Explore the crisis of identity that burdens Antony throughout the play
...to apologise to Caesar; ‘I’ll play the penitent to you, but mine honesty shall not make poor my greatness’. At this point Antony still believes in his own legend, and will continue to cling to this belief for some time. It is often said that war brings out the best in people, and this is most definitely true with Antony; the imminent threat of hostilities by Pompey and his pirate fleet. He, Lepidus and Caesar resolve to meet and barter with Pompey, and we see the old firebrand that was Antony revived. The soothsayer scene in 2.3 shows us how some vestige of doubt lingers in Antony’s mind, for consulting a ha’penny fortune teller is hardly the rational course for a great leader known for his brash confidence. By merely asking the question ‘whose fortune shall rise higher, Caesars or mine?’ he exposes exactly how fragile his destiny is. He complains about Caesar’s natural luck, which is something he repeats later when recounting his failure. This petulant complaining reduces his stature still further in the eyes of the audience. The Antony of years past would pay no heed to the mumblings of a soothsayer, nor waste time lamenting over bad fortune. Unfortunately for Antony, the soothsayer’s predictions prove to be startlingly accurate. Several times throughout the play other characters are used to present a mirror into the character of Anthony. Often it is his close companion Enobarbus, who in 3.2 calls Antony ‘The god of Jupiter’. This theme is used later on in the play when Antony represents a much less resplendent figure. In his marriage to Octavia Antony finds himself spectacularly outmanoeuvred by Caesar, for Caesar knows that Antony will run back to Egypt at the nearest opportunity and hence will provide a reason for Caesar to make his wars. To Antony this dilemma has only one solution; to return to his exotic queen and hang the consequences. This makes Antony seem incredibly obtuse, for not only will Caesar have an excuse to go to war against him, but also the ammunition with which to rob him of his popular support. Act 3 scene 4 sees the real divisions between the triumvirs widen, with Caesar waging war against Pompey despite the agreement and gifting Antony ‘most narrow measure’ of the spoils. In military terms, on which Antony prides himself on being the master, this is a terrible coup against him. He says that ‘If I lose mine own honour I lose myself’ which shows the massive dint to his pride that Caesar has wrought. Of course this slight needs answering to, and so mighty Antony resolves to ‘raise the preparation of a war shall stain your brother’. This one-upmanship eventually leads to his destruction at the hands of Caesar’s superior force. When Lepidus is expelled from the triumvirate in 3.5 it seems certain that Caesar and Antony must come to outright conflict, and the time for Antony to either rise to his former glory or, as it turns out, sink further into the mire. Enobarbus remarks that the world has now but ‘a pair of chaps’ that will grind against each other until one collapses. During 3.6 Caesar describes how the Roman people are becoming disenfranchised by their former hero Antony as he gallivants around Egypt with Cleopatra. His popular support had formerly been a keystone in his grip on power within the Empire, but in his absence Caesar has created lies and half-truths like a modern political spin-doctor, causing the people to fell ‘queasy with his insolence’. Caesar cites Antony’s complaints about Lepidus as the reason for their dispute but also refers to his abandoned sister Octavia, who Antony deserted and returned to Egypt, telling her he was in Athens. Caesar effectively robs Antony of and moral high ground and constructs a very plausible case for war against his former brother-in-arms. It is here in a time of war, in which the heroic Antony should shine, that the true extent to which his whole being has been corrupted by his love and lust for Cleopatra becomes apparent. As Enobarbus points out to Cleopatra ‘tis said in Rome that Photimus, an eunuch and your maids manage this war’ meaning that Antony is being mocked for his dotage on Cleopatra. ‘Take from his heart, take from his brain’ as Enobarbus aptly states, sums up the disaster that unfolds on Antony in the following acts. Believing he has the tactical edge on Caesar, Antony is surprised that his canny opponent steals a march on him. However, his greatest folly comes when he ignores his lieutenant’s advice and gives battle to Caesar at sea purely on the merits of his pride and Cleopatra’s insistence. Despite Enobarbus’ pleadings Antony foregoes his ‘war marked footmen’ and renowned knowledge’ and plans to fight Caesar from the deck of a galley. The Antony of old would have remained firmly rooted on dry land and used the features to his advantage, but the love-lorn shadow that he has become insists on investing his faith in his lover rather than his all-conquering armies. Caudius remarks that that the whole army have become ‘women’s men’, reduced past the lowest level of their social hierarchy. This slight would have been unforgivable in Roman society, and makes his men doubt Antony’s competency. Caesar seizes on this monstrous mistake and sends the Egyptian vessels fleeing the battle. To his abject shame and disgust Antony follows the Egyptians ‘like a doting mallard’, committing the greatest sin a soldier can. The transformation in Antony is best encapsulated by Scarus; ‘Experience, manhood, honour, ne’er before did violate so itself’. The betrayal felt by Antony’s troops is immense: ‘Had our general been what he knew himself- it had gone well. Oh, he has given example for our flight most grossly by his own!’ Candidius changes sides, as do several of Antony’s lieutenants. Faithful Enobarbus remains to ‘follow the wounded chance of Antony’ despite the boorish treatment he received. The next act, 3.11 shows Antony at the very pit of despair, lamenting over his own abject failure and the loss of his spirit; ‘I have lost my way forever’. At this juncture he is utterly downtrodden through no fault but his own blind devotion to Cleopatra. He bids his companions to fly, to take his treasure and let him carry on his course alone. Even his own body has despaired it seems, for ‘the white reprove the brown for rashness’ on his head. Gone is the Herculean figure of virile health and might, to be replaced by an aging wreck of what once was. Muttering to himself at the prow of Cleopatra’s ship he remarks that ‘I have offended reputation, a most un-noble swerving’ acknowledging his mistakes and the changes wrought in his being. He laments his decisions, looking back on his former life lying in ruins in the wake of his new fate. He admits to Cleopatra that ‘my heart was to thy rudder tied by the strings’, proving to all within earshot that he committed these brash mistakes solely for Cleopatra’s affections. Even in his dejected state Antony manages to disparage Caesar, calling hit ‘the young man’. It is a clear reflection of the reverse in his fortunes that the only representative he could find to se...