The purpose of the present text is to analyse the first two scenes of Antony and Cleopatra’s first act, and compare them to Shakespeare’s opening scenes.
The play opens with a monologue performed by Philo, Antony’s friend, who complains about his general’s behavior. On his opinion, he has “become the bellows and the fan to cool a gypsy’s lust”; the “gypsy” he’s referring to is Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, who soon after talks with Antony about their love. But when a messenger announces news from Rome, the queen interrupts the talk, asking Antony to hear him and predicting that the message will be from Caesar or Antony’s wife Fulvia and will tell him to come back to Rome. Antony replies saying that his place is next to Cleopatra in Egypt and, when the queen insists, commands the messenger to not talk. At the end of the first scene, they go out with their train while Antony suggests what to do that night and Demetrius comments with Philo his behavior.
After Philo’s comment about the main characters, the audience is left to imagine how they’re like. Those expectations are fulfilled or not by the next sequence of the scene, where they come in with their train. In this sequence, Cleopatra asks Antony to tell her how much he loves her, and he answers telling her that “there’s beggary in the love that can be reckoned”. Philo seems to be right, Antony and Cleopatra behave like a common couple in love, not caring about their superior condition. Antony’s carelessness about political issues, in contrast with his past behavior, is underlined by his treatment of the messenger. When he hears that there’s news from Rome, he complains and asks for “the sum” of the message. However Cleopatra asks him to hear the messengers. She teases him by foreseeing the message’s content, which is probably by Fulvia or Caesar. While she just tells that maybe Fulvia is angry, she underlines her opinion about Caesar. She calls him “scarce-bearded”; Romans didn’t grow beards, indeed, they considered them “barbarian”. So Cleopatra is making fun of him, since she’s a “barbarian” and considers scarce-bearded people “savage”. Antony asks her to go on, calling her “my love”, seeming to be completely subjugated by his queen. So she continues saying that she’s sure that Caesar and Fulvia want him to come back to Rome and says that Antony, after all, will always be Roman and loyal to Caesar and his wife. She proves this pointing out that Antony is blushing. In this way, she mocks Roman costumes (as shaving) and Antony’s past life, fearing that he’s still loyal to Roman values and not only to “his queen”.
Antony answers by not caring about the messenger and assuring the queen that he’s loyal to her. First he complains about it and curses Rome, then tells about the equality of kingdoms and concludes by saying that the nobleness of life is to keep doing what they’re doing, in particular when a couple is well-matched as them. Cleopatra’s goal is reached, Antony tells her to “let Rome in Tiber melt” and that kingdoms are only clay, so he behaves as the contrary of the general he was before. While first he only cared about his duty and politics, now he talks about the equality of kingdoms and the equivalence between men and animals, since they’re all feeder by their “dungy earth”. The conclusion of his monologue is a dare to the world. He asks everyone in the world to recognize them as a perfect couple or to be punished. Cleopatra, on the other hand, doesn’t believe him; but pretends to be fooled while Antony will “be himself”. Antony overhears the last sentence and reaffirms his loyalty to the queen, to go on by proposing to not pass a minute of their lives without a pleasure. Cleopatra insists proposing to hear the ambassadors, so Antony tells his “wrangling queen” to stop. After praising her, telling her that everything suites her and every passion is fair and admired in her, he proposes to wander through the streets that night and concludes commanding the messenger to not speak.
The scene concludes with a last exchange between Philo and Demetrius, who have looked at all the scene, saying that the general is not himself when he is with Cleopatra.
The second scene opens with Cleopatra’s servants entrance, Charmian, Iras and Alexas. The first one asks the last one to call a soothsayer that he had praised to the queen to read her and Iras’ future. This part of the scene ends with Cleopatra’s entrance. The queen asks her servants to bring her Antony, telling that he was merry, but a “Roman thought” had struck him. However, when he comes, she tells she doesn’t want to see him and goes out. Antony is talking with the messenger of the first scene and finds out that his wife, after fighting with his brother, allied with him against Caesar, but lost; and Labienus expanded his territories. After talking bitterly about his situation, he sends the messenger away and listens to another one, who tells him about Fulvia’s death. Antony elongates his wife and complains about how men understand the value of something only when its lost. The scene ends with a dialogue between Antony and Enobarbus, the first orders to come back to Rome, while the other replies ironically.
In the first part of this scene, the secondary characters are presented by relating with a soothsayer. In particular Charmian is presented as a frivolous woman, who only thinks about having children and be like her mistress. Instead, Iras praises her chastity, while Charmian mocks her; but they get along when they have to curse Alexas.
When Cleopatra enters, the first thing she worries about is Antony. She is worried about the “Roman thought” that had just struck him, which might distract him from his queen, but when he enters she doesn’t want to see him.
Antony seems to have drastically changed since the last scene. Now he’s listening to the messengers and regretting his behavior, returning to behave like a Roman general. This is underlined by his conversation with Enobarbus, which, when Antony tells him that he must return to Rome quickly, answers that he will kill Cleopatra is he’ll do so. In this way he marks her passionate personality, by telling that he has “seen her die twenty times upon far poorer moment”. This conversation seems to be settled between passion and rationality; while Antony returns to be the general he was, treating Cleopatra only as a very cunning woman, Enobarbus tells that “her passions are made of nothing but the finest part of true love” and that she’s a “wonderful piece of work”.