Antony and Cleopatra, Act 4 Scene 16: ‘A Heavy Sight’

Summary

Just how did Shakespeare intend the dying Antony to be raised to Cleopatra in her monument? By what means? By whom? How high? To where? Was there a balustrade to get him over? Was there a window to get him through? These questions have long puzzled theatre historians, and a variety of ingenious answers has been offered.1 The text has become a basis for speculation on the physical characteristics of the Globe Theatre both because of and despite the fact that it provides no direction other than: 'They heave Antony aloft to Cleopatra (4.16.38.1). While it is usually assumed that more explicit stage directions are missing, it is also possible that what we have is sufficient and an indication that Shakespeare knew what he wanted and how it would be done. Certainly, given his theatrical experience, it is most unlikely that he would have created staging problems requiring complex and therefore expensive and restrictive solutions.

Emendations and additions proposed by most modern scholars are made in the belief that without them the raising of Antony would be disconcertingly and unsuitably awkward. Perhaps, however, we should consider whether Shakespeare intended exactly this effect, and we should begin by asking not 'how' but 'why' Antony is raised aloft.