47. Charles Lewsen, London Times, 16 August 1972.
48. Don Chapman, Oxford Mail, 16 August 1972.
49. Shakespeare Survey 26 (1972), p. 141.
50. Spectator, 19 August 1972.
51. London Times, 16 August 1972.
52. Guardian, 16 August 1972.
53. Birmingham Post, 11 October 1978.
54. Ray Seaton, Express & Star, 11 October 1978.
55. B. A. Young, Financial Times, 12 October 1978.
56. Oxford Mail, 11 October 1978.
57. Guardian, 11 October 1978.
58. Guardian, 11 October 1978.
59. London Times, 15 October 1982.
60. Shakespeare Survey 37 (1984), p. 173.
61. Shakespeare Survey 46 (1994), p. 183.
62. Financial Times, 7 November 1992.
63. London Times, 7 November 1992.
64. Daily Telegraph, 9 November 1992.
65. Guardian, 9 November 1992.
66. Robert Smallwood, Shakespeare Survey 53 (2000), p. 247.
67. Financial Times, 25 June 1999.
68. Evening Standard, 24 June 1999.
69. Paul Taylor, Independent, 26 June 1999.
70. Ibid.
71. Times Literary Supplement, 6 August 1999.
72. Glasgow Herald, 30 June 1999.
73. Guardian, 25 June 1999.
74. Shakespeare Survey 56 (2003), p. 282.
75. Independent, 25 April 2002.
76. Daily Telegraph, 25 April 2002.
77. London Sunday Times, 28 April 2002.
78. Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph, 25 April 2002.
79. London Times, 25 April 2002.
80. Guardian, 25 April 2002.
81. Daily Telegraph, 25 April 2002.
82. Independent, 29 April 2002.
83. Observer, 23 April 2006.
84. Nicholas de Jongh, Evening Standard, 20 April 2006.
85. Daily Express, 21 April 2006.
86. London Times, 21 April 2006.
87. Evening Standard, 20 April 2006.
88. Evening Standard, 20 April 2006.
89. Daily Telegraph, 20 April 2006.
90. Mail on Sunday, 23 April 2006.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND
PICTURE CREDITS
Preparation of "Antony and Cleopatra in Performance" was assisted by a generous grant from the CAPITAL Centre (Creativity and Performance in Teaching and Learning) of the University of Warwick for research in the RSC archive at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded a term's research leave that enabled Jonathan Bate to work on "The Director's Cut."
Picture research by Michelle Morton. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust for assistance with reproduction fees and picture research (special thanks to Helen Hargest).
Images of RSC productions are supplied by the Shakespeare Centre Library and Archive, Stratford-upon-Avon. This Library, maintained by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, holds the most important collection of Shakespeare material in the UK, including the Royal Shakespeare Company's official archives. It is open to the public free of charge.
For more information see www.shakespeare.org.uk.
His Majesty's Theatre, directed by Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1906). Reproduced by permission of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Directed by Glen Byam Shaw (1953). Angus McBean (c) Royal Shakespeare Company
Directed by Trevor Nunn (1972). Reg Wilson (c) Royal Shakespeare Company
Directed by Peter Brook (1978). Reg Wilson (c) Royal Shakespeare Company
Directed by John Caird (1992). Malcolm Davies (c) Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Directed by Steven Pimlott (1999). Donald Cooper (c) Royal Shakespeare Company
Directed by Braham Murray (2005). (c) Donald Cooper/photostage.co.uk
Directed by Gregory Doran (2006). Pascal Molliere (c) Royal Shakespeare Company
Directed by Adrian Noble (1982). Joe Cocks Studio Collection (c) Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Reconstructed Elizabethan Playhouse (c) Charcoalblue
THE MODERN LIBRARY EDITORIAL BOARD
Maya Angelou
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A. S. Byatt
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Caleb Carr
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Christopher Cerf
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Harold Evans
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Charles Frazier
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Vartan Gregorian
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Jessica Hagedorn
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Richard Howard
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Charles Johnson
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Jon Krakauer
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Edmund Morris
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Azar Nafisi
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Joyce Carol Oates
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Elaine Pagels
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John Richardson
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Salman Rushdie
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Oliver Sacks
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Carolyn See
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Gore Vidal
Copyright (c) 2007, 2009 by The Royal Shakespeare Company All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Modern Library, an imprint of
The Random House Publishing Group, a division of
Random House, Inc., New York.
