The language Shakespeare uses in Antony and Cleopatra is concerned overwhelmingly with image and display. As Enobarbus describes the first meeting of the lovers we are drawn in to a world of colour and wealth, ‘The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne,/ Burned on the water’. Cleopatra herself is described in even more majestic – even divine – terms, ‘o’erpicturing’ the goddess Venus. Antony himself is ‘the crown of the earth’, whose eyes ‘glowed like plated Mars’, while Caesar is ‘a Jove’, whose ascendancy will bring ‘the time of universal peace’ – an allusion, Rene Weis suggests, to the everlasting kingdom of Christ. However, it is debatable as to whether the characters themselves share the intent of the grand words surrounding them, and if they are as committed to image as this quotation suggests. Antony, in fact, seems to surrender his public image completely for Cleopatra’s sake. The play opens with a comment on the received view, Antony has become a ‘strumpet’s fool’. Indeed, he is willing to sacrifice Rome and his worldly status in virtue of his love for Cleopatra, ‘let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch/ Of the ranged empire fall’. Only absolute political necessity can draw him from Egypt, and even then he recognises that ‘i’th’East my pleasure lies’. His marriage to Octavia angers Cleopatra greatly, but it was enacted only to placate Caesar and is soon rendered useless as he returns promptly to Egypt. Furthermore, his heroic image [he was said by Plutarch to have been like Hercules] is damaged by his preferences, Caesar mocks him as ‘womanly’ while even Antony himself cries at Cleopatra’s servant ‘O, thy vile lady! She has robbed me of my sword!’ In a sense, it appears that Antony has been unmanned by his com... ... middle of paper ... ...d me my robes, put on my crown’ – shows her determination to make a memorable final tableau. On the other hand, and more likely given the divine undertones and implications in the language, she seeks Antony in a life beyond death, realising that life and politics – those ‘baser elements’ – are trivial compared to everlasting love. A conclusion can now be established. Antony is positively unconcerned with display, he sacrifices image and politics alike for the love of his Egyptian queen. Caesar is centred on image – the very nature of his role in power demands it, and his highly rhetorical speeches are testament to this aspect of his character. Cleopatra seems to develop as the play progresses from a character more comparable to Caesar to truly Antony’s lover, ultimately sacrificing the most precious gift – life itself – in favour of an afterlife in his company.
Changing social habits of a contemporary society have seen Cleopatra depicted in many different ways. Whilst few artefacts remain of the true image of Cleopatra, we see from her portrait on the coins (Fear, 2008, p, 21 Fig 1.4) that despite being no legendary beauty, she had the power to captivate two of the greatest Romans of her time. Cleopatra consummated her union with Julius Caesar, which strengthened her grip on the throne, following his assassination; she formed alliance with Mark Antony, in opposition to Octavian, a coalition that would lead to her downfall as both Antony and Cleopatra’s combined forces would be defeated against Octavian in the battle of Actium in 31 BCE. (Fear, 2008, p.7)
At the beginning of the play, he says, “Let Rome in Tiber melt away and the wide arch of the ranged empire fall.” (1.1 35-36). He does not care about his status in Rome anymore, he feels like he belongs in Alexandria with Cleopatra. In a way, Antony feels like an outsider in Rome because Cleopatra isn’t there. He’d rather be with her than with the dominant Roman group. Later in the play, his mind shifts back to battle. Antony feels like he has been betrayed by Cleopatra, and in some ways becomes an “outsider” to her. This causes Antony to threaten to kill Cleopatra. He says, “But better ‘twere thou fell’st into my fury for one death might have prevented many.” (4.13
Similar to the 1963 film Cleopatra, in Plutarch's The Life of Antony, sexism is maintained in the passage and compatible with its message. Through the author's portrayal of Cleopatra and Antony, he spreads the message that obsession with power is bad and the idea that manipulation and attempts at domination are signs of a bad ruler. Sexism is compatible with such messages because as indicated by Plutarch, Cleopatra utilizes sexist expectations of women in order to manipulate Antony through her aspirations of domination. Therefore, similar to the films Cleopatra and Quo Vadis, because Cleopatra is unsuccessful as she commits suicide in the end and is found "lying dead upon a golden couch," as well as is portrayed as an immoral ruler in Plutarch's Life of Antony, sexism is portrayed in the passage as a negative quality that leads to failure. (Plutarch, Life of Antony, 85) However, Plutarch differs in his treatment of sexism and attitude towards Cleopatra to the extent that he appears to place the fault with Cleopatra. While he maintains that sexism is a negative quality through his portrayal of Cleopatra playing into sexist expectations, by casting Cleopatra as a manipulative woman, Plutarch appears to be blaming Cleopatra for her own weaknesses as a ruler as well as for Antony's downfall. Although the film Cleopatra displayed how Cleopatra got power by using her sexuality and having Caesar and Antony fall in love with her, Plutarch Life of Antony portrays her as even more of a manipulator of men. For example, the author mentions that Cleopatra "pretended to be passionately in love with Antony herself, and reduced her body by slender diet; she put on a look of rapture when Antony drew near, and one of faintness and melancholy when h...
