No Fear Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra: Act 1 Scene 2

Continue reading with a SparkNotes PLUS trial

Already have an account? Log in

Original Text	Modern Text
Enter ENOBARBUS , LAMPRIUS , a SOOTHSAYER , Rannius, LUCILLIUS , CHARMIAN , IRAS , MARDIAN the eunuch, and ALEXAS	ENOBARBUS , LAMPRIUS , the FORTUNETELLER , Rannius, LUCILLUS , CHARMIAN , IRAS , MARDIAN the eunuch, and ALEXAS enter.
CHARMIAN Lord Alexas, sweet Alexas, most anything Alexas, almost most absolute Alexas, where’s the soothsayer that you praised so to th’ Queen? Oh that I knew this husband, which, you say, must charge his horns with garlands!	CHARMIAN Lord Alexas, sweet Alexas, most anything Alexas, almost the most consummate Alexas, where’s the fortuneteller you recommended so highly to the Queen? Oh, I only wish I knew the name of that husband you said he predicted will have a cheating wife!
ALEXAS 5 Soothsayer!	ALEXAS (calling) Fortuneteller!
SOOTHSAYER Your will?	FORTUNETELLER What can I do for you?
CHARMIAN (to ALEXAS ) Is this the man?(to SOOTHSAYER ) Is ’t you, sir, that know things?	CHARMIAN (to ALEXAS ) Is this the man you recommended? (to the FORTUNETELLER ) Are you the man who knows the future?
SOOTHSAYER In nature’s infinite book of secrecy A little I can read.	FORTUNETELLER I can understand a few of nature’s infinite secrets.
ALEXAS (to CHARMIAN ) Show him your hand.	ALEXAS (to CHARMIAN ) Give him your hand to read.
ENOBARBUS (to servants within) Bring in the banquet quickly. Wine enough Cleopatra’s health to drink.	ENOBARBUS (to the servants) Bring the dessert in right away, and make sure there’s enough wine to toast Cleopatra’s health.
CHARMIAN (giving hand to SOOTHSAYER ) Good sir, give me good fortune.	CHARMIAN (giving her hand to the FORTUNETELLER ) Kind sir, give me a good fortune.
SOOTHSAYER I make not, but foresee.	FORTUNETELLER I don’t make fortunes; I only see them.
CHARMIAN Pray, then, foresee me one.	CHARMIAN Then see a good one for me.
SOOTHSAYER You shall be yet far fairer than you are.	FORTUNETELLER Your beauty will be even greater than it is now.
CHARMIAN (to the others) He means in flesh.	CHARMIAN (to the others) He means I’ll get fat.
IRAS No, you shall paint when you are old.	IRAS No, he means you’ll use makeup when you’re old.
CHARMIAN Wrinkles forbid!	CHARMIAN May my wrinkles forbid that!
ALEXAS Vex not his prescience. Be attentive.	ALEXAS Don’t joke about his predictions. Pay attention.
CHARMIAN Hush!	CHARMIAN Quiet!
SOOTHSAYER You shall be more beloving than beloved.	FORTUNETELLER You will love more than you are loved.
CHARMIAN I had rather heat my liver with drinking.	CHARMIAN I would rather get passion from drink Passion was thought to originate in the liver, which could be stimulated by drink. I would rather get passion from drink than from love.
ALEXAS Nay, hear him.	ALEXAS Just listen to him.
CHARMIAN Good now, some excellent fortune! Let me be married to three kings in a forenoon and widow them all. Let me have a child at fifty, to whom Herod of Jewry may do homage. Find me to marry me with Octavius Caesar, and companion me with my mistress.	CHARMIAN Be kind now and tell me some excellent fortune. Tell me that I’ll marry three kings before noon and be widowed by all of them. Tell me I’ll have a child when I’m fifty who will be honored even by Herod of Judea Herod was the Roman governor of Israel at the time of Christ’s birth. In an attempt to kill Jesus, prophesied to become king of the Jews, Herod ordered the slaughter of all the infants in Bethlehem. Herod of Judea. Let me marry Octavius Caesar and become my Queen’s equal.
SOOTHSAYER 30 You shall outlive the lady whom you serve.	FORTUNETELLER You will outlive the Queen.
CHARMIAN Oh, excellent! I love long life better than figs.	CHARMIAN Oh, excellent! I love long life better than figs Figs were thought to resemble female genitalia. figs.
SOOTHSAYER You have seen and proved a fairer former fortune Than that which is to approach.	FORTUNETELLER You have already had better fortune than the future will bring.
CHARMIAN Then belike my children shall have no names. Prithee, how many boys and wenches must I have?	CHARMIAN Then my children will probably be illegitimate. Tell me, please: how many boys and girls will I have?
SOOTHSAYER If every of your wishes had a womb, And fertile every wish, a million.	FORTUNETELLER If every time you wished for a child you could have had one, you would have a million children.
CHARMIAN Out, fool! I forgive thee for a witch.	CHARMIAN Get out of here, you fool! Since you’re a fortuneteller I won’t bring charges of witchcraft against you.
ALEXAS You think none but your sheets are privy to your wishes.	ALEXAS You seem to think no one outside of your bedroom knows what you wish.
CHARMIAN (to SOOTHSAYER) Nay, come, tell Iras hers.	CHARMIAN (to FORTUNETELLER) Never mind. Tell Iras’s fortune.
ALEXAS We’ll know all our fortunes.	ALEXAS We’ll all want our fortune told.
ENOBARBUS Mine, and most of our fortunes tonight, shall be—drunk to bed.	ENOBARBUS My fortune—like that of many of us tonight—is to go drunk to bed.