"Royal Shakespeare Company," "RSC," and the RSC logo are trademarks or
registered trademarks of The Royal Shakespeare Company.
The version of Antony and Cleopatra and the corresponding footnotes
that appear in this volume were originally published in William Shakespeare
Complete Works, edited by Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, published
in 2007 by Modern Library, an imprint of The Random House
Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
eISBN: 978-1-58836834-8
www.modernlibrary.com
v3.0
1 dotage folly/infatuation/senility
general's i.e. Antony's
2 measure prescribed limit
goodly fine
3 files and musters rows of assembled troops
4 plated armored
Mars Roman god of war
bend direct
5 office service, duty
6 tawny brown-skinned
front forehead, face (plays on the sense of "front line of troops") 8 reneges renounces, abandons
temper moderation, restraint/resilience (used of swords' hardness) 10 gipsy's Gypsies were believed to come from Egypt; "gipsy" was also a term for a deceitful woman or whore Flourish trumpet fanfare announcing the approach or departure of an important person Train retinue, followers
Eunuchs castrated males, often employed in Oriental courts 12 triple ... world Mark Antony was one of three triumvirs who ruled the lands conquered by Rome 13 strumpet loose woman or whore
14 tell relate (in his reply, Antony responds to the sense of "count") 15 beggary ... reckoned if love can be calculated, it's worthless 16 bourn boundary, limit
17 Then ... earth i.e. his love's infinitely greater than the known world 19 Grates me! How annoying!
The sum give me the gist
20 them i.e. the news
21 Fulvia Antony's wife
perchance perhaps
22 scarce-bearded Caesar Octavius Caesar, another of the triumvirs and great-nephew of Julius Caesar; he was twenty-three, twenty years younger than Antony 23 mandate command
24 Take in conquer, occupy
enfranchise liberate
26 How what
27 Perchance? ... like Perhaps? No, almost certainly
28 dismission dismissal, order to leave
30 process summons (legal term)
33 homager vassal, one who acknowledges the duty of loyalty and obligation else so or else
34 scolds quarrels noisily/chastises with violent language 35 Tiber Rome's chief river
36 ranged ordere
d (with connotations of buildings set out in a line or troops drawn up in ranks) 37 dungy made up of or abounding in dung
39 mutual intimate (especially in sexual sense)
40 twain pair
bind oblige, constrain with legal authority
41 On ... punishment a phrase used in official statutes; Antony makes a public proclamation of their love weet know
42 peerless matchless
44 and not if he did not
45 seem pretend to be
47 stirred inspired/sexually aroused
49 confound waste, ruin
conference conversation
50 stretch pass/be extended
51 sport entertainment (with connotations of sexual pleasure) 53 Fie exclamation of disgust or reproach
wrangling noisily contentious
54 Whom everything becomes whom all things suit, who is beautified by all moods chide scold, reprimand
57 No i.e. I shall hear no
59 qualities characteristics, dispositions
61 with by
prized so slight valued so little
62 when ... Antony i.e. he fails to live up to his great reputation 63 property special personal quality
64 still always
65 full deeply
66 approves proves right
68 Rest you happy remain fortunate, go well
Soothsayer one who foretells the future
2 absolute perfect
4 charge decorate, festoon
horns with garlands cuckolds (men with unfaithful wives) were fancifully supposed to grow horns on their foreheads; to festoon them with garlands suggests Charmian's husband will be a champion cuckold 11 banquet a dessert course of sweetmeats, fruit and wine 16 fairer more fortunate/beautiful/plump/spotless, pale 18 paint use cosmetics
20 prescience foreknowledge
22 beloving loving
23 liver the organ regarded as the seat of the passions 25 Good now well then, come on
26 forenoon morning
