Shifting Sympathy in Antony and Cleopatra

A detailed Summary of Shifting Sympathy in Antony and Cleopatra

Throughout the first two acts of the play we have witnessed how Cleopatra has on a number of occasions manipulated Antony's behaviour and 'bewitched' him into prioritising her above everything else in his life.

I will begin this essay by focusing on a severe example of this behaviour in Act III scene 7. During this scene Cleopatra tells Enobarbus that she wishes to be involved personally in the war

"I will be even with thee, doubt it not.'

Enobarbus does not agree with this behaviour and tries to dissuade Cleopatra because he knows that if she is present then Antony will be distracted.

'If we should serve with horse and mares together,

The horse were merely lost: the mares would bear

Cleopatra refutes this statement by telling Enobarbus that she believes she should be present and Shakespeare presents her as very determined in this scene and alsso rather brave if not slightly naive. We feel sympathy for Cleopatra in this scene because as the audience we see her constant ambition for power and her feministic views, and here she is being undermined by Enobarbus purely because she is a woman. We can however also see the opposite case because Enobarbus has had to witness many occasions where Ant

Act IV scene 13 - As Cleopatra becomes terrified of Antony's irrational behaviour, she orders a message to be delivered to him informing that she has commited suicide.

In conclusion Acts III and IV cause the audience to experience such emotion that it is sometimes difficult to record who they are actually sympathising with at specific moments, as their object of pity changes so frequently. It is however clear that the two main characters which the audience often sympathise with for many reasons and on many occasions, are indeed Antony and Cleopatra.

At this point the audience sympathises with Antony because not only has he lost some of his men to Caesar, he will also have to fight against and even kill some of them in battle. To imagine that amount of emotional strain is an awful consequence for a man who was previously one of the greatest soldiers in the world.

Act IV scene 1 - In this scene we see another battle emerging between Antony and Caesar in which Shakespeare presents Caesar as a ruthless leader who has no remorse. We learn of Caesar's tactics to place all the soldiers who used to fight for Antony at the front of the line to ensure that Antony's state of mind is altered when he has to fight against old friends.

Act IV scenes 10, 11 and 12 - During these scenes Antony and his army prepare for a final and decisive sea battle with Caesar and Antony is consequently defeated, and announces that he blames Cleopatra:

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Approximate Word count = 1324
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English