CAESAR Good queen, let us entreat you.
CLEOPATRA O, Caesar, what a wounding shame is this,
That thou vouchsafing here to visit me,
Doing the honour of thy lordliness
To one so meek—that mine own servant should
Parcel the sum of my disgraces by
Addition of his envy. Say, good Caesar,
That I some lady trifles have reserved,
Immoment toys, things of such dignity
As we greet modern friends withal; and say
Some nobler token I have kept apart
For Livia and Octavia, to induce
Their mediation—must I be unfolded
With one that I have bred? The gods! It smites me
Beneath the fall I have. (5.2.154-168)
Caesar is partly cautioning Cleopatra—good queen, let us entreat you—please, calm down, control yourself—but there’s also, perhaps, an element of embarrassment at her loss of temper, this passionate display of emotion. Caesar doesn’t behave like that; he doesn’t know how to react when others do. Cleopatra seizes the initiative and absolutely makes the most of it: O, Caesar, what a wounding shame is this. This is so embarrassing, it cuts me to the quick. You’re being so kind, so gracious, coming to see me like this, vouchsafing here to visit me, doing the honour of thy lordliness to one so meek. Little me! I’m a nobody! And yet here you are! And now see what’s happened, I’ve been so let down, so shown up by one of my own people! That mine own servant should parcel the sum of my disgraces by addition of his envy. My own treasurer, compounding the shame of my position purely to make himself look good, to make me look worse!
Look, this is the situation. (She’s been thinking on her feet and she’s got the story straight.) Say, good Caesar, that I some lady trifles have reserved (and Charmian and Iras could well snort at this point—lady trifles? Really?—immoment toys, just—little gifty things, tchotchkes, nick-nacks—you know, girl stuff—things of such dignity as we greet modern, everyday friends withal. Bits and bobs, hostess gifts, sentimental value only. That’s the sort of things I’ve held on to. And—of course!—say some nobler token I have kept apart for Livia and Octavia, for your wife and your sister (Charmian and Iras keep poker faces)—I’ve retained some of my really good things for them, as gifts, to induce their mediation—so that they might intercede with you on my behalf! That’s all I’ve done! And yet must I be unfolded, must all of this be revealed, by one that I have bred, one of my own servants, whom I’ve raised up and promoted to his office? Oh the shame of it! To have my finer instincts exposed in such a way! The gods! It smites me beneath the fall I have! This is how to kick a girl when she’s down…