The Double Catastrophe in Antony and Cleopatra

Abstract

Antony and Cleopatra not only swerves from the classical tragedy but shows a lessening of tragic intensity compared with the so-called four great As its action moves toward the end of the play, the comic stands out in relief. The double catastrophe presents a comic vision rather than a tragic vision. Antony's suicide is a triumph over himself and a heroic act by Roman standard. Shakespeare, however, evokes a sense of irony by giving the comic to the serious and tragic act. Antony does not kill himself, but asks Eros to kill him. He stays alive wounded by bungling his suicide. In the monument scene, drawing dying Antony up to her side, Cleopatra said Here's sport indeed as if she had fished Antony. The second catastrophe of Cleopatra's death supplements the first catastrophe of Antony, yielding dialectical meaning. It enhances Antony's status as a hero. Furthermore, it brings Cleopatra and Antony a spiritual victory over Octavius Caesar through her suicide which Caesar wants to evade eagerly. Cleopatra is a serpent of the old Nile, and the Nile Valley, a fertile land itself. So when she is bitten by an asp of the Nile, saying baby at my breast, / That sucks the nurse asleep, that has a comic perspective, a resurrection over death. The double catastrophe that the two lovers bring paradoxically heightens the comic vision of the play. At the moment of death, Antony shows her his wholehearted trust and love without any doubt and suspicion. Cleopatra's death is a splendid ritual that humbles Caesar's mundane success. Antony and Cleopatra is closer to the late romances rather than to the tragedies.