ANTONY                                 Gentle Octavia,

Let your best love draw to that point which seeks

Best to preserve it. If I lose mine honour,

I lose myself. Better I were not yours

Than yours so branchless. But, as you requested,

Yourself shall go between’s. The meantime, lady,

I’ll raise the preparation of a war

Shall stain your brother. Make your soonest haste;

So your desires are yours.                (3.4.18-26)

Gentle Octavia—well, whatever Cleopatra is, she’s not gentle, either in her temperament, or in her behaviour, if gentle (as here) also means polite, refined, courteous. Antony can sound frustrated, even sarcastic with Octavia—but he doesn’t have to. He can recognise the invidious position she’s in when he says, let your best love draw to that point which seeks best to preserve it. You’re going to have to make up your mind; you’re simply going to have to weigh it all up and, perhaps, choose the least worst option, one which gives you the best possible chance of preserving your best love, whether that’s me (it’s me, I’m your husband) or your brother (not him). Be guided by your deepest feelings, as the compass finds its own true direction out. But—by the way—if I lose mine honour, if I just put up with these insults and indignities which your brother is heaping on me, which you’ve just urged me to overlook and not take to heart—I lose myself. Without my honour, my reputation and my name, I’m nothing. Better I were not yours than yours so branchless—and where would you be if I lose everything? Your status depends on me now too, more than on your brother (debateable, although persuasive). He’s making you look bad too, by association: branchless might suggest a wreath of victory, but also implies that Antony is like the tree that shelters and protects Octavia herself; if he’s left branchless, she’s exposed and at risk. But, as you requested, yourself shall go between us. Do what you can, in the way of negotiation and reconciliation. Be aware, though, that in the meantime, lady, I’ll raise the preparation of a war shall stain your brother. I’m not just going to sit back and take it, and I’m not going to leave it up to you, to wait and see if you can talk your bloody brother into backing down and shutting up. I’m getting ready to fight, to push back against him, knock him back and damage him in turn. I am getting ready to throw some serious shade. So make your soonest haste, get on with it as quickly as you can, so your desires are yours, if that’s really what you want to do.