"What flocks of critics hover here to-day,
As vultures wait on armies for their prey,
All gaping for the carcase of a play!"
These are the very first lines of the play, a prologue written partially in John Dryden's voice, to be spoken before the action begins. It rather drolly addresses the critics who might be in attendance at the play and compares them to vultures waiting to feed on "the carcase of a play." He humorously alludes to the fact that not only will his play be seen, but also, no doubt, criticized.
"Portents and prodigies have grown so frequent,
That they have lost their name."
The actual opening lines of the narrative are these lines spoken by a priest of the Temple of Isis. He goes on to explain that the Nile has been overflowing, a violent whirlwind has shaken the temple itself and there have been a number of off-putting portents of doom.
“They tell me, 'tis my birthday, and I'll keep it
With double pomp of sadness.”
When the audience first encounters Antony, he is bereft and trying to will himself out of loving Cleopatra. He talks about the fact that it is his birthday (a detail that John Dryden devised for his own version, but is historically inaccurate) and that that fact only serves to make him sadder.
“Your bonds are easy: you have long been practised
In that lascivious art: He's not the first
For whom you spread your snares: Let Caesar witness.”
Octavia, Antony’s Roman wife, has showed up in Egypt in an attempt to bring her errant husband back home. Here, she encounters Cleopatra and the two women have a heated discussion. In this line, Octavia alludes to the fact that Cleopatra has a reputation for being promiscuous, and that it only proves that she likes to selfishly ensnare men for her own political gain.
“Why, Dolabella's false,
And Cleopatra's false; both false and faithless.
Draw near, you well-joined wickedness, you serpents,
Whom I have in my kindly bosom warmed,
Till I am stung to death.”
In Act 4, Antony gets word that Dolabella and Cleopatra are pursuing an affair, even though the audience knows that this is untrue. He rails against his old friend and his mistress, seized with jealousy. Here, he compares them both to serpents that he has kept close to his heart, which have now stung him.
"Thou best of thieves: who, with an easy key,
Dost open life, and, unperceived by us,
Even steal us from ourselves"
Cleopatra says this when Iras brings her the snakes with which she plans to kill herself towards the end of the play. With these lines she talks about the killing methods of the snakes, the fact that they can steal one's life so quickly and discreetly.
"You are too sensible already
Of what you've done, too conscious of your failings;
And, like a scorpion, whipt by others first
To fury, sting yourself in mad revenge.
I would bring balm, and pour it in your wounds,
Cure your distempered mind, and heal your fortunes."
Ventidius says this to Antony when he first arrives in Egypt. He notes that his old friend and commander has become submissive in Cleopatra's court, and has such a low sense of self, as he is in a state of lovesickness. Ventidius also offers to help release Antony from this state and once again become a stout-hearted statesman.
"O women! women! women! all the gods
Have not such power of doing good to man,
As you of doing harm."
Ventidius says this at the end of Act 2 when, just as Antony is resolved to leave Cleopatra behind, she manages to pull him back into her orbit. The grizzled general Ventidius complains about all of the harm that women do.
"Far be their knowledge from a Roman lady,
Far from a modest wife! Shame of our sex,
Dost thou not blush to own those black endearments,
That make sin pleasing?"
Octavia has a run-in with Cleopatra after winning back Antony. As she surveys her competition, Octavia belittles the Egyptian queen, suggesting that she is sexually promiscuous and dishonorable because she enjoys sex (which she refers to as "sin"). Octavia positions herself as more pure and virtuous than her husband's mistress.
"I can forgive
A foe; but not a mistress and a friend.
Treason is there in its most horrid shape,
Where trust is greatest; and the soul resigned,
Is stabbed by its own guards: I'll hear no more;
Hence from my sight for ever!"
In Act 4, Antony believes that Cleopatra and Dolabella are pursuing an affair, even though the audience knows this to be untrue. He speaks out against them, saying that he could forgive them if he did not feel such fondness towards both of them.
