Tony and Cleop Act Four Scene Thirteen Sub-Act One

 

Act Four

Scene Thirteen

Sub-Scene One

Love quotes

 

The boss and his trusted lieutenant entered the library at the palace. He paced to the shelves of books and smiled.

“I bought those books for her. She was not a good reader, but she read them all to me.” Mark Antony took one of the books out. It was the Great Works of Shakespeare.

“She loved Romeo and Juliet.” Mark Antony smiled.

“These violent delights have violent ends.
And in their triumph, die, like fire and powder,
Which they kiss consume. The sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness?
And the taste confounds the appetite.
Therefore, love moderately; long love doth so;
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.”

Romeo and Juliet; Shakespeare.

“I much prefer Othello. "It was rare for a Moor to be the lead, and for his jealousy, he was destroyed.” Mark Antony smiled.

“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy.
It is the green-eyed monster that mocks
The meat it feeds on.”

“I was jealous …… no, envious …… that Cleop then fell for Julius. She was more beautiful than most ladies, and she still is. I loved... no, I lust after her as others were then. I was married to Fulvia, but sometimes lust can dribble out of your ears when confronted.” Mark Antony confessed. “Like pus out of an infected wound.”

“Darn it, Eros. I love her.” Mark placed the book back.

“Eros, do you still see me as your boss?”

“Yes, Boss. Does Romeo see Juliet? I love you too.” Eros smiled.

“Sometimes we see a cloud that looks like a dragon, and sometimes a mist that looks like a bear or a lion, like a fortress with towers, an overhanging rock, or a mountain with many peaks. Or clouds that change with every breeze.” Mark smiled.

“Sometimes we see a blue rock with trees on it that shake before our eyes and make mockeries of our sight since they are made only of air. You have seen the signs. They are the apparitions that tell us night and death are coming.”

“Yes, Boss, but I also believed in turnaround. Nothing is as seen.” Eros said, but the boss ignored him.

“We see a shape that now looks like a horse, and even as we think about it, the cloud dims and makes the shape indistinct, like one drop in a body of water.” Mark continued his ramblings.

“It does, Boss.” Eros affirmed what his boss wanted to hear.

“My good man, Eros, your boss' mind behaves in just the same way now. I am myself for now, but I cannot maintain these thoughts for long, my boy. I went to war for the sake of Egypt and the Queen. I fought Rome for her. I wanted Egypt to be on its own.”

“No more looking for Caesar for protection. I thought I had the Queen's love, for she had mine, and when I did love her, I also had the love of a thousand more people—my boys, which I have now lost.”

“Now, she has concocted a plot with Caesar and Eros against me. She betrayed me so that an enemy might defeat me and destroy my glory. Her betrayal was deep inside me too. She cut my soul with it.”

“No, do not weep, gentle Eros. We still have enough of our own power to put an end to our lives.” The boss smiled. It was then that Mardian arrived.

“Mark Antony, I heard you there. To be true, my Queen loved you, and her fate was inseparable from yours.” Mardian said.

“Get out, you shameless eunuch! Speak one more word, and I will remove your prick. Be quiet! She has betrayed me, and she will die as she deserves.” 

“A person can only die once, and the Queen has done that. What you intended to do for her, she has done for you.” Mardian sighed.

“The Queen... is Cleop dead?”

“The last words she spoke were, "Mark Antony, most loving Mickey!" Then she broke off in the middle of saying your name to let out a heart-rending groan. She spoke half of the word; the other half remained in her heart. She died with your name buried inside her.”

“She is dead, then?”

“Dead. My Queen is dead.”

“Go. I will... just go.” Mark dismissed the eunuch. “Go.”

“Eros, take off my guns. It will not protect me from the pain in my heart. Oh, if only my sides would burst open! I wish my heart were stronger than the weak body that contains it and cracks open.” Mark pulled at the straps.

“Quickly, Eros, quickly. I am no longer a soldier. Let these damaged pieces of the holster and the guns be cast aside. I wore them nobly. Eros, leave me alone for a while.”

Eros leaves the boss.