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374Comparative Drama Marvin Rosenberg. The Masks ofAnthony and Cleopatra. Edited and completed by Mary Rosenberg. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2006. Pp. 605. $80.00. Marvin Rosenberg takes us through Antonyand Cleopatra with an act-by-act, scene-by-scene re-enactment of the characters' interactions. In the process, he pays tribute to the "subtext" of the dialogue, the "polyphony" in each main character's psychology, the ways in which scenes "build," and the "linear" or "contextual"nature ofscenes.The linearmode moves"from a beginning through a chain of chronological sequences toward an end.... Every important speech or action is an arrow pointing to a next speech or action"; the contextualmode "adds breadth to this central scaffolding. It explores the identity and inner life of the various characters" (133, note). Interspersed among the representations ofthe scenes in whichAntony (Rosenberg prefers the Folio spelling,"Anthony"), Cleopatra, and Octavius first appear are separate chapters on each figure. The study ofact 5, written largelyby Mary Rosenberg using her deceased husband's notes, is followed byfour sections, also written or compiled by her: "Is Anthony and Cleopatra a Tragedy?"; an"Epilogue";"A Note on the Historical Cleopatra— 69 BC-30 bc"; and "Critical and Theatrical Bibliographies." Rosenberg delineates the personalities and characters of several of the dramatis personae. He wants us to interpret their actions and re-create what might be going on in their conscious and subconscious minds to explain their behavior. In attempting to unravel Cleopatra's "psychic fears" (83), for example, he cites a psychologist's assessment of the queen as "a personality bent on defending itselfagainstthe primarydanger ofrejection and loss"(83) and follows it up with this commentary: As the play opens, Cleopatra makes a game of asking, "How much am I loved: am lloved enough?"Behind the game, she asks—needs—to be told, "Yes! Of course." But her covert fear will manifest itself sharply the moment the first Messenger from Rome appears. Anthony shrugs him off; but surely we must see and hear—or imagine—Cleopatra's sudden change of tone, her instant anxiety. It is expressed in her verbal emotional fencing , which, as she will say (mistakenly?) to Charmian (1.2.6-10), is the way not to lose Anthony. She now fears acutely his return to Rome. Will submission to Caesar keep Anthony away? Or to his wife, Fulvia? Fulvia dead? Then? (83-84) He concludes this discussion ofCleopatra with the same warning he uttered in his chapter on Antony: "Everything said aboutthe character can still be only a beginning.We can only know its full polyphony in its dynamic: in its line-byline becoming" (85). Reviews375 As he discusses each scene, Rosenberg also introduces commentary on performances ofthe playthat he has read about or seen. His remarks are meant to suggest ways in which part of a scene either could be played or, contrarily, should not be played. He intends these remarks, like his others, to stimulate the imaginations of readers so that they will devise for themselves a strong, felt experience of the behavior of the figures in each scene. But all too frequently, his comments are "about the character," and we are led to reflect rather than to imagine. In addition, the ambiguities oflanguage, character, and action inevitably impede one's imaginative identification with the characters. Moreover, Rosenberg so envelops the characters' behavior with judgments that our rational (moral) and irrational (nonmoral) responses become confused, and we are unable to react with the imaginative freedom he espouses. Early on, Rosenberg establishes a dichotomy between those who think of Antony and Cleopatra positively (theYeas) and those who think ofthem negatively (the Nays). But the dichotomy is artificial (especially in its characterization of the Nays), too simple and restrictive, and too merely judgmental. Also, he overworks it, in part because he is himself—undisguisedly—an idealistic and even sentimental yea-sayer.Although he employs the dichotomy as a means of enabling us to enter into the characterizations with a feeling response, he does not eliminate the difficulties of doing so; he writes about Antony, for example : We have seen that Nays and Yeas read the same words and disagree. I think we can only decide...

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