Betrayal in Antony and Cleopatra Essay

Betrayal in the tomboy ultimately postulates to the downfall of many master(prenominal) characters weather it be stigmatiseal of companions or of their original ideals and honorables. If we take the example of Enobarbus case, his declination from the strict roman type ethics into the looser morals that symbolise more Egyptian ideals, leads him to betray his general and friend, Antony. Enobarbus past goes onto to die of the unrighteousness and broken heartedness he realizes as a result of his treachery towards Antony and his own moral compass. It is however arguable that Enobarbus traitorous spirit is only an outcome and reflection of Antonys own crumbling roman beliefs. If we take the switch between Cleopatra and Enobarbus in Act 3, shaft 12 absorbs 2- 12 we can agnize that Enobarbus lays absolutely none of the blame on Cleopatras shoulders nevertheless instead rupture the Antony to shreds, at one point face The itch of his affection should not then swallow nicked his captainship, at such(prenominal) a point when half to half the human opposed, he being the mered question.In these lines Enobarbus says that Antony should not have let his impulse (an Egyptian quality) destroy his ability as a general and his duty to his manpower, at such an incredibly crucial social occasion in the contest, especially when the stakes were so high and he was such a key component in the outcome. Shakespeare uses the term affection, which can be read to implicate lust. Lust is a trait that Shakespeare lists as an Egyptian quality, and it is vital to note his plectron in diction to stress that the follow up was not disciplined and Roman but a betrayal of Antonys Roman nature. There is no mention of the get it on Antony has for Cleopatra. He besides allows us to square off Enobarbuss view that nothing around this was justifiable or right, and that there were no higher motives moving Antony, rather he was pushed into actions by his baser and more primit ive emotions such as cowardice and lust manifestation Antonys reasons, whatever they may have been, were trivial and unacceptable.The hyperbole in line 9 when half to half the realness opposed also stresses this point because it creates a sense of how indubitably important this battle was. This fight was a touchstone of caption one obviously still remembered in Shakespeares time, and still in ours a war between two of the superior pudding stones the world has seen to date, the stakes of which were incredible amounts of power, influence, land, and currency more than enough motive to veil for. And yet the mered question the person who this whole war was based on who these men were chip this battle for men without experience or training, against the greatest militant empire of the ancient world this man they were fighting for ran away. Enobarbus dialogue describes how utterly base and unreliable Antonys actions have been in monetary value of the values of the Roman Empire .This supports the argument that Antonys betrayal of his Roman ideals lead to Enobarbus also betraying his Roman nature by defecting to Caesar. These betrayals lead to both their deaths, though if they had stuck to the Roman tenets of societal structure they would not have kaput(p) against their own nature actions such as retreating from the sea battle (Antony) or defecting (Enobarbus), and the touch could have had a very diverse ending. It is these faults of betrayal that set the characters up for their downfalls, let loose Antonys belief in the tenet of Ate, which he expresses by saying, when we in our vice grow hard the wise gods seel our eyes (Act 3, Scene 13, 114-18).