John Dryden's Octavia vs. Shakespeare's Octavia (two entries in one!)

All For Love Act III

Octavia                     I wonder not
       Your bonds are easy: you have long been practiced
       In that lascivious art. He's not the first
       For whom you spread your snares: let Caesar witness.

OED
Lascivious: Inclined to lust, lewd, wanton.

Antony and Cleopatra Act III.IV

Octavia              O my good lord,
Believe not all; or, if you must believe,
Stomach not all. A more unhappy lady,
If this division chance, ne'er stood between,
Praying for both parts:
The good gods me presently,
When I shall pray, 'O bless my lord and husband!'
Undo that prayer, by crying out as loud,
'O, bless my brother!' Husband win, win brother,
Prays, and destroys the prayer; no midway
'Twixt these extremes at all.

In Shakespeare's version, Octavia only has a few lines and her biggest concern is Antony fighting with her brother Caesar. She is torn between her loyalties with each man individually. Shakespeare's Octavia is a victim throughout the course of the play. Antony, who is legally her husband, has been off playing house with Cleopatra and multiple empires know about it. Yet somehow Octavia is still willing to keep her marriage to Antony. The gender roles here for Octavia and Antony are pretty clear, she must do his bidding with no question. While Octavia has very few lines in Antony and Cleopatra she offers a stark contrast to Cleopatra. Octavia is meek and well-tempered and described quit humbly. But Cleopatra is dripping in orientalism, she is the most decadent of decadence. The only similarity Octavia shares to Cleopatra is Antony. It is sad to say but Shakespeare's Octavia is simply a tool to showcase how terrible Cleopatra and Antony are, and it is a shame she was sidelined.

Dryden's All for Love takes Shakespeares's Octavia and gives her real biting feelings. Here we see Octavia address Cleopatra rather scathingly and not holding back. Dryden's Octavia gives a voice to wives with wandering husbands. And it also gives a voice to the inexplicable feelings one women has for another when they've been cheated on. Dryden is doing an amazing job of capturing that nuance here. Octavia, no matter how mad she is at her adulterous husband, will somehow always have just the tinniest bit less sharpness with him. As a women, I cannot to speak to the reasons why this seems to be the case; other than to say, familiarity is its own kind of twisted loyalty. Cleopatra will always be the "other women" for Octavia so when she speaks here she throws a punch, /your bonds are easy/, commenting on bonds of marriage and how easily Cleopatra breaks them. She continues, / you have long been practiced/ essentially slut shaming Cleopatra in a way our modern society recognizes as not cool. More slut shaming: /He's not the first/. Perhaps my favorite part of this little exchange, /spread your snares/. This little comparison of Cleopatra's vagina to a trap is such an amazing burn with so much complexity. It says so much about Octavia's feelings, but it also might reveal a bit of Dryden's feelings towards adultery. I give credit that Dryden's recognition of a scorned women is a much more realistic portrayal of any women through out both versions of the play. But I do feel that Dryden has used Octavia for his own purpose of forces his morals onto the audience.


Personally, I would like to see some redemption for Octavia in either incarnation. She is used by men within the plays and by the men penning the plays. She may get to live but there seems to be a fridge with her name on it in both stories.