IRAS (giving her hand to the SOOTHSAYER) There’s a palm presages chastity, if nothing else.	IRAS (giving her hand to the FORTUNETELLER) There’s a palm that will predict a chaste life, if nothing else.
CHARMIAN E’en as the o’erflowing Nilus presageth famine.	CHARMIAN Like the overflowing Nile The Nile River overflowed its banks every year, irrigating the surrounding farmland and guaranteeing a good harvest. overflowing Nile predicts famine.
IRAS Go, you wild bedfellow, you cannot soothsay.	IRAS Oh stop it, you lusty bed-hopper. You can’t see the future.
CHARMIAN Nay, if an oily palm be not a fruitful prognostication, I cannot scratch mine ear.—Prithee, tell her but a workaday fortune.	CHARMIAN Well, if a moist palm isn’t a clear sign of promiscuity, then I can’t scratch my own ear. (to FORTUNETELLER) Please, tell her an ordinary fortune.
SOOTHSAYER Your fortunes are alike.	FORTUNETELLER Your fortunes are the same.
IRAS But how, but how? Give me particulars.	IRAS But how? How is that possible? Give me details.
SOOTHSAYER I have said.	FORTUNETELLER I’ve said what I have to say.
IRAS Am I not an inch of fortune better than she?	IRAS Isn’t my fortune just a little better than hers? By an inch, even?
CHARMIAN Well, if you were but an inch of fortune better than I, where would you choose it?	CHARMIAN Well, if you could have just an inch of better fortune than me, where would you like the improvement?
IRAS Not in my husband’s nose.	IRAS Not in my husband’s nose.
CHARMIAN Our worser thoughts heavens mend. Alexas! (to SOOTHSAYER) Come, his fortune, his fortune! Oh, let him marry a woman that cannot go, sweet Isis, I beseech thee, and let her die too, and give him a worse, and let worse follow worse, till the worst of all follow him laughing to his grave, fifty-fold a cuckold! Good Isis, hear me this prayer, though thou deny me a matter of more weight, good Isis, I beseech thee!	CHARMIAN May heaven save us from indecent thoughts! Alexas! (to the FORTUNETELLER) Come and tell his fortune. Let him marry a woman he can’t satisfy, dear Isis Isis was Egypt’s primary female deity, generally associated with the earth, the moon, and fertility. Isis, I pray! And then let her die, and give him someone worse. Then let her die, and let her replacement be even worse. And so on until the last one, who is unfaithful with at least fifty other men and laughs at him until he dies. I beg you to grant my prayer, good Isis, even though it means you deny me something more important for myself. Good Isis, I beg you!
IRAS Amen, dear goddess, hear that prayer of the people! For, as it is a heartbreaking to see a handsome man loose-wived, so it is a deadly sorrow to behold a foul knave uncuckolded. Therefore, dear Isis, keep decorum, and fortune him accordingly.	IRAS Amen, dear goddess. Listen to our prayer. If it’s sad to see a handsome man with a cheating wife, it’s a tragedy to see an ugly thug with a wife who’s faithful. Therefore, dear Isis, do the right thing and give him the fortune he deserves.
CHARMIAN Amen.	CHARMIAN Amen.
ALEXAS (to himself) Lo now, if it lay in their hands to make me a cuckold, they would make themselves whores but they’d do ’t.	ALEXAS (to himself) See! If they could make me a cuckold, they’d whore themselves in order to see it done.
ENOBARBUS Hush! Here comes Antony.	ENOBARBUS Quiet! Here comes Antony.
CHARMIAN Not he. The Queen.	CHARMIAN It’s not him; it’s the Queen.
Enter CLEOPATRA	CLEOPATRA enters.
CLEOPATRA 75 Saw you my lord?	CLEOPATRA Have you seen my lord?
ENOBARBUS No, lady.	ENOBARBUS No, lady.
CLEOPATRA Was he not here?	CLEOPATRA Wasn’t he here?
CHARMIAN No, madam.	CHARMIAN No, madam.
CLEOPATRA He was disposed to mirth, but on the sudden 80 A Roman thought hath struck him.—Enobarbus!	CLEOPATRA He was in a good mood, and then suddenly he started thinking of Rome. Enobarbus?
ENOBARBUS Madam?	ENOBARBUS Madam?
CLEOPATRA Seek him and bring him hither.— Where’s Alexas?	CLEOPATRA Find him and bring him here. Where’s Alexas?
ALEXAS Here at your service. My lord approaches.	ALEXAS Here, at your service. Here comes my lord.
Enter ANTONY with the FIRST MESSENGER	ANTONY and the FIRST MESSENGER enter.
CLEOPATRA 85 We will not look upon him. Go with us.	CLEOPATRA I won’t see him. In the original text, Cleopatra refers to herself in the plural to denote her royal status. I won’t see him. Everyone come with me.
FIRST MESSENGER Fulvia thy wife first came into the field.	FIRST MESSENGER Your wife, Fulvia, mustered her army first.
ANTONY Against my brother Lucius?	ANTONY Against my brother Lucius?
FIRST MESSENGER Ay. But soon that war had end, and the time’s state Made friends of them, joining their force ’gainst Caesar, Whose better issue in the war from Italy Upon the first encounter drave them.	FIRST MESSENGER Yes. But that war ended as soon as circumstances made it advisable for them to join together against Caesar. But in their very first battle, Caesar won and drove them out of Italy.
Exeunt all but ANTONY and the FIRST MESSENGER	Everyone follows CLEOPATRA out, leaving ANTONY and the FIRST MESSENGER .
ANTONY Well, what worst?	ANTONY Well, give me the worst news.
FIRST MESSENGER The nature of bad news infects the teller.	FIRST MESSENGER The bearer of bad news is often blamed for it.