27 Herod of Jewry King of Judaea who ordered the slaughter of all male infants in an attempt to kill the young Jesus Christ; he appears as the villain in numerous morality plays 28 homage acknowledge allegiance to
31 figs usually euphemistic for the vagina; possible phallic connotations here 32 proved experienced
34 belike perhaps/probably
have no names be illegitimate
35 wenches girls
must shall
38 Out exclamation of impatience or irritation
forgive ... witch absolve you of the charge of witchcraft (because his predictions are worthless) 39 are privy to know of, are familiar with
44 drunk to bed to go to bed drunk
45 presages foretells
47 Nilus presageth famine Charmian is being ironic; the fertility of the River Nile's flood ensured good harvests 48 wild flighty/mischievous/lustful
49 oily palm moist palms were thought to indicate sensuality fruitful prognostication sign of fertility
50 scratch mine ear itching ears proverbially signify an enjoyment of hearing novelties workaday humdrum, ordinary
54 I have said there is no more to be said
58 Not ... nose implies that his penis would be a better place for an extra inch (though the nose itself often had phallic connotations) 61 go walk/have sex/carry a child
Isis Egyptian goddess of the moon and fertility
63 fifty-fold fifty times over
64 cuckold man with an unfaithful wife
65 matter ... weight something of greater importance/(lover with a) bigger penis/the weight of a lover's body during sex/the weight of a child during pregnancy 67 loose-wived with an unfaithful wife
68 foul ugly
knave fellow
69 uncuckolded with a faithful wife
keep decorum behave appropriately/observe what is proper to character and rank 73 they'd ... do't they would stop at nothing even if it meant making themselves whores 81 A Roman thought a serious thought, imbued with Roman notions of virtue and honor 85 We the royal plural
86 field battlefield
89 time's state circumstances at the time
90 jointing their force uniting their forces
91 better issue greater success
92 encounter battle
drave them drove them (out of Italy)
97 Who ... flattered I will listen to a truth-teller as if he were a flatterer, even if he tells of death 99 Labienus rebel Roman general who defected to the Parthians after the defeat of Brutus and Cassius at the battle of Philippi 100 stiff formidable, grave
Parthian Asiatic people whose army were challenging Roman expansion in the Middle East 101 Extended seized upon (legal term)
Euphrates one of the two main rivers of Mesopotamia (Iraq)
103 Lydia ancient country of Asia Minor
Ionia ancient region of Anatolia (Turkey)
104 wouldst wanted, meant to
106 home directly, bluntly
mince ... tongue do not moderate public opinion
108 Rail ... phrase scold me in the way that Fulvia would 111 quick lively
still inactive
our ... earing being told of our misdeeds improves us as plowing (earing) does land 114 Sicyon ancient city situated in the northern Peloponnese, southern Greece how what is
117 stays ... will awaits your command
120 What who
125 Importeth it concerns
126 Forbear me leave me alone
128 What ... again we often wish to have again what we've thrown away in contempt 130 By revolution low'ring decreasing over the course of time (as the wheel of fortune turns) 132 could would willingly
133 enchanting bewitching, with the power to cast spells 135 idleness indolence/folly
suffer permit/undergo/experience pain at
142 die plays on the sense of "orgasm"
145 noise rumor
146 upon ... moment over a much less important matter (moment quibbles on the sense of "orgasm") 147 mettle spirit, vitality/sexual vigor
148 celerity swiftness
149 cunning perhaps a buried resonance of "cunt/con"
151 part plays on the sense of "sexual part, vagina"
153 almanacs calendars containing astrological and meteorological forecasts 154 Jove supreme Roman god who controlled the rain; the reference may recall Jove's seduction of Danae when he took the form of a shower of gold 155 Would I wish
156 piece of work masterpiece/whore
157 withal with
