This ended up being a late night (as I start to write this, it's 12:40am) but as tired as I was from having been out most of the afternoon, ploughed on and finished what I'd set myself to do. It's far too early in the project to let things slide, and this did turn into something of a battle of wits at the end. However, brief thoughts on my first reading:
There are a lot of characters introduced at various stages in the play, and it got a bit tricky to keep track of them all while tired... but the title characters I found myself quite drawn to (even if EVERYBODY did commit suicide - seriously, what's the obsession with that? Anyone would be forgiven for being absolutely certain that nobody of note died in Shakespeare's day that wasn't in a duel, or by suicide) and I will certainly be revisiting this, since Cleopatra interests me as a character. She is one of the stronger women I've come across in Shakespeare's work, and has some interesting conversations with her entourage. The love between her and Anthony is one that I think could be played in several ways - genuine on both parts, feigned on either... I think his for her is genuine, though he's clearly a bit of a womaniser (a trait Shakespeare really doesn't shy from, wonder why that could be...) he does seem to hold Cleopatra in higher regard than his other conquests (and wives). That could just be an act though, to keep sweet the mother of his heirs, for all the good that does either of them in the end, depending on how certain lines are read and directed.
I've started to observe a certain archetype (which I don't think is technically a traditional one, but it crops up a lot in Shakespeare's plays, and elsewhere) which is the childish/hedonistic heir, who has the threat or promise of power and responsibility but has not come into it yet - and when he does, generally is destined to get talked about either for a sudden change in ways, or for the lack of it. Anthony seems to fit into the aftermath of this, he's referred to by Caesar as a bit of a party animal, and later follows Cleopatra away from a fight and then gets into a bit of a strop over the whole thing - he seems to be a rather complicated mix of respected leader (under Cleopatra's shoe, to varying extents through the play) and so much still driven by the conviction that feasting and marrying are the best ways to solve problems. Sounds like a fun way to run a kingdom, but rather a lousy way to win a war... and when both women and war threaten his position, he does the only sane thing and tops himself. Of course. So all in all, I'm left not entirely sure who we're meant to like, feel sorry for, and so on. I kind of want to side with Cleopatra on the whole affair, but she's taking great joy tying him up in knots just as much as he's bringing it upon himself. I'm pretty sure this isn't meant to be a comedy, but it wouldn't be a stretch to turn it into a farce just to bring a little levity to the fact there's at least 5 suicides. And at least 2 more deaths.
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