The Unlikely Heros of Antony and Cleopatra

597 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Hamlet's character development

The Unlikely Heros of Antony and Cleopatra

In Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra the two eponymous heroes, and lovers frequently contend with each other in a battle of words and wills. It is from these conflicts, that the reader learns most about each characters true nature. From the start of the play Antony is portrayed as a ruler who has lost his desire for dominance, a ruler who has lost his rigid loyalty to his empire, but instead has found his lover - Cleopatra. From the outset we have many reasons to dislike this influenced hero, yet as we find ourselves captivated in a play of conflicts, loyalty and war, he eventually wins our admiration.

Antony is a character that has lost many of the fine qualities he once possessed. Love strips Antony of the things he has previously valued: power, ambition, honour, integrity as a soldier and leader. Throughout the play Antonys diminish is clearly shown by his actions, as Cleopatra gradually influences him.

Primarily Antonys new disloyalty to his country and the triumvirate is a reason we di...

Show More
Related

  • Brutus the Tragic Hero

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • How Does Julius Caesar Change Throughout The Play

    888 Words  | 2 Pages

    The play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare showcases many characters and events that go through many significant changes. One particular character that went through unique changes was Julius Caesar. The 16th century work is a lengthy tragedy about the antagonists Brutus and Cassius fighting with the protagonists Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus over the murder of Julius Caesar. Although the play’s main pushing conflict was the murder of Julius Caesar, he is considered a secondary character, but a protagonist. Throughout the theatrical work Julius Caesar’s actions, alliances, character developments, and internal and external conflicts display his diverse changes.

    Read More

  • Assessing Mark Antony's Speech to the Crowd in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

    1349 Words  | 3 Pages

    is to do with how “I have moved the crowd”. The effect that Antony has

    Read More

  • Mistakes In The Kite Runner

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    Amir is Pashtun, this is the more accepted and prosperous ethnicity. Hassan is a Hazara boy, this being an ethnic group that is looked down upon by Pashtun citizens of Kabul. “In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi’a, and nothing was ever going to change that.” (Hosseini 25). Throughout his childhood, Amir is put down regularly by neighborhood kids for befriending Hassan because of his ethnic background. Amir realizes that no matter what he may do, or no matter how Hassan may try to alter the situation, Hassan would always be too different for people to accept. This embarrasses and frustrates Amir. This frustration is one cause for Amir to slowly but surely push Hassan out of his life. Although it is not the most obvious reason, it is an underlying one. This is a mistake on Amir’s part because Hassan does so much for Amir, being the loyal friend that he is, and for Amir to push someone of such good moral and character out of his life, is a tremendous mistake on his behalf. It is quite obvious that Hassan would give his life for Amir, but, because of where Hassan comes from, Amir struggles throughout his childhood, to find a way to accept the friendship Hassan gives

    Read More

  • Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story sets in the city of Chicago, a city with a deep divide between the high and low working class. Although this was evident in many cities across the nation as urban areas continued to grow, Chicago was among the worst. Sinclair was able to take advantage of the struggle of laborers and wrote his story through the eyes of poor Lithuanian immigrant Jurgis Rudkus. It was brilliance on his part to create this fictional look into the working conditions during the Progressive era while laborers fought for better treatment. Within the novel, he is able to show the brutality of the conditions workers faced and a disgusting insight into the meat packing industry.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Essay On Julius Caesar

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is an intimate portrayal of the famed assassination of Julius Caesar and the complex inner workings of the men who committed the crime. In one particularly revealing scene, two of the men closest to Caesar, one a conspirator in his murder and one his second-in command, give orations for the deceased. Despite being simple in appearance, these two speeches do much of the work in developing and exposing the two characters in question. Though both have a love for Caesar, Mark Antony's is mixed with a selfish desire for power, while Brutus' is pure in nature, brought to a screeching halt by his overpowering stoicism. These starkly-contrasted personalities influence the whole of the play, leading to its tragic-but-inevitable end.