ANTONY 95 When it concerns the fool or coward. On. Things that are past are done, with me. ’Tis thus: Who tells me true, though in his tale lie death, I hear him as he flattered.	ANTONY Only if the hearer is a fool or a coward. Go on. As far as I’m concerned, what’s past is done. It’s like this: as long as a person tells me the truth, even though it means my death, I will listen as though he praised me.
FIRST MESSENGER Labienus— This is stiff news—hath with his Parthian force 100 Extended Asia: from Euphrates His conquering banner shook, from Syria To Lydia and to Ionia, Whilst—	FIRST MESSENGER The news is disturbing. Labienus Quintus Labienus was a Roman general charged with subduing Parthia, a hostile country in Asia Minor, and garnering Parthinian military support in the war against Antony and Octavius Caesar. When Cassius and Brutus were defeated, Labienus led the Parthians in a war against Rome, conquering some of the Roman territories in Asia along the way. Labienus, with the army he led in Parthia, has conquered all of Asia, all the way to the Euphrates River, including Syria, Lydia, and Ionia, while—
ANTONY “Antony,” thou wouldst say.	ANTONY “While Antony . . .” is what you want to say.
FIRST MESSENGER O my lord!	FIRST MESSENGER Oh, my lord!
ANTONY Speak to me home. Mince not the general tongue. Name Cleopatra as she is called in Rome. Rail thou in Fulvia’s phrase, and taunt my faults With such full license as both truth and malice Have power to utter. Oh, then we bring forth weeds When our quick minds lie still, and our ills told us Is as our earing.	ANTONY Speak plainly. Don’t tone down what the people are saying. Call Cleopatra what the Romans call her. Use Fulvia’s abusive language. Freely scold me for my faults with as much severity as an enemy with truth on his side. It’s easy to err when left to our own devices, but criticism helps us to see our faults and correct them.
Enter SECOND MESSENGER	A SECOND MESSENGER enters.
Fare thee well awhile.	Good-bye for a while.
FIRST MESSENGER At your noble pleasure. Exit FIRST MESSENGER	FIRST MESSENGER I’ll be at your service. The FIRST MESSENGER exits.
ANTONY From Sicyon, how, the news? Speak there.	ANTONY What’s the news from Sicyon Sicyon is the town in Greece where Antony left Fulvia. Sicyon. Tell me.
SECOND MESSENGER The man from Sicyon—	SECOND MESSENGER The man from Sicyon—
ANTONY Is there such an one?	ANTONY Is he here?
SECOND MESSENGER 115 He stays upon your will.	SECOND MESSENGER He’s waiting outside.
ANTONY Let him appear. Exit SECOND MESSENGER	ANTONY Have him come in. The SECOND MESSENGER exits.
These strong Egyptian fetters I must break, Or lose myself in dotage.	(to himself) I must break Cleopatra’s powerful hold over me or else I’ll lose myself in foolish infatuation.
Enter THIRD MESSENGER , with a letter	A THIRD MESSENGER enters with a letter.
What are you?	What’s your message?
THIRD MESSENGER Fulvia thy wife is dead.	THIRD MESSENGER Your wife, Fulvia, is dead.
ANTONY Where died she?	ANTONY Where did she die?
THIRD MESSENGER In Sicyon. Her length of sickness, with what else more serious Importeth thee to know, this bears.	THIRD MESSENGER In Sicyon. In this letter you’ll find details of her illness and other, more serious matters that concern you.
He gives ANTONY a letter	He hands the letter to ANTONY .
ANTONY Forbear me. Exit THIRD MESSENGER	ANTONY Leave me. The THIRD MESSENGER exits.
(to himself) There’s a great spirit gone! Thus did I desire it. What our contempts doth often hurl from us We wish it ours again. The present pleasure, 125 By revolution lowering, does become The opposite of itself. She’s good, being gone. The hand could pluck her back that shoved her on. I must from this enchanting Queen break off. Ten thousand harms, more than the ills I know 130 My idleness doth hatch.—How now, Enobarbus!	(to himself) A great spirit has gone from the world! This is what I wanted. Once it’s gone, the very thing we reject becomes what we desire. What’s enjoyable one day becomes the opposite as time rolls around. Now that she’s gone, I want her. Now I would call her back, though I pushed her away. I have to break from this beguiling Queen. The time I’ve wasted here has caused ten thousand more problems than the ones I know about. (calling) Are you there, Enobarbus?
Enter ENOBARBUS	ENOBARBUS enters.
ENOBARBUS What’s your pleasure, sir?	ENOBARBUS What would you like, sir?
ANTONY I must with haste from hence.	ANTONY I have to leave right away.
ENOBARBUS Why, then, we kill all our women. We see how mortal an unkindness is to them. If they suffer our departure, death’s the word.	ENOBARBUS That will kill our lovers. We know how much they suffer if we are unkind to them. If we leave, it will feel like nothing less than death to them.
ANTONY I must be gone.	ANTONY I must be gone.
ENOBARBUS Under a compelling occasion, let women die. It were pity to cast them away for nothing, though between them and a great cause they should be esteemed nothing. Cleopatra, catching but the least noise of this, dies instantly. I have seen her die twenty times upon far poorer moment. I do think there is mettle in death, which commits some loving act upon her, she hath such a celerity in dying.	ENOBARBUS If it’s that important, then let the women die. It would be a pity to throw them away for nothing, but if it’s a matter of choosing between them and a great cause, then they’re worthless. If Cleopatra hears even a breath of this, she’ll die immediately. I’ve seen her claim to be dying twenty times before, and for far less reason. I think there must be something invigorating about death, since she dies with such enthusiasm.
