How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Scene.Line). Line numbers correspond to the Riverside edition.
Quote #10
ANTONY
Ah, let be, let be! Thou art
The armourer of my heart. False, false. This, this!
CLEOPATRA
Sooth, la, I'll help. Thus it must be. (4.4.9-11)
Antony refutes the claims that his devotion to Cleopatra compromises his power. Instead, he says, she is the armor around his heart. Love and power are entwined again, as a man who fights without love, it seems, should not fight.
Quote #11
ANTONY
Peace!
Not Caesar's valour hath o'erthrown Antony,
But Antony's hath triumphed on itself.
CLEOPATRA
So it should be, that none but Antony
Should conquer Antony; but woe 'tis so! (4.15.17-21)
This is a complicated interpretation of power: if the fear or hatred of another man’s power forces you to take your own life, are you really the one in control, or just acting on a semblance of it? There’s a feeling of wastefulness at Antony having taken his life—did it really need to happen this way? Is Antony’s own notion of the importance of power really worth his own life? Does that compromise his nobility at the end?