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Authority vs. Freedom
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Epistle Dedicatory Quotes
We have already all the liberty which freeborn subjects can enjoy, and all beyond it is but license.
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In this statement in Dryden’s dedicatory epistle—in which he dedicates the play to an aristocratic patron, Thomas Osborne—Dryden reveals his political philosophy. He uses the epistle to praise the system of government in 1600s England, which was a monarchy balanced by the power of a representative Parliament. King Charles II ruled, but his power was supposedly checked by the rival authority of the elected representatives. Dryden argues that this is the best form of government in the world because it balances the authority of a strong central monarchy with the freedom of a people’s government. Dryden thinks that English people Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque er
Preface Quotes
[T]he crimes of love which they both committed were not occasioned by any necessity or fatal ignorance, but were wholly voluntary, since our passions are, or ought to be, within our power.
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Dryden explains that he has depicted Antony and Cleopatra in a sympathetic light in this play, highlighting their admirable qualities as well as their flaws. However, he stipulates that Antony and Cleopatra are not tragic protagonists in the sense that they have no control over their fate. Rather, they chose to let their passion for each other overrule their reason. In other words, it wasn’t “necessity” or “fatal ignorance” that led to their tragic double suicides. No one forced them to choose their disastrous love affair over their political responsibilities. Rather, their decisions were “wholly voluntary.” They knew right from Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam con
Prologue Quotes
And brings a tale which often has been told,
As sad as Dido’s, and almost as old.
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Dryden notes that the story of Antony and Cleopatra has “often…been told.” In this he is acknowledging his debt to several other famous fictional versions of the story, most notably Shakespeare’s play Antony and Cleopatra. He also calls the story “as sad as Dido’s,” a reference to the story of the doomed love affair of Aeneas and Dido in Virgil’s Aeneid. In these moments, then, Dryden alludes to the classical past as well as more recent English literary history. However, even as he acknowledges the long history and prestige of the story and the continuity between his play and these Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum
Act 1 Quotes
Can any Roman see and know him now,
Thus altered from the lord of half mankind,
Unbent, unsinewed, made a woman’s toy,
Shrunk from the vast extent of all his honours,
And cramped within a corner of the world?
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Ventidius, Antony’s old friend and general, has known Antony for a long time. He sees a great change in Antony from what he was before, arguing that Antony has metaphorically “shrunk” from the great emperor and “lord of half mankind” that he was before. He attributes this change to Cleopatra, who he blames for Antony’s dramatic personality change and loss of his military “honors” and glories. Before, Antony ruled half the world; now he’s “cramped within a corner” of it, the kingdom of Egypt. This is because Antony prefers to spend his days with Cleopatra rather than ruling Rome. For Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam offic
But I have lost my reason, have disgraced
The name of soldier with inglorious ease[.]
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Antony explains that his love for Cleopatra is so excessive that he has “lost [his] reason.” He has no explanation for his seemingly irrational decisions except his all-consuming love for her, which causes him to lose his military power and position as ruler of Rome. For example, he explains to Ventidius here that he lost the Battle of Actium against Octavius’s forces because he followed Cleopatra when she fled the battlefield. Unable to put aside personal considerations, he preferred to disgrace himself in battle rather than risk her safety. This is how he has “disgraced / The name of soldier,” Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut ven
And I will leave her; though, Heaven knows, I love
Beyond life, conquest, empire, all but honour;
But I will leave her.
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Throughout All for Love, Antony wrestles with the question of whether he values love more than honor. Here he concedes that he loves Cleopatra more than anything else he has: his empire, his conquests in battle, and even his own life. However, he claims that he loves Cleopatra more than everything but honour. This is why he tells Ventidius that he will leave Cleopatra, in order to command his army in Lower Egypt (who will follow Antony but not Cleopatra). For Antony, a seasoned commander with many military victories, loss in battle would mean humiliation and loss of honor. He Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis.
Act 2 Quotes
Moderate sorrow
Fits vulgar love, and for a vulgar man;
But I have loved with such transcendent passion,
I soared at first quite out of reason’s view.
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Like Antony, Cleopatra describes their love as a passion that transcends and defies reason. Many might regard the choice of passion over reason as a moral failing. Cleopatra, however, sees her passionate nature as an indication of her nobility. She argues that her “transcendent passion” that “soar[s]…quite out of reason’s view” is fitting for a great queen like herself. She says that only low-born (or “vulgar”) people have “moderate sorrow,” thus associating temperate, restrained emotions with people who have low stakes in their lives. By contrast, she regards the greatness of her passion as an index of the greatness of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut o
[W]e have loved each other
Into our mutual ruin.