ANTONY She is cunning past man’s thought.	ANTONY She’s more cunning than anyone can imagine.
ENOBARBUS Alack, sir, no, her passions are made of nothing but the finest part of pure love. We cannot call her winds and waters sighs and tears. They are greater storms and tempests than almanacs can report. This cannot be cunning in her. If it be, she makes a shower of rain as well as Jove.	ENOBARBUS Alas, sir, no, her feelings come from pure love, not cleverness. Her sighs and tears are like great winds and floods. She has more storms and tempests in her than a weather almanac. Her temper is not a trick or a skill—if it is, she can make it rain as well as Jove king of the Roman gods; commands thunder, lightning, and rain Jove.
ANTONY Would I had never seen her!	ANTONY I wish I’d never seen her!
ENOBARBUS O sir, you had then left unseen a wonderful piece of work which not to have been blessed withal would have discredited your travel.	ENOBARBUS Then you’d have missed an amazing piece of work, sir, and your trip would have been poorer for the loss.
ANTONY 155 Fulvia is dead.	ANTONY Fulvia is dead.
ENOBARBUS Sir?	ENOBARBUS Pardon me?
ANTONY Fulvia is dead.	ANTONY Fulvia is dead.
ENOBARBUS Fulvia?	ENOBARBUS Fulvia?
ANTONY Dead.	ANTONY Dead.
ENOBARBUS Why, sir, give the gods a thankful sacrifice. When it pleaseth their deities to take the wife of a man from him, it shows to man the tailors of the earth, comforting therein, that when old robes are worn out, there are members to make new. If there were no more women but Fulvia, then had you indeed a cut, and the case to be lamented. This grief is crowned with consolation. Your old smock brings forth a new petticoat, and indeed the tears live in an onion that should water this sorrow.	ENOBARBUS Then you should offer the gods a sacrifice to show your thanks. When a man’s wife dies, he can be comforted by the knowledge that there are replacements to be found. If Fulvia were the last woman on earth, there would be a reason to grieve. But in this way, grief and comfort appear together. The only kind of tears you should shed in this case are the kind you might get from holding an onion to your nose.
ANTONY The business she hath broached in the state 170 Cannot endure my absence.	ANTONY I must go and continue the business Fulvia started.
ENOBARBUS And the business you have broached here cannot be without you, especially that of Cleopatra’s, which wholly depends on your abode.	ENOBARBUS The business you began here needs you as well—especially the business with Cleopatra, which only you can attend to.
ANTONY No more light answers. Let our officers 175 Have notice what we purpose. I shall break The cause of our expedience to the Queen And get her leave to part. For not alone The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches, Do strongly speak to us, but the letters too 180 Of many our contriving friends in Rome Petition us at home. Sextus Pompeius Hath given the dare to Caesar and commands The empire of the sea. Our slippery people, Whose love is never linked to the deserver 185 Till his deserts are past, begin to throw Pompey the Great and all his dignities Upon his son, who—high in name and power, Higher than both in blood and life—stands up For the main soldier, whose quality, going on, 190 The sides o’ th’ world may danger. Much is breeding Which, like the courser’s hair, hath yet but life, And not a serpent’s poison. Say our pleasure, To such whose place is under us, requires Our quick remove from hence.	ANTONY Enough of this frivolous talk. Give our officers notice of our intentions. I’ll tell the Queen the reason for our quick departure and get her permission to leave. Fulvia’s death and the pressing concerns related to it are not the only reasons I am eager to go; friends in Rome have also sent many letters advising my return. Sextus Pompeius has challenged Caesar. His fleet controls the sea. Our fickle citizens—who never reward service until that service is over—are now giving all the rights and honors won by Pompey the Great to his son, Sextus. Sextus has great honor and power, and his spirit and energy are even greater, all of which makes him the most formidable soldier in the empire. The empire may be in danger if he’s not restrained before he reaches his full potential. There are many troubles brewing now that have yet to become full-fledged threats. Like horse’s hairs dropped in a bucket of water, they come alive like snakes but as yet they bear no poison. This sentence refers to a popular belief of the time. Like horse’s hairs dropped in a bucket of water, they come alive like snakes but as yet they bear no poison. Relay our intentions to the officers who will be in charge of the move.
ENOBARBUS I shall do ’t.	ENOBARBUS I will.
Exeunt	They both exit.

