Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, and Mardian
CLEOPATRA Charmian!
CHARMIAN Madam?
CLEOPATRA Ha, ha. Give me to drink mandragora.
CHARMIAN Why, madam?
CLEOPATRA That I might sleep out this great gap of time
My Antony is away.
CHARMIAN You think of him too much.
CLEOPATRA O, ’tis treason!
CHARMIAN Madam, I trust not so. (1.5.1-7)
Back to Egypt, a stark contrast to the efficient, technocratic politicking and plotting of Octavius Caesar and Lepidus, and confirming all their suspicions about Egypt as a place of indulgence and sloth, a place of women and all kinds of appetites. As ever, Cleopatra has her ladies, and Mardian too, and as ever, she’s giving orders, more for the sake of it, for the sake of something to do, than because she actually wants anything to happen; she’s bored (ha, ha may be a yawn) and restless. Give me to drink mandragora, she intones, bring me drugs, all the drugs, a sleeping draught (and mandragora, as well as sounding throatily exotic, is also helpfully, and infamously, man-shaped, with a man in its name too). Why, madam? Charmian has a fair idea, but this is part of the game, to keep Cleopatra talking, indulge her wit as well as her whims: give me to drink mandragora that I might sleep out this great gap of time my Antony is away. I don’t want to live day to day without him, just wake me up when he’s come back to me. It’s excessive, yes, but it’s not just about boredom and desire, it’s a sense of real lack, of being stuck and aimless without him. For all her baiting and needling of Antony, Cleopatra certainly misses him when he’s gone, or at least she wants to be seen to be missing him, and to talk endlessly about how much. You think of him too much, is Charmian’s retort, they’ve been putting up with this act for days, weeks; give it a rest for a bit, please? ’tis treason to suggest that I think of him too much, replies Cleopatra, performative indignation (Cleopatra is, after all, all about the too much; too much is totally her brand) but also a jab back at her most loyal companion: don’t overstep the mark. And, perhaps: he’s part of me, and I’m your queen. In disparaging him and my love for him, you are betraying me too. I trust not so: Charmian knows she can’t go too far, but also that she can push back a bit; come on, don’t be such a drama queen. (That barge sailed long, long ago…)