Act 1 Scene 5

Scene Outline
Cleopatra complains to Charmian that she misses Antony. She wonders what he is doing and whether he, in turn, is thinking of her. Alexas enters and presents her with a gift from Antony: a pearl. He tells the queen that Antony kissed the gemstone upon leaving Egypt and ordered it be delivered to Cleopatra as a token of his love. Cleopatra asks if he appeared sad or happy, and she rejoices when Alexas responds that Antony seemed neither: to appear sad, Cleopatra says, might have contaminated the moods of his followers, while a happy countenance could have jeopardized his followers’ belief in his resolve. Cleopatra orders Alexas to prepare twenty messengers, so that she can write to Antony on each day of his absence. She promises, if need be, to “unpeople Egypt” by turning all of its citizens into messengers (I.v.77).

Analysis
Act I Scene V marks the point in the text where it is clear that rather than simply sending her time taunting and manipulating Antony, she has actually come to love him. Cleopatra first asks for mandragora, a narcotic syrup, so that she "might sleep out this great gap of time [her] Antony is away". The idea that she would prefer to be unconscious for the time that he is away suggests that to be apart from Antony is too painful for her to bear, in turn implying that she has greater feelings for him that just a 'plaything' for fun. Furthermore, Cleopatra is characterized as a temptress who is confident in her appearance and her sexuality, however, when referring to Antony she asks if he feels for her even though she is "with Phoebus' amorous pinches black" and "wrinkled deep in time". This sudden display of insecurity in her physical beauty, which is considered her most powerful weapon, would indicate a sense of uncertainty and nervousness regarding a desire to have Antony love her and whether he really does. When the Alexas brings word of Antony's departure, Cleopatra is pleased by Antony's "well-divided disposition". He was not sad, as that would affect others, and he was not happy, as this would indicate that he had forgotten his love in Egypt. Cleopatra's praise of Antony's "heavenly mingle" shows that she not only respects his behaviours for the sake of the others around him, but she is also pleased that Antony has demonstrated that he is in fact thinking of her, a perceived evidence of his love.