Original Text	Modern Text
Enter ENOBARBUS , LAMPRIUS , a SOOTHSAYER , Rannius, LUCILLIUS , CHARMIAN , IRAS , MARDIAN the eunuch, and ALEXAS	ENOBARBUS , LAMPRIUS , the FORTUNETELLER , Rannius, LUCILLUS , CHARMIAN , IRAS , MARDIAN the eunuch, and ALEXAS enter.
CHARMIAN Lord Alexas, sweet Alexas, most anything Alexas, almost most absolute Alexas, where’s the soothsayer that you praised so to th’ Queen? Oh that I knew this husband, which, you say, must charge his horns with garlands!	CHARMIAN Lord Alexas, sweet Alexas, most anything Alexas, almost the most consummate Alexas, where’s the fortuneteller you recommended so highly to the Queen? Oh, I only wish I knew the name of that husband you said he predicted will have a cheating wife!
ALEXAS 5 Soothsayer!	ALEXAS (calling) Fortuneteller!
SOOTHSAYER Your will?	FORTUNETELLER What can I do for you?
CHARMIAN (to ALEXAS ) Is this the man?(to SOOTHSAYER ) Is ’t you, sir, that know things?	CHARMIAN (to ALEXAS ) Is this the man you recommended? (to the FORTUNETELLER ) Are you the man who knows the future?
SOOTHSAYER In nature’s infinite book of secrecy A little I can read.	FORTUNETELLER I can understand a few of nature’s infinite secrets.
ALEXAS (to CHARMIAN ) Show him your hand.	ALEXAS (to CHARMIAN ) Give him your hand to read.
ENOBARBUS (to servants within) Bring in the banquet quickly. Wine enough Cleopatra’s health to drink.	ENOBARBUS (to the servants) Bring the dessert in right away, and make sure there’s enough wine to toast Cleopatra’s health.
CHARMIAN (giving hand to SOOTHSAYER ) Good sir, give me good fortune.	CHARMIAN (giving her hand to the FORTUNETELLER ) Kind sir, give me a good fortune.
SOOTHSAYER I make not, but foresee.	FORTUNETELLER I don’t make fortunes; I only see them.
CHARMIAN Pray, then, foresee me one.	CHARMIAN Then see a good one for me.
SOOTHSAYER You shall be yet far fairer than you are.	FORTUNETELLER Your beauty will be even greater than it is now.
CHARMIAN (to the others) He means in flesh.	CHARMIAN (to the others) He means I’ll get fat.
IRAS No, you shall paint when you are old.	IRAS No, he means you’ll use makeup when you’re old.
CHARMIAN Wrinkles forbid!	CHARMIAN May my wrinkles forbid that!
ALEXAS Vex not his prescience. Be attentive.	ALEXAS Don’t joke about his predictions. Pay attention.
CHARMIAN Hush!	CHARMIAN Quiet!
SOOTHSAYER You shall be more beloving than beloved.	FORTUNETELLER You will love more than you are loved.
CHARMIAN I had rather heat my liver with drinking.	CHARMIAN I would rather get passion from drink Passion was thought to originate in the liver, which could be stimulated by drink. I would rather get passion from drink than from love.
ALEXAS Nay, hear him.	ALEXAS Just listen to him.
CHARMIAN Good now, some excellent fortune! Let me be married to three kings in a forenoon and widow them all. Let me have a child at fifty, to whom Herod of Jewry may do homage. Find me to marry me with Octavius Caesar, and companion me with my mistress.	CHARMIAN Be kind now and tell me some excellent fortune. Tell me that I’ll marry three kings before noon and be widowed by all of them. Tell me I’ll have a child when I’m fifty who will be honored even by Herod of Judea Herod was the Roman governor of Israel at the time of Christ’s birth. In an attempt to kill Jesus, prophesied to become king of the Jews, Herod ordered the slaughter of all the infants in Bethlehem. Herod of Judea. Let me marry Octavius Caesar and become my Queen’s equal.
SOOTHSAYER 30 You shall outlive the lady whom you serve.	FORTUNETELLER You will outlive the Queen.
CHARMIAN Oh, excellent! I love long life better than figs.	CHARMIAN Oh, excellent! I love long life better than figs Figs were thought to resemble female genitalia. figs.
SOOTHSAYER You have seen and proved a fairer former fortune Than that which is to approach.	FORTUNETELLER You have already had better fortune than the future will bring.
CHARMIAN Then belike my children shall have no names. Prithee, how many boys and wenches must I have?	CHARMIAN Then my children will probably be illegitimate. Tell me, please: how many boys and girls will I have?
SOOTHSAYER If every of your wishes had a womb, And fertile every wish, a million.	FORTUNETELLER If every time you wished for a child you could have had one, you would have a million children.
CHARMIAN Out, fool! I forgive thee for a witch.	CHARMIAN Get out of here, you fool! Since you’re a fortuneteller I won’t bring charges of witchcraft against you.
ALEXAS You think none but your sheets are privy to your wishes.	ALEXAS You seem to think no one outside of your bedroom knows what you wish.
CHARMIAN (to SOOTHSAYER) Nay, come, tell Iras hers.	CHARMIAN (to FORTUNETELLER) Never mind. Tell Iras’s fortune.
ALEXAS We’ll know all our fortunes.	ALEXAS We’ll all want our fortune told.
ENOBARBUS Mine, and most of our fortunes tonight, shall be—drunk to bed.	ENOBARBUS My fortune—like that of many of us tonight—is to go drunk to bed.
IRAS (giving her hand to the SOOTHSAYER) There’s a palm presages chastity, if nothing else.	IRAS (giving her hand to the FORTUNETELLER) There’s a palm that will predict a chaste life, if nothing else.
CHARMIAN E’en as the o’erflowing Nilus presageth famine.	CHARMIAN Like the overflowing Nile The Nile River overflowed its banks every year, irrigating the surrounding farmland and guaranteeing a good harvest. overflowing Nile predicts famine.
IRAS Go, you wild bedfellow, you cannot soothsay.	IRAS Oh stop it, you lusty bed-hopper. You can’t see the future.
CHARMIAN Nay, if an oily palm be not a fruitful prognostication, I cannot scratch mine ear.—Prithee, tell her but a workaday fortune.	CHARMIAN Well, if a moist palm isn’t a clear sign of promiscuity, then I can’t scratch my own ear. (to FORTUNETELLER) Please, tell her an ordinary fortune.
SOOTHSAYER Your fortunes are alike.	FORTUNETELLER Your fortunes are the same.
IRAS But how, but how? Give me particulars.	IRAS But how? How is that possible? Give me details.
SOOTHSAYER I have said.	FORTUNETELLER I’ve said what I have to say.
IRAS Am I not an inch of fortune better than she?	IRAS Isn’t my fortune just a little better than hers? By an inch, even?
CHARMIAN Well, if you were but an inch of fortune better than I, where would you choose it?	CHARMIAN Well, if you could have just an inch of better fortune than me, where would you like the improvement?
IRAS Not in my husband’s nose.	IRAS Not in my husband’s nose.
