in a much more difficult situation. As well as making the final decision to go harder, the friendship brings with it a number of complications and ramifications. The guilt of neglecting professional duty would undoubtedly leave someone of Enobarbus’ trustworthy and honourable nature feeling culpable, but it is clearly the abandonment of the friendship and Antony the person, not the master, that leaves Enobarbus feeling so bad he seemingly dies of a broken heart, “O Antony,Nobler than my revolt is infamous,Forgive me in thine own particular,But let the world rank me in register A master-leaver and a fugitive.” It is all too easy to blame Enobarbus for breaching the loyalty between the two and to see him as the sole betrayer, but this is neither fair nor true.
Although as Enobarbus’ master, Antony has professional duties towards him, on a professional level the emphasis of loyalty clearly lies with Enobarbus as Antony’s follower. With regards to their friendship, however, this does not hold true, as a friendship is a mutual relationship with two equals, the responsibility lying squarely between the two of them. With Enobarbus being the one to leave it seems he is the one in the wrong, but it is Antony who gives him cause to leave due to his neglect of all of his responsibilities, including those towards Enobarbus.
Antony’s infatuation with Cleopatra causes him to lose sight of his commitments and loyalties to Rome, those around him and himself. His slack judgement creates a situation where Enobarbus and many others are forced to put themselves first and abandon Antony’s side. In making the decision to leave, Enobarbus makes the painful choice of letting his head rule his heart. As much as it pains him to go, he knows it’s the sensible thing to do. Sadly, the pain of leaving Antony is too much for him.Antony finds his loyalties divided between Rome and Egypt. In Rome there lie his responsibilities to his country, fellow triumvirs and his estranged wife, in Egypt his lover. While his commitments to Rome seem far more significant, to Antony it is his personal rather than political loyalties that are more important and take priority.
His responsibilities to Rome represent the sensible choice for him to make, while Egypt and the flamboyant Cleopatra symbolise what his heart rather than head yearns for. This choice to pursue personal happiness rather than political security signifies both loyalty and betrayal towards himself; by snubbing the safety of Rome and jeopardising all he has, Antony is turning his back on his comfortable position, and with his often-bizarre conduct is flying in the face of his reputation as a legendary and honourable soldier. On the other hand, Antony is doing what he wants to do. He is making himself happy at the risk of causing his own demise, which ultimately he does.
In staying true to his feelings and doing as his heart rather than his head tells him, Antony is remaining true to himself, and in doing so does himself the ultimate justice. When confronted about his betrayal of his duties, and in particular the breaking of his oath, Antony is quick to acknowledge his neglect, though denies responsibility. The fact Antony is so unperturbed when pressed about such issues suggests a certain level of naivety, as well as a lack of interest and sense of commitment. The issue of sensible reasoning against heart-felt emotions can be seen throughout the play.
The audience see Antony choose to neglect his responsibilities to Rome in favour of pursuing Cleopatra, while contrastingly they observe Enobarbus eventually leave his master’s side in order to ensure his personal security. The issue is raised in many instances, and can be seen as the subject of the play as much as the issue of loyalty itself is.The loyalty displayed by some of Antony’s followers is immense. Despite seeing their once great leader recklessly throw away all he has, and therefore all they have too, they stick by him.
The fact characters such as Enobarbus doubt their decisions yet still stay true to Antony adds testament to their loyalty,“I’ll yet followThe wounded chance of Antony, though my reasonSit in the wind against me.”Rather than just blindly following, they have their eyes open enough to realise it would be easier and indeed make sense to change their loyalties to Caesar, yet still, in the mean-time at least, they abide by Antony. It also provides verification of Antony’s greatness, in that in his follower’s eyes he is a man immense enough to warrant such huge levels of commitment and faith from them, despite the circumstances in which they find themselves.
Contrastingly, Shakespeare presents the audience with characters such as Canidius and Scarus who are much quicker in making their decision to go. By placing their declarations in the same conversation as Enobarbous’ pledge to stay loyal against his better judgement, Shakespeare presents a clear and distinct contrast. Here, the audience can begin to fully value Enobarbus’ qualities, while at the same time observe a different approach to loyalty, one of a more political and common sense based nature. Shakespeare uses Enobarbus here to pardon Canidius and Scarus to a certain extent.
