Yet cannot hold this visible shape : Antony's Roman identity crisis in William Shakespeare's Antony

36 Pages·2015·1.18 MB·English

by  Paul Galante

Lehigh University
Lehigh Preserve
Theses and Dissertations
2001
Yet cannot hold this visible shape : Antony's
Roman identity crisis in William Shakespeare's
Antony and Cleopatra
Paul Galante
Lehigh University
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Recommended Citation
Galante, Paul, "Yet cannot hold this visible shape : Antony's Roman identity crisis in William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra "
(2001).Theses and Dissertations.Paper 691.
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"Yetcannotholdthis visible shape":Antony'sRomanIdentityCrisis inWilliam
Shakespeare'sAntonyaridCleopatra .
by .
PaulGalante
ATh~sis
Presentedto the Graduate and ResearchCommittee
ofLehighUniversity
inCandidacyforthe Degree of
MasterofArts
m
English
LehighUniversity
May, ~OOl

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
L.
Thankyouto Dr. ScottGordonfor his encouragement anddirectionduringthe writing of
this thesis. .
Thankyouto Dr.·KenFiferand PaulMartinfor theirwisdomand advice.
Thankyouto myparents Guido and RetaGalante andmy sonsTimothyand Johnfor all
their support.
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And thankyouAnnfor your constant love and encouragement.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract 1
"Yet cannothold this visible shape": Antony's 2
Roman Identity Crisis in William Shakespeare's
AntonyandCleopatra
Works Cited 28
AbouttheAuthor 29
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ABSTRACT
Inmy paperI examine howWilliam Shakespeare's playAntonyandCleopatra explores
the deconstruction, reconstruction, andultimate destruction ofMarkAntonyJs identity;
whichI argue is the result ofAntony's resistance or attemptto create an untenable
alternative "space," thatoperates in relation to the imperialist imperati:ves,ofOctavius..
Caesar and prevailing,Roman identity discou~se, Antony's "space" is alimInal
transcultural space inwhich he canexplore strategies for personal self-hoodthat are
. ,
marked by acontinual movementbetweenand beyond fixed binary notions such as
"Rome" or"Egypt."-aspace inwhich his identity can cohere instead ofinevitable
dissolution because ofhis loss ofRoman space. I suggestthatthe play seemsto gesture
towardsthe possibility ofimaginingthatthere is areal alternativetothefixed binary
oppositions ofRome orEgyptthat mostRoman charactersinthe play and an endless
procession ofmodem critics seemto imply istheresult oftotalizing ami all-powerful
Roman ideologythat is impossibleto escape: Themore Antonyattempts to createhis
"own space" in opposition orresistan~e to Roman power, the more he appears to be
unable to "hold this visible shape."
1
"Yet cannot hold thisvisible shap'e": Antony's Roman Identity Crisis in William
Sh~espeare' sAntonyandCleopatra
JonathanDollimore inRadicalTragedy suggeststhat astudy ofRenaissance
tragedies is "usefully explored in relationto, acentralten~t ofmaterialistanalysis,
namely thatthe essentialistconcept bf'man' mystifies and obscuresthe real historical
conditions in which the actual identity ofpeople is rooted" (153). Dollimorepointsto
foucault's analysis of"the relationbetween subject and society interms ofpower" and
J
the conception ofpow~r asthe constitutive force ofthe indh7i~ual subject, who is ')t&
the effect ofpower and the objectofpower" (154). ~oucault says that "The individual is
an effect ofpower, and atthe sametime, orprecisely to the extentto which it is that
effect, it is the element ofits articulation" (Foucault qtd. inDollimore 154). Dollimore
suggeststhat Shakespeare'sAntonyandCleopatrais an example ofa"complex"
representation·ofpowerinthat "we are shown howthe ideology in question constitutes
not onlythe authority ofthose in powerbuttheirvery identity" (204). Mark Antony, in .
act 4, scene 14, ofthe play regrets his inabilityto"hold" astable identityby comparing
himselfto the shape ofcloudsthat are "indistinct/ As wateris inwater" (4.14.11).
Antony saysto his servantEros "nowthy captain is /Even such abody; here I am
Antony, / Yet cannot hold this visible shape" (4.14.12-14). Antony offers inthe play