158 your travel i.e. reputation as a traveler (puns on "travail," i.e. "work/sexual labor") 166 shows ... earth shows men that the gods are the earth's tailors (replacing worn-out wives with new ones as tailors make new clothes out of old ones); tailors were proverbially lecherous therein in this respect
167 members plays on the sense of "penises"
169 cut shock, blow/vagina
case plays on the sense of "vagina"
170 crowned plays on the idea of the encircling vagina consolation puns on "con" (vagina)
smock woman's undergarment, hence woman in her sexual capacity 171 petticoat woman's skirt or undergarment, hence woman in her sexual capacity 175 business plays on the sense of "copulation"
broached Enobarbus widens the sense of the word from "started" to incorporate the sexual sense of "pricked, penetrated"
177 abode staying
178 light frivolous/indecent, lewd
180 expedience speed/expedition requiring haste
181 leave to part permission to depart
alone only
182 touches motives
184 contriving working or scheming on Antony's behalf 185 Petition ... home urge us to come home
Sextus Pompeius younger son of Pompey the Great, the defeated rival of Octavius Caesar's great-uncle Julius Caesar 186 given ... to challenged, defied
187 slippery fickle, unreliable
189 throw bestow
&nb
sp; 190 Pompey the Great i.e. the title of Sextus Pompeius' father dignities titles, honors
191 high great/dignified/proud
192 blood and life vigor and spirit
stands up For shows himself to be/claims to be
193 main greatest, leading
quality abilities/party, supporters
going on continuing, being maintained
194 The ... danger may endanger the very frame of the world (or perhaps "... the borders of the Roman empire") courser's large horse used in battle
195 courser's ... poison refers to the belief that a horse hair placed in stagnant water would turn into a snake, a phenomenon caused by microscopic fauna attaching themselves to the hair and causing it to move 198 remove departure
196 Say ... hence tell those who serve me that I wish to depart quickly 2 did ... since have not seen him recently
4 I ... you i.e. do not say I sent you
sad serious/sorrowful
8 hold follow, adopt
9 like same
11 give him way let him have his own way
cross thwart, obstruct
13 Tempt provoke/test
forbear (you would) desist
16 sullen serious/melancholy
17 breathing voice, speech
19 thus long so long (before I die)
the ... it my constitution won't survive the strain
22 stand ... me i.e. give me air
24 eye look in your eye
25 the married woman i.e. Fulvia
36 false unfaithful
Riotous madness unrestrained, wanton folly (on my part)
37 mouth-made i.e. insincere, not from the heart 38 in swearing even as they are being sworn
40 colour pretext
41 sued staying begged to stay
43 our my (Cleopatra uses the royal plural as she reminds Antony of his former praises of her) 44 brows bent arched eyebrows
none our parts not one of my features (was)
45 a ... heaven a child of heaven/inherently divine
48 How now exclamation of reproach
49 inches height/manly strength (with phallic connotations) 50 heart courage, resolution
Egypt Cleopatra/the country
54 in use as (financial) security/in trust (legal term)/for your use (with connotations of sexual employment) 55 civil swords swords drawn in civil war
56 port city gate/harbor
57 Equality ... faction having an equal division of power in the state (between Octavius Caesar and Lepidus) produces factional squabbles over small details 58 hated ... love those who were hated, having grown strong, are now loved 60 apace rapidly
62 Upon ... state under the present government
63 purge cleanse, purify itself (medical term referring to the use of emetics or laxatives) 64 particular personal concern
65 safe make safe
71 garboils brawls, disturbances
best best of all (or possibly, referring to Fulvia, "when showed herself to be at her best") 74 sacred vials lachrymatory bottles; small vessels placed in Roman graves and thought to have contained mourners' tears 77 know learn