Editing Antony and Cleopatra (section)

===== Interpretations of crossdressing within the play =====
Scholars have speculated that Shakespeare's original intention was to have Antony appear in Cleopatra's clothes and vice versa in the beginning of the play. This possible interpretation seems to perpetuate the connections being made between gender and power. Gordon P. Jones elaborates on the importance of this detail:

<blockquote>Such a saturnalian exchange of costumes in the opening scene would have opened up a number of important perspectives for the play's original audience. It would immediately have established the sportiveness of the lovers. It would have provided a specific theatrical context for Cleopatra's later reminiscence about another occasion on which she "put my tires and mantles on him, whilst / I wore his sword Philippan" (II.v.22–23). It would have prepared the ground for Cleopatra's subsequent insistence on appearing "for a man" (III.vii.18) to bear a charge in the war; in doing so, it would also have prepared the audience for Antony's demeaning acquiescence in her usurpation of the male role.<ref name="Jones" /></blockquote>

The evidence that such a costume change was intended includes Enobarbus' false identification of Cleopatra as Antony:
<blockquote><poem>
Domitius Enobarbus: Hush! here comes Antony.
Charmian: Not he; the queen.
</poem></blockquote>

Enobarbus could have made this error because he was used to seeing Antony in the queen's garments. It can also be speculated that Philo was referring to Antony cross-dressing in Act 1, scene 1:
<blockquote><poem>
Philo: Sir, sometimes, when he is not Antony,
He comes too short of that great property
Which still should go with Antony.
</poem></blockquote>

In the context of cross-dressing, "not Antony" could mean "when Antony is dressed as Cleopatra."

If Shakespeare had indeed intended for Antony to crossdress, it would have drawn even more similarities between Antony and Hercules, a comparison that many scholars have noted many times before.<ref name="r5" /><ref name="r6" /><ref name="r7" /> Hercules (who is said to be an ancestor of Antony) was forced to wear [[Omphale|Queen Omphale]]'s clothing while he was her indentured servant. The Omphale myth is an exploration of gender roles in Greek society. Shakespeare might have paid homage to this myth as a way of exploring gender roles in his own.<ref name="Jones" />{{rp|p.65}}

However, it has been noted that, while women dressing as men (i.e., a boy actor acting a female character who dresses as a man) are common in Shakespeare, the reverse (i.e., a male adult actor dressing as a woman) is all but non-existent, leaving aside Antony's debated case.