shifting, unfixed and fixed selfimages, alternately describing himselfas "a mangled
-sha.d.ow:-(A221-}-and1.'.a-matWf-steel~4A.33+,-and--his-militat:y-aide~Scams-depicts--him-----
late inthe playas "anoble ruin" (3.10.19). Atthe beginning ofthe play, Antony rea~ts.to
amessage from Romewhile inEgypt bydeclaring"LetRome in Tiber melt and the wide
arch / Ofthe ranged empire fall! Here is my space" (1.1.33-4). Antony's later
2
deClarations ofashifting identity inthe playresult fromhis resistanceto Roman power
relations and imperial ideology. Much ofthe play is concerned with Antony's attempt to
create a"space" with Cleopatrathat runs in oppositionto orthreatens the imperialist
r
designs ofOctavius Caesar, who plansto create aRomanEmpire where "tbethree-.
nooked world /Shall bearthe olivefreely',' and "universal peace" reigns underthe' .
<,. .
imperial domination ofRome (4. 5.~5-7). A:fter_~t()I!ts sui~idt?, Cleopatrafiffi!r~~JlinL
in aeulogy as aman whose"legsbestridtheocean"-a figure that suggests athird'space
..
in which Antony is in both/ neither places ("Rome" and "Egypt") simultaneously (5.2.
n
82). Antony's "space"is aliminal transcultural space inwhich he can explore strategies
for personal self-hoodthat are marked by acontinual movement between and beyond
fixed binary notions such as "Rome" or"Egypt."-aspace inwhich his identity can
' . .
. cohere instead ofinevitable dissolution because ofhis loss ofRoman space. Inthis essay
Iwill.examinehow Shakespeare's play exploresthe deconstruction, reconstruction, and
. .
ultimate destruction ofAntony's identity, which Iwill argue is the result ofA.ntony's
. .
",
resistanG.e or attemptto createanuntenable alternative"space" thatoperates in relation to
theimperialist imperatives ofOctavius Cesar and:prevailingRoman identity discourse.
The play'seemsto gesturetowardsthe possibility ofimaginingthatthere is areal
alternativetothefixed binaryopp()sitions ofRome orEgyptthat most Romancharacters.
in the play and an endlessprocession ofmodern critics seemto imply isthe result of
totalizing and all-powerfulRoman ideology and impossibleto escape. My analysis ofthe
deconstruction, attemptedreconstruction, andultimate destruction ofAntony's identity in
AntonyandCleopatrawill be castinDollimore'snotion thatthe power play ofdominant
Roman ideology-inthe play "constitutes" Antony's "very identity" (204). Themore
3
Antony attempts to create his "own space" in opposition orresistance to Roman power,
the more he appears to beunable to "holdthis visible shape" (1.1.34,4.14.14).
Antony's Roman identity isdeconstructed atthe opening ofthe play by.Philo and
.
Antony himself, and depictedovertlyintermsofAntony's PQwer relations:with
.
imperialistRoman ideology.LindaChames suggeststhat imperialist and colonialist
"ideologicaljustification" in "every historical struggle for power" include"claims of
difference (and implicitlyofsuperiority) to native inhabitants" (105). Antony's identity is
.
.
discussed interms ofhis powerrelations tothe colonizer (Rome) and the colonized
(Egypt / Cleopatra). "Thereal battle ofthe play," according to Cnames, is "staked out
acrossthe terrain ofAntony's identity: the set ofrepresentations, images, and narratives
he needs to recognize himselfas Antony" (1i2). Charnes calls Antony "the displaced or
uprooted agentwho moves betweenthe locations (and different habitus) ofRome and
Egypt" (110). According to Chames, Antony's inabilityto hold a"visible shape"
I
consists ofbeingunable to createhis own imperialist"space" while atthe sametime
maintaining distinctly Roman attributes that areidentifiable inwhat Charnes calls "the
discursiveterms ofRoman narration" (111). Inthe play, however, Antony explores the
possibility ofaspacewith Cleopatrawhere he canmaintain hisownidentity and not be
strictlybound bywhatthe Romans inthe play (and most critics) consider attributes of
Roman-ness.
Inthe opening scene ofthe play, theRoman soldierPhilo discusses Antony as a
"Roman" individualwhose characterhas beentransfigured into asubjectpositionthat is
antithetic.al to discursiveRoman notions ofacolonizer's identity. Philo, who says that in
Egypt Antony is sometimes "riotAntony," and "comes too shortofthat great.property/
4