Certainly! In Act 4 of Antony and Cleopatra, we can find several instances that highlight Antony's arrogance. Here are a few phrases from Act 4, Scenes 1 through 11 that illustrate this trait:
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Act 4, Scene 1:
- Antony dismisses the strategic advice of his followers and expresses confidence in his own judgment, saying:
"He will to his Egyptian dish again: then shall the sighs of Octavia blow the fire up in Caesar."
- Antony dismisses the strategic advice of his followers and expresses confidence in his own judgment, saying:
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Act 4, Scene 2:
- Antony bids farewell to his followers with grandiosity, showing his overconfidence:
"I will reward thee once for thy sprightly comfort, and tenfold for thy good valour."
- Antony bids farewell to his followers with grandiosity, showing his overconfidence:
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Act 4, Scene 4:
- Antony speaks to Cleopatra with a sense of invincibility and pride:
"The next time I do fight, I'll make death love me; for I will contend even with his pestilent scythe."
- Antony speaks to Cleopatra with a sense of invincibility and pride:
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Act 4, Scene 5:
- Antony, despite facing setbacks, remains boastful about his prowess in battle:
"I wish I could be made so many men, and all of you clapped up together in an Antony, that I might do you service so good as you have done."
- Antony, despite facing setbacks, remains boastful about his prowess in battle:
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Act 4, Scene 7:
- Antony praises his own strategic skills and dismisses the threat posed by Caesar:
"We have beat him to his camp: run one before, and let the queen know of our gests."
- Antony praises his own strategic skills and dismisses the threat posed by Caesar:
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Act 4, Scene 8:
- After a temporary victory, Antony's arrogance resurfaces as he lavishes praise upon himself:
"O thou day o' the world, chain mine armed neck! Leap thou, attire and all, through proof of harness to my heart, and there ride on the pants triumphing!"
- After a temporary victory, Antony's arrogance resurfaces as he lavishes praise upon himself:
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Act 4, Scene 10:
- Antony shows his arrogance in his plans to confront Caesar directly:
"Let the old ruffian know I have many other ways to die; meantime, laugh at his challenge."
- Antony shows his arrogance in his plans to confront Caesar directly:
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Act 4, Scene 11:
- Antony's arrogance is evident as he continues to underestimate Caesar:
"He purposes to embark with his squadrons and to night beat the approaching Caesar."
- Antony's arrogance is evident as he continues to underestimate Caesar:
These lines collectively reveal Antony's overconfidence, pride, and tendency to underestimate his adversary, which contribute to his tragic downfall.
The generated response provides several good examples of Antony’s arrogance in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Each of these quotations reveals Antony’s pride and self-focus, his overconfidence and his rather skewed view of his own abilities.
We are left to think about the effects that Antony’s arrogance have on him. In a tragedy like this play, the characters often exhibit a tragic flaw, something gone wrong in their personality that leads to disaster. Antony’s tragic flaw is often identified as lust, but his pride certainly plays a role as well. He often seems to think that nothing can go wrong with him. He is a military leader with a record of successes. He is having an affair with a beautiful and powerful woman.
But Antony overestimates himself. He refuses to see the reality of his precarious situation. His arrogance blinds him and leads him to spurn advice and make poor choices, including pursuing his lust for Cleopatra when he should be focusing on other things. This leads to his downfall. So we might reasonably say, then, that Antony’s tragic flaw is his arrogance.
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