ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA - Contextual Question 6
Cleopatra. Nay, hear them, Antony:
Fulvia perchance is angry; or, who knows
If the scarce-bearded Caesar have not sent
His powerful mandate to you, ” Do this, or this;
Take in that kingdom, and enfranchise that;
Perform’t, or else we damn thee.”
Antony. How, my love?
Cleopatra. Perchance? Nay, and most like:
You must not stay here longer, your dismission
Is come from Caesar; therefore hear it, Antony.
Where’s Fulvia’s process? Caesar’s I would say? Both?
Call in the messengers. As I am Egypt’s queen,
Thou blushest, Antony, and that blood of thine
Is Caesar’s homager: else so thy cheek pays shame
When shrill-tongued Fulvia scolds. The messengers!
Antony. Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch
Of the ranged empire fall! Here is my space.
Kingdoms are clay: our dungy earth alike
Feeds beast as man: the nobleness of life
Is to do thus; when such a mutual pair [embracing]
And such a twain can do’t, in which I bind,
On pain of punishment, the world to weet
We stand up peerless.
Cleopatra. Excellent falsehood!
Why did he marry Fulvia, and not love her?
I’ll seem the fool I am not; Antony
Will be himself.
Antony. But stirred by Cleopatra.
Now, for the love of Love and her soft hours,
Let’s not confound the time with conference harsh:
There’s not a minute of our lives should stretch
Without some pleasure new. What sport to-night?
Cleopatra. Hear the ambassadors.
A. Indicate briefly the occasion on which these lines were spoken.
B. Write an explanatory note on:
the world to weet
We stand up peerless. (lines 22-23)
C. What do we learn about the characters of Antony and Cleopatra from this dialogue?
D. Discuss the quality or qualities of Shakespeare’s dramatic art that the passage illustrates.