Shakespeare Uses As His Source For The Play Plutarch’s Lives Of The Noble Grecians And Romans. Plutarch, Along With Other Greek And Roman Authors, Saw An Opposition Between The Conquering West Standing For Moral And Political Virtue And The Conquered East Representing Luxury And Decadence. How Does Shakespeare’s Play Present These Positions?
Throughout William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, there is the dichotomy of the hard-working political life of Rome and the luxury and pleasures of Egypt. The effect of the difference between the two places on the main characters, and on the plot, is a key theme throughout the play.
It is common in Shakespeare’s plays for characters to talk about themselves in the third person, which gives them an elevated and important status. This is used to show the difference between the relaxed and indulgent Egypt, and the more formal ways of Rome. Octavius Caesar refers to himself in the third person often in the play,
“It is not Caesar’s natural vice to hate our great competitor”
This gives Octavius an air of importance, as he takes a tone of superiority over Antony because he is enjoying the luxuries of Cleopatra’s palace.
Dance, music and song are commonly used in Shakespearean comedy, for example in plays like a Comedy of Errors or As You Like It. They often act as an uniting force, bringing together different groups or individuals. In Antony and Cleopatra,a tragedy, they are presented differently. They are used to indicate Egypt as a place of frivolity. Cleopatra remarks “give me some music, moody food of us that trade in love.” Music is never played in Rome, and there are certainly no comical characters (such as the eunuch Mardian) and little banter. The presence of music and dance, with an entertainer such as the Eunuch, shows Egypt to be a place of fun and frivolity in direct contrast to the serious political business of Rome.
Shakespeare also displays the contrast between the two places by his use of jocularity, particularly puns and sexual innuendo. These are prevelant in the Egyptian scenes, particularly in the exchanges between Cleopatra and her courtiers.
Charmian: “My arm is sore. Best play with Mardian.
Cleopatra: As well a women with a Eunuch played as with a woman…”
This short exchange presents Egypt as a place of sexual innuendo and entertainment. Such conversations never tak...
... middle of paper ...
...eir attractions, but they also have a tragic consequences.
At the end of the play as Antony and Cleopatra both commit suicide. While Cleopatra’s death is symbolically romantic, Antony cuts a pathetic figure in death. There is a great sense of waste at the end of the tragedy, as a great man has come to nothing because he abandoned his sense and reason for the luxuries of Egypt.
Throughout Antony and Cleopatra there is a sharp contrast between the bawdy humour and entertainment of the east and the stern morality and politics of the West. This is best seen in Antony’s downfall; his death is caused by a romantic but illogical attempt at conquering Rome, and the battle of Actium shows the decadent Egypt destroyed and the sensible Rome victorious. In Rome Antony was at his best as a man a soldier and a statesmen, whereas as Antony says “in the East my pleasure lies”, as does his downfall.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
William Shakespeare, Antony & Cleopatra, Edited by Emrys Jones, New Penguin Shakespeare Edition
York Notes Advanced, Antony And Cleopatra, Robin Sowerby
Richard Gill, Mastering English Literature
Ruebel www.oeaw.ac.at/kvk/cte/
Shakespeare’s complex play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar contains several tragic heroes; a tragic hero holds high political or social esteem yet possesses an obvious character flaw. This discernible hubris undoubtedly causes the character’s demise or a severe forfeiture, which forces the character to undergo an unfeigned moment of enlightenment and shear reconciliation. Brutus, one of these tragic heroes, is a devout friend of the great Julius Caesar, that is, until he makes many execrable decisions he will soon regret; he becomes involved in a plot to kill the omniscient ruler of Rome during 44 B.C. After committing the crime, Mark Antony, an avid, passionate follower of Caesar, is left alive under Brutus’s orders to take his revenge on the villains who killed his beloved Caesar. After Antony turns a rioting Rome on him and wages war against him and the conspirators, Brutus falls by his own hand, turning the very sword he slaughtered Caesar with against himself. Brutus is unquestionably the tragic hero in this play because he has an innumerable amount of character flaws, he falls because of these flaws, and then comes to grips with them as he bleeds on the planes of Philippi.
The issues involving The Tragedy of Julius Ceaser is an equivocal topic, although to narrow one down is to reiterate how the men and women are viewed in this society. This play written by William Shakespeare, he introduced numerous characters but there are a few focal characters that surface around the idea of a bend in gender roles. To clarify, the characters that illustrate this are Julius Ceaser, the romans leader, as well as, his wife Calpurnia; and the other being Brutus, Ceasers friend, and his devoted wife Portia. This book reveals how dominance was ensued in men, while women’s worries were taken into account, but when challenged by a man’s there was no decision to be made the man hurled toward their fellow man’s idea. They felt that the men made more logical decisions when in fact that was utterly wrong.
When Mount Vesuvius erupted, it is said that the hot, smoldering ash flowed onto Pompeii as if it was a flood of water, the estimated amount of peole to have died were over two thousand. In 1748, a group of explorers saw the potent time stopping endowment that the ash had shown. While digging the ash and exploring, the group found that the entire city of pompeii was exactly as it had been from the abounding years ago. In future years, there was a scientist named Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo who studied volcanoes. Mastrolorenzo and his co-workers went to Pompeii and evaluated the layers of volcanic ash in the town, then concluded that most people died from the first surge. Although the first surge of ash and smoke that travelled into the town was slow moving, it was enough to finish them off. The team was able to estimate how high the temperatures of the ash were, due to the fact that it had melted some metals like lead and tin.
William Shakespeare’s dramatic and poetic techniques and his use of hyperbole are used to describe the characters emotions and weaknesses. The use of dramatic irony is used to create personal conflict. This is done throughout the play to describe the characters concerns and their situations.
