Here is your last actual set of questions for Antony and Cleopatra! I will give a short video lecture/question for Acts 4-5 early next week, but it won't be the normal set of questions (since it is supposed to be Dead Week). So enjoy these last questions and be sure to get them to me no later than next week.
Q1: How would you stage Act 2, Scene 5, particularly the
scenes with Cleopatra and the Messenger? Is this a scene of high comedy, where
Cleopatra loses it and acts like a spoiled child? Or is this a deeply tragic
scene, where she realizes that the one hold she had over Antony ’s
affections is lost? Use a line or two to support how you think we’re supposed
to read (and stage) this scene.
Q2: When Enobarbus tells the Romans (Maecenas and Agrippa)
about Cleopatra, he switches from verse to prose: why does he do this? Also,
examine this speech—what does he think about Cleopatra? Does he consider her Antony ’s
“exotic” whore? Or does he hold her in respect and awe?
Q3: Though Rome
is notoriously racist in its views towards Cleopatra and Egypt ,
is the same true of Antony ? Does he
love her in spite of her race, or is he ‘color blind’ when it comes to his
affections? How does Act III offer us a definitive portrait of their
relationship, especially once the chips are down (after the disastrous naval
battle)?
Q4: What role does Enobarbus seem to embody in the play,
particularly in Acts 2 and 3? Though he is one of Antony ’s
most loyal supporters, even he is looking for a way out by the end of Act 3. Does
he function somewhat like the Fool in King Lear? Or is he more like
Edmund, plotting secretly against his father?
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