Love

Because they hold powerful positions in their native lands, Mark Antony and Cleopatra's adulterous affair affects the citizens of the Roman Empire and Egypt. For the lovers, valuing their feelings for each other is more important than performing their civic duties. Ventidius and Alexas, who counsel Mark Antony and Cleopatra respectively, resent that the security of their native lands is placed at risk to preserve an emotional bond. Though all of the characters could draw an audience's or a reader's sympathy throughout the play, John Dryden says in his foreword and his dedication that Mark Antony and Cleopatra are not characters one should emulate. Though the lovers do not embody it, this play illustrates the theme that civic duty is more important than personal desire.

Ventidius, a soldier who has served under Mark Antony, tells Mark Antony in Act I: Scene 1 that what he feels for...