In conclusion, William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is the quintessence of a tragic hero. He is highly respected in society and holds a position of authority, yet is corrupted by his pride and arrogance. He ignores warnings of assassination, but once he is attacked by his confidant Brutus he realizes his flaws. Unfortunately, he can never repent of his prideful ways, as his life is extinguished. Because he is murdered by one of his greatest friends and did so much to aid the destitute, he is a sympathetic character. Julius Caesar is a complex and multi-faceted man, but the tragedy of his life strikes a chord of sympathy that resonates throughout not only his subjects, but the readers of his downfall for centuries past, present, and future.
In life, people and things are not always as they appear. William Shakespeare displays this idea throughout his play, Julius Caesar. The play portrays the historical murder of one of ancient Rome's most precious leaders, Julius Caesar. The play takes its readers through the minds of the conspirators as they plot this massive murder and deal with the responsibilities of its consequences. During the aftermath of Caesar's death, Octavius talks to Antony about how they should bring peace back to Rome. He states, "And some that smile...have in their hearts...millions of mischiefs" (4.1.50-51). Here, Octavius is referring to the false appearance of the conspirators. He says that they might appear harmless, but behind their false smiles is a heart full of dirty tricks. He is also saying that someone's outward appearance doesn't always symbolize how he or she feels inside. This theme of appearance versus reality can be seen various times throughout Julius Caesar. It is developed through the personalities and actions of Antony, Brutus, and Cassius. These characters deceive their friends and add to the intriguing plot of the play.
The most iconic volcanic eruption in history was the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Mt. Vesuvius is located on the west coast side of Italy. Pompeii was the ancient town five miles from Mt. Vesuvius where people would flock to the area in 79 AD to be near the Bay of Naples. Little did they know that the volcano would erupt into the most destructive volcano in history. Mt. Vesuvius has erupted about three dozen times and was the most disastrous due to the large population around the area. The volcano, which is still active today, is a stratovolcano. A stratovolcano has pyroclastic flows and erupt explosively and violently. Pyroclastic flows don't necessarily look exactly like “flowing eruptions”. These eruptions are not the “flowing” type of eruptions because they are eruptions with explosions and blowing clouds that fill the air. These clouds are usually dark clouds that are made up of ash. Pompeii had some signs of the volcano erupting, but the technology was not like the technology of today where scientists can monitor the volcanic activity.
The first major difference between Eliot’s Parody and Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra comes with the very first simile. In Shakespeare’s original the barge in which Cleopatra sits is compared to a burnished throne burning on the water, whereas in Eliot’s parody it is only a chair that she fills like a throne, glowing on the marble. Eliot’s character comes across, therefore, as far less ‘enormous’ and larger than life than Shakespeare portrays Cleopatra who seems very great, even in comparison with her barge, which she fills as if it were a throne - her majesty makes the barge seem tiny in comparison; Eliot’s character only makes a chair look like a chair. Again, with the water on which Cleopatra’s barge floats burning, and the marble on which the chair stands glowing, Shakespeare’s image if far greater than the one Eliot creates, being strange and somewhat mystical, as opposed to Eliot’s chair’s entirely possible glow.
Shakespeare, W. (2007). Julius Caesar [electronic resource] / William Shakespeare. Chandni Chowk, Delhi: Global Media, 2007.
The reign of Cleopatra. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004. Print. The. Grant, Michael.
Act two of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar begins the detailed planning of Caesar’s assassination, which follows soon after in the third act. One particular passage of interest during this act is found in scene one. This particular passage deals with the conspirator’s justification of their motives for wanting to kill Caesar, as well as the fine-tuning of their machination. As is consistent throughout Julius Caesar, Shakespeare’s verse here differs much from his usual, flowery, beautifully poetic, and complicated verse that can be found in plays as Macbeth. The verse in Caesar is simple. This change in Shakespeare’s style has been attributed to his desire to imitate Roman society in this work, as to give the audience or the reader some context through which to receive the play, and to accurately portray his Roman characters.
I strongly considered a career in social work after completing my undergrad school; my yearning for helping and advocating for all children of the world led me to Barry University. With increased knowledge in the profession of social work, I realized, I have been absent minded in the numerous roles that a social worker plays. As advocators, counselors, mediators, and researchers, social workers uphold principles and core values written within the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. Social workers mission is entrenched in the Code of Ethics. “Code of Ethics set fourth these values, principles, and standards to guide social workers’ conduct” (The National Association, “n. d.”). Service, Social Justice, Dignity
Antony. Shakespeare proves this play a tragedy by selecting characteristics of ill-fated lovers in Antony and Cleopatra. Poor Antony turns victim to Cleopatra's enslavement, and forgets his duties in Rome. Antony is a disgrace to his Roman self, and "loses" himself to dotage" of Cleopatra. He also forgets of his marriage to Caesars sister Octavia flees back to Egypt, to Cleopatra.
In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar , he reveals his historical influences by incorporating aspects of Roman Society, such as the plebeians struggle against Roman hierarchy. Additionally, Shakespeare formulated the play’s main conflict around Caesar and his ambition, which can be attributed to the cause of man’s demise, and he based Caesar’s character after the actual Caesar motivations and conquests. He also reflects English society by including parallels between Queen Elizabeth I and Julius Caesar. Lastly, through the play’s conflict, he conveys his political views on civil war and expresses his concern for the fate of England’s government. Most importantly, Shakespeare demonstrates how age-old stories, such as the betrayal of Julius Caesar, can be applied to current society. By understanding Shakespeare's motivations and influences, readers are not only able to glimpse into the age of Roman Empire, but also, they are able to understand the political turmoil in England during Shakespeare's