In Act II Scene ii of Antony & Cleopatra a short conversation ensues between Lepidus, one of Antony’s political rivals, and Enobarbus, one of Antony’s closest followers. This conversation shows a fundamental difference in their approach to how important matters should be approached. Lepidus has a rather modern view on this issue whereas Enobarbus is more old-fashioned in his viewpoint:
Lepidus ‘Tis not a time for private stomaching.
Enobarbus Every time serves for the matter that is then born in’t.
Lepidus But small to greater matters must give way.
Enobarbus Not if the small come first.
Lepidus Your speech is passion.
Lepidus avers that whatever stands as the most pressing issue should by virtue of its own immediacy be given priority over other things that may need attention; in other words, small matters must yield to big matters. This would seem to be a reasonable way of looking at the world and I think most people would submit to this logic quite readily. But Shakespeare reminds us that this is not the only way we can look at the world. Enobarbus posits that it’s not necessarily the size of the matter that should determine its urgency for remediation, but rather the time of its occurrence, with oldest matters taking precedence over fresh ones regardless of the magnitude therein displayed. This may be because small matters can grow into bigger and even monumental matters if neglected too long. Lepidus’ philosophy of priority seems to rely on a doctrine of importancy and seems to resonate quite well with the modern world; whatever appears as most important gets most if not all of the attention. Contrarily Enobarbus philosophy of priority seems to indicate a doctrine of prevention; addressing what happened in the beginning before it has a chance to worsen and possibly take us to our end. The advantage to Enobarbus’ Philosophy and his doctrine of prevention is that it relies on objective information: time of occurrence. Whereas Lepidus’ Philosophy relies on subjective information: how important is this matter? Although logical people tend to want to rely on objective information more than anything else, it can’t be denied that Lepidus doctrine of importancy, though subjective, has many if not more valid implications than its objective counterpart. Shakespeare is telling us there are times when the vicissitudes of life can put us into a cloud of consternation where we cannot decide whether to address what seems most pressing at the time or to take on that something which if neglected could grow to a matter fatal.
Shakespeare Unlimited 