The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra Transformation Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Scene.Line). Line numbers correspond to the Riverside edition.

Quote #4

CLEOPATRA
See where he is, who's with him, what he does.
I did not send you. If you find him sad,
Say I am dancing; if in mirth, report
That I am sudden sick. (1.3-6)

Cleopatra is again tempestuousshe constantly judges how Antony should see her and transforms herself accordingly. She’s not driven by the truth of how she’s feeling, but how she imagines she should feel or be, given the circumstances of their relationship.

Quote #5

CAESAR
Antony,
Leave thy lascivious wassails. When thou once
Was beaten from Modena, where thou slew'st
Hirtius and Pansa, consuls, at thy heel
Did famine follow, whom thou fought'st against,
Though daintily brought up, with patience more
Than savages could suffer. Thou didst drink
The stale of horses and the gilded puddle
Which beasts would cough at. Thy palate then did
   deign
The roughest berry on the rudest hedge.
Yea, like the stag when snow the pasture sheets,
The barks of trees thou brows'd. On the Alps
It is reported thou didst eat strange flesh
Which some did die to look on. And all this—
It wounds thine honor that I speak it now—
Was borne so like a soldier that thy cheek
So much as lank'd not. (1.4.64-81)

Caesar describes just how ideal Antony used to be, which emphasizes how much he has changed by avoiding his duty as a soldier. Love has transformed Antony into a less-than-ideal Roman.

Quote #6

ANTONY
The beds i' th' East are soft; and thanks to you,
That called me timelier than my purpose hither,
For I have gained by't. (2.6.63-65)

Antony thanks Pompey for being the occasion by which he is a changed manhe wouldn’t have left the East if there hadn’t been something worthy to draw his attention to his duty as a soldier over his pleasure as a lover.