Pompey, who scarcely notices Caesar when Antony is by, says of Antony:
"his soldiership
Is twice the other twain."
And, indeed, Antony in the play appears to be able to beat Caesar
whenever he chooses or whenever he is not betrayed.
All the personages of the play praise Antony, and when he dies the most
magnificent eulogy of him is pronounced by Agrippa, Caesar's friend:
"A rarer spirit never
Did steer humanity; but you, Gods, will give us
Some faults to make us men."
Antony is even permitted at the last to console himself; he declares
exultantly that in the other world the ghosts shall come to gaze at him
and Cleopatra, and:
"Dido and her Aeneas shall want troops."
Shakespeare makes conquering Caesar admit the truth of this boast:
"No grave upon the earth shall clip in it
A pair so famous."
To win in life universal admiration and love, and in death imperishable
renown, is to succeed in spite of failure and suicide, and this is the
lesson which Shakespeare read into Plutarch's story.
Pages:
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427