CHARMIAN Our worser thoughts heavens mend. Alexas! (to SOOTHSAYER) Come, his fortune, his fortune! Oh, let him marry a woman that cannot go, sweet Isis, I beseech thee, and let her die too, and give him a worse, and let worse follow worse, till the worst of all follow him laughing to his grave, fifty-fold a cuckold! Good Isis, hear me this prayer, though thou deny me a matter of more weight, good Isis, I beseech thee!	CHARMIAN May heaven save us from indecent thoughts! Alexas! (to the FORTUNETELLER) Come and tell his fortune. Let him marry a woman he can’t satisfy, dear Isis Isis was Egypt’s primary female deity, generally associated with the earth, the moon, and fertility. Isis, I pray! And then let her die, and give him someone worse. Then let her die, and let her replacement be even worse. And so on until the last one, who is unfaithful with at least fifty other men and laughs at him until he dies. I beg you to grant my prayer, good Isis, even though it means you deny me something more important for myself. Good Isis, I beg you!
IRAS Amen, dear goddess, hear that prayer of the people! For, as it is a heartbreaking to see a handsome man loose-wived, so it is a deadly sorrow to behold a foul knave uncuckolded. Therefore, dear Isis, keep decorum, and fortune him accordingly.	IRAS Amen, dear goddess. Listen to our prayer. If it’s sad to see a handsome man with a cheating wife, it’s a tragedy to see an ugly thug with a wife who’s faithful. Therefore, dear Isis, do the right thing and give him the fortune he deserves.
CHARMIAN Amen.	CHARMIAN Amen.
ALEXAS (to himself) Lo now, if it lay in their hands to make me a cuckold, they would make themselves whores but they’d do ’t.	ALEXAS (to himself) See! If they could make me a cuckold, they’d whore themselves in order to see it done.
ENOBARBUS Hush! Here comes Antony.	ENOBARBUS Quiet! Here comes Antony.
CHARMIAN Not he. The Queen.	CHARMIAN It’s not him; it’s the Queen.
Enter CLEOPATRA	CLEOPATRA enters.
CLEOPATRA 75 Saw you my lord?	CLEOPATRA Have you seen my lord?
ENOBARBUS No, lady.	ENOBARBUS No, lady.
CLEOPATRA Was he not here?	CLEOPATRA Wasn’t he here?
CHARMIAN No, madam.	CHARMIAN No, madam.
CLEOPATRA He was disposed to mirth, but on the sudden 80 A Roman thought hath struck him.—Enobarbus!	CLEOPATRA He was in a good mood, and then suddenly he started thinking of Rome. Enobarbus?
ENOBARBUS Madam?	ENOBARBUS Madam?
CLEOPATRA Seek him and bring him hither.— Where’s Alexas?	CLEOPATRA Find him and bring him here. Where’s Alexas?
ALEXAS Here at your service. My lord approaches.	ALEXAS Here, at your service. Here comes my lord.
Enter ANTONY with the FIRST MESSENGER	ANTONY and the FIRST MESSENGER enter.
CLEOPATRA 85 We will not look upon him. Go with us.	CLEOPATRA I won’t see him. In the original text, Cleopatra refers to herself in the plural to denote her royal status. I won’t see him. Everyone come with me.
FIRST MESSENGER Fulvia thy wife first came into the field.	FIRST MESSENGER Your wife, Fulvia, mustered her army first.
ANTONY Against my brother Lucius?	ANTONY Against my brother Lucius?
FIRST MESSENGER Ay. But soon that war had end, and the time’s state Made friends of them, joining their force ’gainst Caesar, Whose better issue in the war from Italy Upon the first encounter drave them.	FIRST MESSENGER Yes. But that war ended as soon as circumstances made it advisable for them to join together against Caesar. But in their very first battle, Caesar won and drove them out of Italy.
Exeunt all but ANTONY and the FIRST MESSENGER	Everyone follows CLEOPATRA out, leaving ANTONY and the FIRST MESSENGER .
ANTONY Well, what worst?	ANTONY Well, give me the worst news.
FIRST MESSENGER The nature of bad news infects the teller.	FIRST MESSENGER The bearer of bad news is often blamed for it.
ANTONY 95 When it concerns the fool or coward. On. Things that are past are done, with me. ’Tis thus: Who tells me true, though in his tale lie death, I hear him as he flattered.	ANTONY Only if the hearer is a fool or a coward. Go on. As far as I’m concerned, what’s past is done. It’s like this: as long as a person tells me the truth, even though it means my death, I will listen as though he praised me.
FIRST MESSENGER Labienus— This is stiff news—hath with his Parthian force 100 Extended Asia: from Euphrates His conquering banner shook, from Syria To Lydia and to Ionia, Whilst—	FIRST MESSENGER The news is disturbing. Labienus Quintus Labienus was a Roman general charged with subduing Parthia, a hostile country in Asia Minor, and garnering Parthinian military support in the war against Antony and Octavius Caesar. When Cassius and Brutus were defeated, Labienus led the Parthians in a war against Rome, conquering some of the Roman territories in Asia along the way. Labienus, with the army he led in Parthia, has conquered all of Asia, all the way to the Euphrates River, including Syria, Lydia, and Ionia, while—
ANTONY “Antony,” thou wouldst say.	ANTONY “While Antony . . .” is what you want to say.
FIRST MESSENGER O my lord!	FIRST MESSENGER Oh, my lord!
ANTONY Speak to me home. Mince not the general tongue. Name Cleopatra as she is called in Rome. Rail thou in Fulvia’s phrase, and taunt my faults With such full license as both truth and malice Have power to utter. Oh, then we bring forth weeds When our quick minds lie still, and our ills told us Is as our earing.	ANTONY Speak plainly. Don’t tone down what the people are saying. Call Cleopatra what the Romans call her. Use Fulvia’s abusive language. Freely scold me for my faults with as much severity as an enemy with truth on his side. It’s easy to err when left to our own devices, but criticism helps us to see our faults and correct them.
Enter SECOND MESSENGER	A SECOND MESSENGER enters.
Fare thee well awhile.	Good-bye for a while.
FIRST MESSENGER At your noble pleasure. Exit FIRST MESSENGER	FIRST MESSENGER I’ll be at your service. The FIRST MESSENGER exits.
ANTONY From Sicyon, how, the news? Speak there.	ANTONY What’s the news from Sicyon Sicyon is the town in Greece where Antony left Fulvia. Sicyon. Tell me.
SECOND MESSENGER The man from Sicyon—	SECOND MESSENGER The man from Sicyon—
ANTONY Is there such an one?	ANTONY Is he here?
SECOND MESSENGER 115 He stays upon your will.	SECOND MESSENGER He’s waiting outside.
ANTONY Let him appear. Exit SECOND MESSENGER	ANTONY Have him come in. The SECOND MESSENGER exits.
These strong Egyptian fetters I must break, Or lose myself in dotage.	(to himself) I must break Cleopatra’s powerful hold over me or else I’ll lose myself in foolish infatuation.
Enter THIRD MESSENGER , with a letter	A THIRD MESSENGER enters with a letter.
What are you?	What’s your message?
THIRD MESSENGER Fulvia thy wife is dead.	THIRD MESSENGER Your wife, Fulvia, is dead.
ANTONY Where died she?	ANTONY Where did she die?
THIRD MESSENGER In Sicyon. Her length of sickness, with what else more serious Importeth thee to know, this bears.	THIRD MESSENGER In Sicyon. In this letter you’ll find details of her illness and other, more serious matters that concern you.
He gives ANTONY a letter	He hands the letter to ANTONY .
ANTONY Forbear me. Exit THIRD MESSENGER	ANTONY Leave me. The THIRD MESSENGER exits.
