his ideas of "truth". Just as the play itself is an art-form, is artificial and not natural, the messengers and their messages show how unreliable information is. This irony mirrors that of the two main protagonists, Antony and Cleopatra. Just as messengers are meant to convey information (but in the play tell mistruths), so too is it ironic that the great soldier Antony can't kill himself in Act 4 Sc 13. Examples of messengers lying or sending unreliable information include the messenger describing Octavia (3.3), Mardian's false news of Cleopatra's death (4.13) and Proculeius  lying to Cleopatra about her fate in Rome (5.1). Shakespeare's own message is that "truth" is impossible, the listener needs careful examination and realisation of this not just in plays, but in life.

a simplistic analysis would suggest some messengers are

only dramatic devices, the fact that some are named raises the

theme of "identity". It is interesting to note that the number

of named messengers increases during the play. This inversely

mirrors the destruction of Antony's own identity, which dissolves

before the audience. He is disempowered and emasculated, as

subordinate messengers acquire stronger identities and wills.

Conversely, in The Great Gatsby, Gatsby's own identity is deconstructed

in the later chapters as we learn of his true name, his true origins. Given

the novel form, Fitzgerald relies on his first person narrator Nick Carroway

to report events retrospectively. Linking with an earlier point about truth,

the theme of true identity is conveyed through the messenger in the

Shakespearean play, or messenger-narrator in The Great Gatsby.

How do we feel the audience are supposed to react to it?  Do our sympathies lie with Cleopatra or with the Messenger?  Is she a spoiled child or an empowered monarch suffering with love-sickness?  Does it convince use that her love for Antony is real or that she is a narcissist and a fantasist?  One of the things that is so enduring about this play is this anithetical structure.  The audience is constantly asked to choose between contradictory positions and being unable to do so, the audience is then forced to hold both positions simultaneously.  Cleopatra is like Schroedinger's cat.  In a constant state of quantum uncertainty.  Recognisably human and completely alien and unknowable.

God, I wish I was teaching this again.

The messengers used in Antony and Cleopatra could be another way of Shakespeare showing the couple’s cowardliness and patheticness as they are unable to face one another with bad news, contradicting the earlier view of
Antony as a “third pillar of the world”(1.1.13) and both him and Cleopatra as
Godly figures, “Venus”(2.2.205). It also questions their true power, as by
giving the messengers such intimate knowledge and details, they are giving them the power instead as they can twist the information in any way they like and hold the ammunition for great drama and warfare. In fact, it is a message from to Antony about Cleopatra’s betrayal and fake death that leads to his own
painful end and a message from Dolabella to Cleopatra suggesting the likelihood of her becoming Caesar’s “Egyptian puppet”(5.2.207) that leads to her own death. The consequence of these messages clearly shows the power the messengers hold, in comparison to the “leaders”, whose actions are dependent on the messengers. This again could be seen as a way for Shakespeare to undermine the, “powerful” figures, as, in actual fact, their fate rests in the words of a common, and poor civilian. Similarly, Gatsby’s use of Jordan as a messenger in Chapter 4 of the Great Gatsby, can also be seen as cowardice, as he lacks the confidence to ask Nick directly for a favour and therefore has to go through a third person, a feature Nick disagrees with “why has it all got to come through Miss Baker?”. The power is clearly in Jordan’s hands as she can determine whether or not he achieves his lifelong dream of meeting Daisy and therefore, despite Gatsby’s wealth and gender, he is the weaker person in this instance. However, it could also represent Gatsby’s alienation from society due to rejection from the social elite that has led him to become withdrawn and nervous when talking to anyone associated with such society. In addition, it could suggest that Gatsby is slightly sexist as he feels more confident conversing with a female than a male, suggesting woman to be increasingly placid and feeble. Nevertheless, it is clear that the messengers reduce the power of the wealthy and thus, increase their own power, reversing the social hierarchy.