By having Enobarbus, a character the audience respect, standing by and not protesting at their abandonment of Antony, Shakespeare partly justifies them and their actions. He creates a sense of sympathy towards the deserters, as by justifying their actions he is emphasising the desperation of their situation and the legitimacy of their cause to leave, whilst simultaneously stressing Enobarbus’s devotion.Perhaps the most extreme cases of loyalty occur once Antony is informed of Cleopatra’s supposed death. Although he is unable to bring himself to commit suicide, Antony’s decision to end his own life is significant as it partially represents his loyalty to others and himself.
Antony sees taking his own life as the noble thing to do in his and Rome’s eyes. Although the loss of Cleopatra is the main prompt for Antony’s decision, he also sees it as freeing all of those loyal to him and his cause. Full of shame at his conduct at sea, Antony sees himself of unworthy of the loyalty others extend to him. Also, he is doing it for himself. Through all of his misjudgement and neglect, Antony has been foolish rather than selfish. Indeed, it is he who has come off worse from all of his errors of judgement; he is the one who has lost his power, he is the one who has lost land and followers, and now he believes he has lost the woman he loves.
All he sees ahead is inevitable defeat and shame under Caesar, and to save himself from this and to restore some of his reputation as a great, honourable man he has only one choice.Eros’ loyalty extends to taking his own life in order to prevent him seeing any further suffering for Antony. Although some may argue that as a true follower of Antony, Eros’ duty would have been to carry out Antony’s wishes and end his life for him, not to save himself from the pain of seeing his master’s demise, but this is a bit harsh. Eros does what he does not as a selfish act, but as the ultimate act of loyalty.
By taking his own life, not only does he save himself from the unbearable act of killing his beloved master, but he also shows Antony the way to be truly honourable in his impending defeat.Following on from Antony’s failed suicide attempt, we see a stark contrast to the loyal behaviour portrayed by the likes of Eros by Derectus. After a small procession of soldiers one by one refuse to kill Antony, instead of deciding to help his leader either by aiding his death or aiding his health, Derectus seeks to help himself. Seizing the opportunity, Derectus removes the bloodstained sword from Antony’s impaled body in order to take it to Caesar.
This passive attitude towards loyalty strongly reflects Derectus’ character and personality.Slightly more discreet acts of loyalty are evident in the play. One example is that of Dolabella warning Cleopatra of Caesar’s plans. In this instance, Dolabella is being disloyal to Caesar in order to do what he deems as right, and is therefore being loyal to himself and his own beliefs. This again reflects the personality of the character. In this case, Dolabella displays an uncompromising attitude with relation to his own personal thoughts regarding right and wrong, and demonstrates how Shakespeare cleverly utilises ideas of loyalty to portray different characters. Cleopatra shows a similar loyalty to herself as that which Antony does, by taking her life in order to save herself from the humiliation of being paraded at the hands of Caesar.
Also like Antony, Cleopatra has a mighty reputation bolstered by others that the audience never really sees justification for. Just as Shakespeare offers glimpses of Antony’s true colours before letting them shine through, here he does the same with Cleopatra. Allowing the real qualities of Cleopatra to show to the audience is important as it allows a true understanding of other’s actions. Upon seeing this other side of Cleopatra, the extreme sacrificial loyalty displayed by Charmian, akin to that of Eros towards Antony, seems justified and understandable, and some credibility is returned to Antony as his actions and sacrifices suddenly seem that bit more warranted.
It is undeniable that loyalty is a huge factor in “Antony and Cleopatra”, and
plays a large and direct part in the plot and outcome of the play. Shakespeare uses loyalty to his advantage to help craft different impressions of different characters; by demonstrating the different attitudes to loyalty displayed by Enobarbus and Derectus, for example, Shakespeare exemplifies the traits and personalities of these two very different characters. He also uses loyalty to shape an image of those to whom the loyalty is directed. In Antony and Cleopatra we see characters that gain loyalty not through power and tyranny, but rather through garnering respect and love. Conversely, the loyalty shown to Caesar shows little or no signs of compassion or heart-felt emotion, but rather a political logic. This disparity marks a big difference between the characters, and is important in fully understanding and, perhaps more importantly, fully appreciating the play.
Hain naa....Oh hello...Sleeping kya...,
Common...,Long live Love...,
To everyone whoz loved and lost...,
Cheerz..,
Pranita.