(to himself) There’s a great spirit gone! Thus did I desire it. What our contempts doth often hurl from us We wish it ours again. The present pleasure, 125 By revolution lowering, does become The opposite of itself. She’s good, being gone. The hand could pluck her back that shoved her on. I must from this enchanting Queen break off. Ten thousand harms, more than the ills I know 130 My idleness doth hatch.—How now, Enobarbus!	(to himself) A great spirit has gone from the world! This is what I wanted. Once it’s gone, the very thing we reject becomes what we desire. What’s enjoyable one day becomes the opposite as time rolls around. Now that she’s gone, I want her. Now I would call her back, though I pushed her away. I have to break from this beguiling Queen. The time I’ve wasted here has caused ten thousand more problems than the ones I know about. (calling) Are you there, Enobarbus?
Enter ENOBARBUS	ENOBARBUS enters.
ENOBARBUS What’s your pleasure, sir?	ENOBARBUS What would you like, sir?
ANTONY I must with haste from hence.	ANTONY I have to leave right away.
ENOBARBUS Why, then, we kill all our women. We see how mortal an unkindness is to them. If they suffer our departure, death’s the word.	ENOBARBUS That will kill our lovers. We know how much they suffer if we are unkind to them. If we leave, it will feel like nothing less than death to them.
ANTONY I must be gone.	ANTONY I must be gone.
ENOBARBUS Under a compelling occasion, let women die. It were pity to cast them away for nothing, though between them and a great cause they should be esteemed nothing. Cleopatra, catching but the least noise of this, dies instantly. I have seen her die twenty times upon far poorer moment. I do think there is mettle in death, which commits some loving act upon her, she hath such a celerity in dying.	ENOBARBUS If it’s that important, then let the women die. It would be a pity to throw them away for nothing, but if it’s a matter of choosing between them and a great cause, then they’re worthless. If Cleopatra hears even a breath of this, she’ll die immediately. I’ve seen her claim to be dying twenty times before, and for far less reason. I think there must be something invigorating about death, since she dies with such enthusiasm.
ANTONY She is cunning past man’s thought.	ANTONY She’s more cunning than anyone can imagine.
ENOBARBUS Alack, sir, no, her passions are made of nothing but the finest part of pure love. We cannot call her winds and waters sighs and tears. They are greater storms and tempests than almanacs can report. This cannot be cunning in her. If it be, she makes a shower of rain as well as Jove.	ENOBARBUS Alas, sir, no, her feelings come from pure love, not cleverness. Her sighs and tears are like great winds and floods. She has more storms and tempests in her than a weather almanac. Her temper is not a trick or a skill—if it is, she can make it rain as well as Jove king of the Roman gods; commands thunder, lightning, and rain Jove.
ANTONY Would I had never seen her!	ANTONY I wish I’d never seen her!
ENOBARBUS O sir, you had then left unseen a wonderful piece of work which not to have been blessed withal would have discredited your travel.	ENOBARBUS Then you’d have missed an amazing piece of work, sir, and your trip would have been poorer for the loss.
ANTONY 155 Fulvia is dead.	ANTONY Fulvia is dead.
ENOBARBUS Sir?	ENOBARBUS Pardon me?
ANTONY Fulvia is dead.	ANTONY Fulvia is dead.
ENOBARBUS Fulvia?	ENOBARBUS Fulvia?
ANTONY Dead.	ANTONY Dead.
ENOBARBUS Why, sir, give the gods a thankful sacrifice. When it pleaseth their deities to take the wife of a man from him, it shows to man the tailors of the earth, comforting therein, that when old robes are worn out, there are members to make new. If there were no more women but Fulvia, then had you indeed a cut, and the case to be lamented. This grief is crowned with consolation. Your old smock brings forth a new petticoat, and indeed the tears live in an onion that should water this sorrow.	ENOBARBUS Then you should offer the gods a sacrifice to show your thanks. When a man’s wife dies, he can be comforted by the knowledge that there are replacements to be found. If Fulvia were the last woman on earth, there would be a reason to grieve. But in this way, grief and comfort appear together. The only kind of tears you should shed in this case are the kind you might get from holding an onion to your nose.
ANTONY The business she hath broached in the state 170 Cannot endure my absence.	ANTONY I must go and continue the business Fulvia started.
ENOBARBUS And the business you have broached here cannot be without you, especially that of Cleopatra’s, which wholly depends on your abode.	ENOBARBUS The business you began here needs you as well—especially the business with Cleopatra, which only you can attend to.
ANTONY No more light answers. Let our officers 175 Have notice what we purpose. I shall break The cause of our expedience to the Queen And get her leave to part. For not alone The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches, Do strongly speak to us, but the letters too 180 Of many our contriving friends in Rome Petition us at home. Sextus Pompeius Hath given the dare to Caesar and commands The empire of the sea. Our slippery people, Whose love is never linked to the deserver 185 Till his deserts are past, begin to throw Pompey the Great and all his dignities Upon his son, who—high in name and power, Higher than both in blood and life—stands up For the main soldier, whose quality, going on, 190 The sides o’ th’ world may danger. Much is breeding Which, like the courser’s hair, hath yet but life, And not a serpent’s poison. Say our pleasure, To such whose place is under us, requires Our quick remove from hence.	ANTONY Enough of this frivolous talk. Give our officers notice of our intentions. I’ll tell the Queen the reason for our quick departure and get her permission to leave. Fulvia’s death and the pressing concerns related to it are not the only reasons I am eager to go; friends in Rome have also sent many letters advising my return. Sextus Pompeius has challenged Caesar. His fleet controls the sea. Our fickle citizens—who never reward service until that service is over—are now giving all the rights and honors won by Pompey the Great to his son, Sextus. Sextus has great honor and power, and his spirit and energy are even greater, all of which makes him the most formidable soldier in the empire. The empire may be in danger if he’s not restrained before he reaches his full potential. There are many troubles brewing now that have yet to become full-fledged threats. Like horse’s hairs dropped in a bucket of water, they come alive like snakes but as yet they bear no poison. This sentence refers to a popular belief of the time. Like horse’s hairs dropped in a bucket of water, they come alive like snakes but as yet they bear no poison. Relay our intentions to the officers who will be in charge of the move.
ENOBARBUS I shall do ’t.	ENOBARBUS I will.
Exeunt	They both exit.