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After the Battle of Actium—when Antony and Cleopatra are decisively defeated at sea by Antony’s rival, Octavius—Antony tells Cleopatra they have “loved each other” into their “mutual ruin.” By this he means that their love for one another has been destructive to their lives, honor, and political fortunes. Had Antony not fled to Egypt to live with Cleopatra and insulted Octavius’s sister Octavia, this battle would never have come to pass. For Cleopatra’s part, her love affair has sacrificed the independence of Egypt, which has now been invaded by a foreign power and faces annexation to the Roman empire. The Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae vo
Act 3 Quotes
But yet the loss was private that I made;
’Twas but myself I lost: I lost no legions;
I had no world to lose, no people’s love.
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Antony’s old friend Dollabella is guilty of the same fault as Antony: he, too, has fallen in love with Cleopatra. However, he points out an important distinction between the two of them. Antony’s love for Cleopatra has had disastrous consequences because Antony is a public figure, a ruler of Rome and a military commander. By loving Cleopatra and choosing to live in Egypt, Antony loses “legions” of his army, his “people’s love,” and even the “world”—which is to say, the “all” of the play’s title, All for Love. Dollabella, by contrast, is a “private” figure, and so his losses are Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusa
For I can ne’er be conquered but by love,
And you do all for duty.
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Antony admits many times throughout the play that the more reasonable choice for him to make would involve returning to his wife Octavia and their children. The dignified Octavia seems exceptionally generous, offering to return to marriage with him (a loveless marriage on Antony’s part) in order to preserve the peace in Rome. This seems like a persuasive argument, but Antony is too infatuated with Cleopatra to take advantage of it. His statement here provides some explanation for why Antony is unable to make the “rational choice.” He explains that he can never love Octavia because she does everything for Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus c
Act 4 Quotes
Nature meant me
A wife, a silly, harmless, household dove,
Fond without art, and kind without deceit;
But Fortune, that has made a mistress of me,
Has thrust me out to the wide world.
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Cleopatra laments her degraded status as Antony’s mistress rather than his wife. She is jealous of Octavia, recognizing that Octavia has the protection of Roman law and the socially-sanctioned status of Antony’s wife. By contrast, without the authority and protection of marriage, Cleopatra is treated as an outcast. In this sense, she is quite literally choosing love over honor. Under Roman standards of propriety, it is honorable to be a wife and dishonorable to be a mistress. Cleopatra admits that she could have accepted proposals of marriage and become a wife, but seems to accept that “Fortune…has made a mistress Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor
Act 5 Quotes
My Queen is dead.
I was but great for her; my power, my empire
Were but my merchandise to buy her love,
And conquered kings, my factors.
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When Antony hears (falsely) that Cleopatra has committed suicide, he is devastated. He explains to Ventidius that he has nothing more to live or fight for, because Cleopatra inspired all of his conquests, glory, power, and even the founding of an empire. This is a striking revision of the depiction of Antony’s character earlier in the play. Ventidius had argued that Antony was fatally changed from who he once was by his disastrous affair with Cleopatra. To Ventidius, Cleopatra was the cause of Antony’s military defeat and humiliation. However, Antony offers a very different reading of what has changed and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mo
’Tis time the world
Should have a lord, and know whom to obey.
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Antony decides to surrender to Octavius because he is devastated by Cleopatra’s death, but also because he has decided to give up his power struggle with Octavius. He acknowledges that their battle has split the world’s allegiances and caused civil war and bloodshed. With him gone, Antony knows that much of the world will fall under one man’s sway: Octavius. This did indeed come to pass, since the downfall of Antony and Cleopatra marked the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire under Octavius, who became the Emperor Augustus. In his statement that “the world Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur
Ten years’ love,
And not a moment lost, but all improved
To th’utmost joys: what ages have we lived!
And now to die each other’s; and so dying,
While hand in hand we walk in groves below,
Whole troops of lovers’ ghosts shall flock about us,
And all the train be ours.
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Just before Antony dies, he tells Cleopatra that he hopes she will meet him in the afterlife, where they will walk “hand in hand” and have “troops of lovers’ ghosts” to wait on them. In many ways, Antony has died a failure: he has lost his army, his command, and his empire. However, he suggests that although he and Cleopatra are unsuccessful rulers, they will be held up as romantic models for ages to come. Although Antony has been harshly criticized for abandoning his role as ruler of Rome and wasting his time in Egypt, he points out that, in Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero
Let dull Octavia
Survive to mourn him dead; my nobler fate
Shall knit our spousals with a tie too strong
For Roman laws to break.
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Throughout All for Love, Cleopatra has been jealous of Antony’s legally-wed wife Octavia and expressed her grief at her own status as mistress rather than wife. However, just before her suicide, Cleopatra increasingly confines those fears and jealousies to the earthly realm, where “dull Octavia” will mourn the now-dead Antony. With Antony dead, the world of the living seems to have little appeal for Cleopatra. Instead, her mind turns to her “nobler fate” in the world after death. She refers to her and Antony’s joint suicide as their “spousals,” suggesting that their death is a kind of wedding. Moreover, it Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem
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