Another example of Shakespeare's use of overlapping time frames occurs in act three, scene two of Julius Caesar. It is best known for Antony's speech which begins with "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears", and which ends with him having turned the throng completely against the republican side represented by Brutus and Cassius. In it, he proves himself a very able and cynical politician: He doesn't tell the truth about his intentions once. (I can't remember which humourist it was who defined a "gaffe" as "a moment when a politician accidentally tells the truth", but Antony would've concurred.) By the end of his oration, the crowd is beginning to riot, and Antony says to himself: "Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot/ Take thou what course thou wilt." Then enters a servant who brings news that Octavius is come to Rome, and that "Brutus and Cassius are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome". So in real time, the beginning of the riot and their escape would have a separation of about fifteen seconds, which would be most unlikely, if not impossible. But occasions like this one never feel wrong when we experience them in the play. They simply add to the momentum.

Further to yesterday's comments about Enobarbus, the sophisticated and cynical follower of Antony: He has some of the most memorable lines in the play. For example, when Antony and Octavius are reaching a tenuous agreement to form an alliance with which to confront Sextus Pompey, Enobarbus gives them some humorous yet truthful advice. He says that they can continue their disagreements (and return to their true natures) after they have dealt with the immediate threats, and once they have more leisure. Antony, in a tricky spot, then takes out some of his tension on him, to which Enobarbus' replies are highly amusing:

ENOBARBUS

Or, if you borrow one another's love for the

instant, you may, when you hear no more words of

Pompey, return it again: you shall have time to

wrangle in when you have nothing else to do.

ANTONY

Thou art a soldier only: speak no more.

ENOBARBUS

That truth should be silent I had almost forgot.

ANTONY

You wrong this presence; therefore speak no more.

ENOBARBUS

Go to, then; your considerate stone.

His statement on telling the truth always makes me think of one made by another chorus-type character, the Fool in King Lear, when he says, "Truth's a dog must to kennel." Both characters show that humour is often used to camouflage its real purpose.

In my continuing quest to try to understand the principles that guided Shakespeare's writing, I've noticed this: With every appearance of a character, there is always change and/or growth in his or her thinking. It can happen between scenes or even between plays, but never does the audience feel that there is repetitiveness in terms of psychological content. I'd better use an example. At the end of Julius Caesar (5.5), Antony gives his famous speech at the death of Brutus, wherein he contrasts his character with those of the other conspirators:

This was the noblest Roman of them all:

All the conspirators save only he

Did that they did in envy of great Caesar;

He only, in a general honest thought

And common good to all, made one of them.

His life was gentle, and the elements

So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up

And say to all the world 'This was a man!'

OK, in the sequel (of sorts), Antony and Cleopatra, Antony mentions Brutus only once. In this scene (3.11), he realizes that his own defeat is approaching, and he is bitterly slighting the leader who is ascendant, Octavius, as a poor soldier who did little to defeat the Republican forces at the battle of Philippi, and doesn't deserve his power:

... he at Philippi kept

His sword e'en like a dancer; while I struck

The lean and wrinkled Cassius; and 'twas I

That the mad Brutus ended: he alone

Dealt on lieutenantry, and no practise had

In the brave squares of war: yet now--No matter.

What is it that brought about Antony's change in attitude toward Brutus? The audience is left with work to do, a gap to fill. There are many examples of this type of thing in Shakespeare. As always, thought is provoked.