I disagree with Beth I believe that Shakespeare has used messengers
purely because they live so far away from one another not because they do not
want to face each other with bad news. Even if they were writing letters,
another form of communication, they still would not be facing each other with
the bad news that they need to tell. I also believe that the messengers are
used to show timing in the play. It would take a series of days even weeks to
get from Rome to Egypt, I believe the use of messengers shows how long this
play went on for,
I do however believe that the messengers can be deceitful as they hold the power
to twist whatever they want. We never quite know if the message is lying or not.
E.g. “Fulvia thy wife is dead” (messenger 1.2) Antony after returning back to Rome
never has any other sort of confirmation about his wife’s death only what the
messenger has told him. Other evidence that supports the fact that these
messengers could be liars is that they all know about Cleopatra’s short temper
and changing personality. Cleopatra sends a messenger off to find out what Antony’s
new wife looks like. When the messenger reports back they basically tell
Cleopatra exactly what she wants to hear. “that’s not so good: he cannot like
her long. (Cleopatra 3.3) The messenger agrees with Cleopatra this could be
showing the emotion of scared and feeling intimidated because they know her
personality. Cleopatra also asked the messenger about her face meaning is she
smaller than me however the messenger tells Cleopatra that she has a face is
round, hinting to the audience or the reader of the play like myself that Octavia
is bigger than Cleopatra. Diomedes another messenger goes to tell Antony that
Cleopatra is dead however she isn’t and he knows this. This order he was given
to go and tell Antony of his lover’s death ended up causing a tragedy of deaths
in the play. Antony then felt bad for being so angry at Cleopatra causing her
to ‘kill herself’, so Antony takes it upon himself feeling guilty to then kill
himself. All of these deaths could easily have been avoided if Cleopatra and
Anthony didn’t lie to one another and send these messages out to tell lies.
However I do believe that if they did not tell lies to one another the
messengers still would. These lies I see as a key motif in the play and without
them the play would be Antony and Cleopatra.

Empire. When a messenger for Cleopatra lies to Antony of how Cleopatra was “dead” in Act 4 Sc. 13, not only is it evidence of how Egyptian messengers were more loyal than Romans it causes Antony to kill himself as well. The messenger could have rebelled but him choosing not to resulted in the death; once more the apparently insignificant messenger causes the death of a protagonist. While it is quite possible Shakespeare only included the number of messengers he did to highlight the distance between the characters, it is equally as likely that being the radical writer he was, he was making a statement to the poor people at the front of the audience; that despite all the power the high ranking roles possessed, it didn’t help them from being defeated by their mere servants.

are the children of the Revolution.

Link to TGG and CITR?

Similarly, in Act III scene XIII both Antony and Cleopatra channel their emotions towards each other and take them out on the messenger. Cleopatra kisses Thidias’s hand, as if it were Caesar’s, when Antony sees this he decides to whip Thidias mercilessly. The phrase ‘whip him’ and ‘whipped’ are repeated four times, surrounded by a lexical field of aggressiveness and violence – ‘viciousness’, ‘whine aloud’, ‘cringe his face’- This goes to show the destructive nature of Antony and Cleopatra’s relationship, aggression and fury follow them constantly. The power they have gained is inescapable; they feel a constant need to prove themselves worthy by kicking the lower social classes further into the ground. Looking at it from a Marxist perspective, the scene could be interpreted as evoking pity towards the messengers, the innocent are sacrificed for the whims of the powerful. However there is no class struggle that is centralised, the characters are perfectly immobile in their social statuses and there seems to little evidence to show any characters attempting to change that. Does Shakespeare use messengers to make a social comment about the lower classes, or clearly distinguishes the powerful from the powerless, linking destruction with power?

Although the messengers are named anonymous, it could be
argued that Shakespeare has used them to play a role in catalysing key events throughout
the play. This is evident in the opening scene when a messenger sent by Caesar
informs Antony about his duties to Rome. Antony replies to Cleopatra:

 “Let Rome in Tiber melt and the wide arch of the ranged Empire fall!”

Antony is clearly conflicted with his duty to Rome and his affair with Cleopatra. As the play progresses Antony continues to inhabit these conflicts which later lead to his DEATH!!! The messengers could
also represent Caesars power and dominance over the rest of the world,
influencing characters internal and external conflicts.