THE KING’S MAN 283
antithesis in his depiction of
Octavius Caesar, and life in
Rome. In so doing, Shakespeare
structured his play around
contrasting worlds, filling his
drama with a variety of voices
and viewpoints. Caesar’s rhetoric
is cold and clinical; he speaks
with the politician’s tongue.
Lacking the Egyptian’s taste
for poetic indulgence, Caesar’s
speeches tend to be purely
functional, short, and succinct
in expression. Caesar’s sense of
rigorous discipline leads him to
view Antony’s behavior in Egypt
as dishonorable; in Caesar’s
judgment, Antony simply “fishes,
drinks, and wastes / The lamps of
night in revel; is not more manlike /
Than Cleopatra” (1.4.4–6). Caesar
is too rash in his judgement of his
fellow triumvir: “’tis better playing
with a lion’s whelp / Than with an
old one dying” (3.13.94–95). Like
Cleopatra, Antony resists easy
labeling; Shakespeare varies his
presentation throughout the play,
so that audiences see glimpses
of the “plated Mars” (1.1.4) as well
as the “strumpet’s fool” (1.1.13).
Erotic Egypt
Egypt is characterized as a place
of excessive appetites, where eight
wild roasted boars can be shared
between 12 people for breakfast.
Caesar’s stomach churns at such
extravagance: he would “rather fast
from all, four days, / Than drink
so much in one” (2.7.98–99). The
Egyptians’ appetite for sexual
pleasure is also insatiable, but in
Rome covetousness and eroticism
are substituted for marriage.
Caesar’s sister Octavia functions
like a pawn in a political game
when Antony takes her as his wife.
The marriage symbolizes a reunion
between Antony and Rome, although
many presume that “He will to his
Egyptian dish again” (2.6.126).
Did Shakespeare intend his
audiences to side with Antony?
Is love more important thanduty? As ever, Shakespeare
presents a variety of questions,
but provides few answers. They
are questions for actors to interpret
and audiences to decide. Life
in Egypt has encouraged Antony
to celebrate and feed his appetites,
but ultimately his decision to
act against his natural “Roman”
instinct comes at great personal
loss. As his devotion to Cleopatra
leads to his defeat in battle,
Antony complains: “Authority
melts from me of late. When
I cried ‘Ho!,’ / Like boys unto a
muss kings would start forth, /
And cry ‘Your will?’” (3.13.90–92). ❯❯Octavius, depicted here in a statue in
Rome, stands for Roman martial values
in the play. The historical Octavius
would go on to be proclaimed emperor
of Rome following his defeat of Antony.This foul Egyptian hath
betrayèd me. My fleet hath
yielded to the foe, and yonder
They cast their caps up and
carouse together
Like friends long lost.
Triple-turned whore!
Antony
Act 4, Scene 13