In conclusion, The Aeneid’s lovers and Antony and Cleopatra are both tragic tales with many connections to each other. They share a common theme of a patriotic, heroic man having to choose between duty to his country and the passionate love of a beautiful, foreign and strong queen. Then on the otherside, they both depict a powerful and noble queen who is able to overcome the rampant patriarchy in their cities and rule with a firm loyal hand.
In Cleopatra Antony met his match, and she found hers as well. While there is little doubt these two were passionate about each other, it is their reputations that are impacted by the Shakespearean version. Ultimately Antony abandoned the military tactician within, even upon his death at his own hand he lacked the skill he had upon the battlefield. While Eros was able to take his own life with an accurate self-inflicted wound, Antony missed his mark and as a result died a slow, painful death. His great military prowess, the flame of his mark, had been extinguished. His day of death, far worse than that of his day of birth.
... and the passionate love of a beautiful, foreign and strong queen. And, they are connected through the historical figure Augustus Caesar, for whom The Aeneid honors and Antony and Cleopatra portrays.
In Shakespeare?s play 'Antony and Cleopatra' Caesar, while he displays remarkable tactical skills, is calculating and cold hearted. Antony on the other hand embodies many admirable qualities and emotions which make him the greater of the two. Firstly I will look at Caesar?s military victories before examining Antony?s great human qualities.
Antony was born the son of “a man of no great repute in public life, nor illustrious, but kindly and honest, and particularly a liberal giver.” Some fifty years later, Mark Antony died in the arms of one of the most famous and stirring women in history. He had served at the highest positions attainable in the politically savage world of the Roman Empire after the chaos that ensued with the death of Julius Caesar. Plutarch’s Antony tells the tale of not only one of the most pronounced and controversial figures in Roman history, but delineates Antony’s personality, character, and nature along with his mighty accomplishments, which some may say were achieved in spite of his traits not because of them. Plutarch’s message, however truthful, leans
Mark Antony’s character at the beginning of the play, is that of a great, powerful, triumvir whose heart has been entrapped by Cleopatra’s enchanting personality. The audience hears many good things about Antony’s character, which is shown through his great past, “It is reported thou didst eat strange flesh which some did die look on,” which informs us that he was a great warrior which evoke feelings of respect towards him.
Before the audience meets Antony, Shakespeare presents us with two soldiers discussing Antony’s current debauched life. This is dramatically effective staging because they are acting as a Greek chorus; relaying to the audience the general feeling in Rome and making us privy to feelings of irritation that Antony is unaware of. Philo tells us scathingly that “this dotage of our general’s/O’erflows the measure.” The use of the word “general” in the first line immediately tells us that Antony is a man of great rank. Quickly following this, he tells us that Antony “glowed like plated Mars” on the battlefield. This immediately raises his status to that of a god of war. This allows the audience to recognise Antony as a man who has gone into decline; he was not always a pleasure seeking man. Rank and stature are important aspects of the tragic hero; Aristotle believed that a tragic hero has to be a man of noble stature because it will emphasise the extent of his downfall, making it much more tragic.