    Read More

  • the jungle

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    This novel illustrates how greed and ruthless competition has made the turn of the century into a ruthless jungle. “Take or be Taken” was the guiding rule, and everyone was someone else’s prey. The meatpacking district of Chicago in the early 1900’s is where the novel takes place. The main characters in this book are a Lithuanian immigrant Jurgis Rudkis, a hardworking strong man out to find the American dream, his wife, and his family who is trying to do the same.

    Read More

  • The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

    1861 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are many characters in The Jungle. These characters vary widely in their professions, social status, and economic status. The main character in the novel is a Lithuanian named Jurgis Rudkus. His wife is Ona Lukoszaite, also a Lithuanian. Their son is named Antanas. Mike Scully is a powerful political leader in Packingtown. Phil Connor is a foreman in Packingtown, “politically connected” (through Scully), and a man who causes much trouble for Jurgis. Jack Duane is an experienced and educated criminal who is also “politically connected”. A man called Ostrinski is a half-blind tailor who teaches Jurgis about Socialism. There are also the members of Ona’s family, each of whom play minor roles in the story. The story opens with the feast at Jurgis and Ona’s wedding in America, but soon flashes back to the time before they left Lithuania. Jurgis met Ona at a horse fair, and fell in love with her. Unfortunately, they were too poor to have a wedding, since Ona’s father just died. In the hopes of finding freedom and fortune, they left for America, bringing many members of Ona’s family with them.

    Read More

  • Jurgis Ruckus In 'The Jungle'

    617 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel, The Jungle, shows the life of the main character, Jurgis Ruckus. Jurgis is a Lithuanian man who moves to the Packingtown district of Chicago, Illinois (Jungle 1). Once he arrives in Packingtown, Jurgis marries Ona, who is also from Lithuania (Jungle 1). Ona and Jurgis start a family together, and they work in factories that contain awful working conditions and receive terrible treatment and low wages from their employers. They live with Ona’s family and constantly struggle to make ends meet. The family’s lives quickly take a turn for the worst and Jurgis goes on a downward spiral. In The Jungle, Jurgis is the tragic hero because he tries to provide his family with the America dream, is an avid socialist activist, and even though he has many flaws, they are simply a result of his surroundings.

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the commencing chapters of the novel, Amir's life is fortunate. He lives in an extravagant home, has servants and does not lack prerequisites. However, it becomes apparent that these luxuries do not make his life easier, but only function to make the early years of his life more complex. Amir’s mother deceases of a maternal death, and he appears to have the characteristics of his mother than his father. His father is dismissive and ashamed of Amir. Amir develops a series of relationships with a young servant Hazara named Hassan, Hassan's father Ali and his father's business partner Rahim Khan to make up for his lack of connection to his parent. Nonetheless these interactions fill the void in his life. He becomes somewhat acrimonious and trials his most significant relationship, that with Hassan, often.

    Read More

  • Marc Antony

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Friends, Romans, countryman lend me your ears” (Shakespeare), this saying is what Mark Antony is probably most noted for. Antony’s life can be broken down into three parts. The first part would have to be the earlier years of his life before the death of Caesar. In the middle is Antony’s few years of success and power. The last part of his life is the downfall of him. Mark Antony was very powerful and successful for a short period in Ancient Rome.

    Read More

  • The Variety and Range of Enobarbus' Dramatic Contribution to the Play Antony and Cleopatra

    1608 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Variety and Range of Enobarbus' Dramatic Contribution to the Play Antony and Cleopatra Shakespeare uses Enobarbus in a number of ways during the play 'Antony

    Read More

  • Mark Antony Analysis

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra

    432 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Antony - A Tragic Hero?

    1449 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...n overall negative impression. The audience feels, by the end of the play, that Antony got what was coming to him, and his downfall was nobody’s fault but his own. Granville-Barker agrees, he claims that Antony (and Cleopatra) “themselves do not kindle pity and admiration to the full.” This kindling of pity and admiration is one of the key elements of being a tragic hero and as they do not fulfil this prerequisite, the audience is unable to view them in such a way.

    Read More

More about The Unlikely Heros of Antony and Cleopatra

Open Document