Previous page Act 1, Scene 1 Next page Act 1, Scene 3

Read the Summary

Read the Summary of Antony and Cleopatra.

Shakespeare’s Life & Times

Dive into our comprehensive guide to ace your Shakespeare assignments

Take a study break

Original Text

Modern Text

I would rather get passion from drink

Herod of Judea

figs

overflowing Nile

Isis

I won’t see him.

Labienus

Sicyon

Jove

Like horse’s hairs dropped in a bucket of water, they come alive like snakes but as yet they bear no poison.

Original Text

Modern Text

I would rather get passion from drink

Herod of Judea

figs

overflowing Nile

Isis

I won’t see him.

Labienus

Sicyon

Jove

Like horse’s hairs dropped in a bucket of water, they come alive like snakes but as yet they bear no poison.

Read the Summary of Antony and Cleopatra.

Dive into our comprehensive guide to ace your Shakespeare assignments

Every Literary Reference Found in Taylor Swift's Lyrics

Popular pages: Antony and Cleopatra

Character List CHARACTERS

Mark Antony CHARACTERS

Themes LITERARY DEVICES

Important Quotes Explained QUOTES

Full Book Quiz QUIZZES

Take a Study Break

Every Literary Reference Found in Taylor Swift's Lyrics

The 7 Most Messed-Up Short Stories We All Had to Read in School

QUIZ: Which Greek God Are You?

Answer These 7 Questions and We'll Tell You How You'll Do on Your AP Exams