...in the play. On one occasion, Cleopatra herself becomes over sentimental, saying that Nature had intended her as "a wife, a silly, harmless house hold dove, fond without art and kind without deceit." In Act V, she bewails (laments) the curse of doting (loving) on her lover. The play indeed brings out the catharsis of the feeling of pity. Characters are responsible for their calamity and misfortunes. Their suffering and deaths here are entirely due to the faults in the characters - hero and heroine. They had not control over their illicit passion because fate had made Antony and Cleopatra, in capable of any control.
Although the political struggles in Antony and Cleopatra are often treated as backdrops to the supposedly more engaging love affair between the two title characters, these struggles permeate the entire play, and give the love story its heightened sense of importance and tragedy. The relationship between Antony and Cleopatra would not have attained its renown and immortality had they not had been extremely powerful and public figures. The conflict between public duty and personal desire is the underlying theme of the play, and how the characters respond to this conflict is what imbues the play with suspense and interest. This conflict is most clearly seen in Antony who is caught between his role as a triumvir of Rome and his love for the Egyptian Queen. By allowing his all-consuming passion to overwhelm his sense of responsibility, he loses his half of the empire to Octavian. Octavian, on the other hand, consistently places the interests of the state before his own. Although he is calculating, shrewd, and unscrupulous, all of his thoughts are devoted to the ruling of Rome; politics is his one interest, and power his only obsession. Cleopatra as ruler is often treated secondarily to Cleopatra as seductress and lover. While most of the obvious power struggle is between Antony and Octavian, one cannot ignore Cleopatra's involvement. Throughout the play, and particularly at the end, she demonstrates an acute political awareness as she does her utmost to secure what is best for Egypt. In a play with three powerful figures it is expected that political motivations be never far from the foreground or from the characters' minds.
Antony is generally highly regarded and his status as a tragic hero is elevated through others’ accounts of him, as well as through poetic nature of the characters’ speech, despite the reckless impression we get of him. For example, Enobarbus remarked that he is “nobler than my result is infamous”. Additionally, Philo’s initial dialogue concerning Antony in Act 1.1.1-9 speaks highly of him: “Those his godly eyes,/That o’er the files and musters of the war/Have glowed like plated Mars, now bend, now turn/The office and devotion of their view/Upon a tawny front.” Similarly, Cleopatra exclaims “his legs bestrid the ocean; his reared arm Crested the world”. This poetic image summarizes her positive view of Antony, by speaking about him in such cosmic proportions, therefore strengthening Antony’s stature. Furthermore, despite Caesar being portrayed as an all round better leader than Antony, even he has admiration for Antony, as demonstrated in Act 1.4.69-72.
Between the characters of Octavia and Cleopatra there exists a "moral contrast" (Bree 110) -a conflict of Roman ideals and Cleopatra's foreignness. Throughout the tradition of Cleopatra, authors, including Plutarch, Shakespeare, Dryden, and Fielding, as well as filmmakers such as Mankiewicz, have separated Cleopatra from Rome and Octavia because of her combination of political power and sexuality: "The notion of Cleopatra that we have inherited identifies her primarily as being the adversary, the Other. Her otherness is twofold. She is an Oriental, and she is a woman…" (Hughes-Hallett 4). If Cleopatra represents the 'Other', then Octavia exemplifies Rome itself. She embodies all of the characteristics of a proper Roman wife: beauty, grace, wisdom, and above all obedience to her husband. Octavia is Antony's celebrated wife throughout the literature although their relationship is dispassionate, while Cleopatra's "otherness" prevents her from attaining the respectable title of Antony's wife despite their love. Octavia acts as a character foil for Cleopatra, highlighting Cleopatra's foreign nature and her sexuality, which the Romans find unattractive and unacceptable in the character of a woman.
One of the biggest internal struggles in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra is Antony’s struggle between reason and emotion. One of the times this is shown is when Antony turns his ships around after noting that Cleopatra has done so in Act III scene 10. Shakespeare decided to show Antony’s internal struggle by having him follow Cleopatra to emphasize how strongly his emotions and reasoning lead him to mix business with pleasure, intertwining his role of general with his role of lover. From turning his ship around mid-battle to dressing himself after spending the night to outright stating his feelings, Antony shows over and over the unavoidable mutual existence of his roles as general and lover.