Antony's Fall
The play actually begins by informing the audience how it will end. When Philo notes in the first act that Antony will be "transformed" by Cleopatra and essentially relinquish his status as a "pillar" of the world, he is in reality predicting the end of the play, when Antony dies, along with the Second Triumvirate (1.1). This moment may initially sound like simple criticism from the Romans who are appalled by Antony's indulgences in Egypt, but Philo's comment ultimately foreshadows with surprising directness what will happen by the final act.
Miscommunications
The play relies heavily on dramatic irony, or a type of irony in which the audience knows something that other characters on stage do not. Because of the play's fundamentally chaotic structure (it switches scenes more than any other Shakespearean play), many messages and communications are lost or kept secret from other characters. As such, Antony and Cleopatra are rarely in a position where they fully understand the other person's motivations and desires. The audience, however, is privy to every event of the play, every secret conversation, and every monologue, allowing them to predict what might happen next when the characters themselves are kept in the dark.
The Squeaking Cleopatra
Just before Cleopatra commits suicide, she argues that it is the right thing to do because she will be mocked otherwise. In thinking of her future legacy, Cleopatra says that some "squeaking Cleopatra" will defile her reputation by portraying her as nothing more than a "whore" (5.2). This moment is both meta-theatrical and ironic, as Cleopatra here refers to the early modern English dramatic convention of having young boys play female characters. Thus, when the play was originally performed, it would have been a young boy delivering these lines.
The Play's Reputation
Antony and Cleopatra would seem, based on its title, to be about the love between the queen of Egypt and a famous Roman general. The play contains many instances of poetic language and expressions of love that would support the interpretation of the play as a tragedy of two lovers. However, the play's legacy is not so much related to the coupling of Antony and Cleopatra in the same way as, for example, Romeo and Juliet is. Instead, many argue that the play is fundamentally about Cleopatra alone, as Shakespeare crafts a powerful, unrelenting, and fascinating female character from his source material. In this way, the play may purport to be about a love story between two historic figures, but in its structure and its dialogue the play reveals its interest is crafting a Cleopatra who is unrivaled as a character on the Renaissance stage.
