Cleopatra sends her servant Alexas to fetch Antony. She talks to Charmian and Iras about how best to keep him interested in her. When he arrives, she pretends to be ill, and protests that she has no hold over him. He explains that possible civil war in Italy calls him home, and shows her the letter with news of Fulvia's death. Cleopatra complains that her own death will go similarly un-mourned by him. She provokes an argument on this basis, but backs down and makes a show of giving him her permission to leave.
In this scene, we get a better picture of Cleopatra's powers of manipulation, of the internal struggle between her will and Mark Antony's duty. It is ironic that she affects weakness in order.....
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