‘Antony and Cleopatra’.
The simplicity of the Jacobean Stage and its lack of scenery focused the audiences’ attention on the actors. Discuss how Shakespeare created the grandeur of the Worlds of Rome and Egypt, and the magnificence of the protagonists, through his use of imagery in ‘Antony and Cleopatra’.
The play of ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ was written in 1606, and is mainly set in their respective worlds of Rome and Egypt. ‘Antony and Cleopatra,’ like Shakespeare’s other plays was written to be performed on the Jacobean Stage. In Shakespeare’s time there was a lack of scenery and stage props, but he compensated with his use of language that he gave to the audience, to assist them, bring to life the characters, plot and the setting in their own minds.
That was the past, here and now in the present, we go to the Cinema, which is full of special effects, computerised graphics, and exciting camera shots, which all goes towards creating a typical Hollywood blockbuster film. With ‘Antony and Cleopatra this is not necessary as it is still more effective on the stage than on screen, which is due to the elaborate language used, which tests our imagination.
Shakespeare’s plays are written in dramatic verse and his use of imagery is very effective, as it engages the audiences’ attention, to give them a deeper meaning and reality to each and every character.
In order to analyse how Shakespeare uses imagery to describe Antony and his world of Rome, and Cleopatra and her world of Egypt, it is necessary to look at how he breathes life into their larger than life personalities by the use of powerful, vivid language.
The opening speech raises the audiences’ awareness of the Roman view towards Antony and Cleopatra’s relationship. “You shall see him The triple pillar of the world transformed into a strumpet’s fool,” which ultimately means that Antony is Cleopatra’s jester, that would do anything for her and that his imminent downfall is due to Cleopatra the “Strumpet”.
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.
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)
Mark Antony’s speech, whose aim is to counter Brutus’ speech, enlightens the crowd on the unjust murder of Caesar. Though he never directly communicates to the crowd of his feeling towards the conspirators, Antony was able to effectively convey to the crowd, through the use of verbal irony and other stylistic devices/techniques in his speech, his true views of the assassination. Moreover, Antony was able to shrewdly emphasize his belief of the undeserved assassination of Caesar through the wide use of epiphoral and anaphoral structure in his speech. Antony emphasizes the wrongdoings of Brutus and Cassius through the ingenious use of the epistrophe along with verbal irony as he notes that “I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong” (III, ii, 125). Moreover, he stresses the importance of punishi...
Fitzgerald was brought up in an upper class family and was highly educated throughout his life. He pursued writing at Princeton University, but was put into academic probation shortly after. Afterwards, he decided to drop out and continue his passion for writing novels and short stories. Fitzgerald then joined the army when his first story was unapproved. Upon his return, he met a southern Alabama belle named Zelda . Since she was a spoiled young lady, she declined Fitzgerald’s proposals, after seeing he had no fortune and had encouraged to firstly seek his fortune of his own. Throughout their life together the rich and adventurous couple maintained a crazy lifestyle filled with extravagant parties all over Europe. That soon ended when Zelda
Zelda had her mental illness, but Fitzgerald denied it and willed to live the rest of his life with her . But still Zelda cheated on Fitzgerald and had an affair with another man, which leads into Tom ' character. That he reveals his hate emotions toward Zelda 's mistake by cheating on him and make him the guy who has the perfect life and woman , but still cheats on her. Fitzgerald gave us a clue that no matter how he offers Zelda everything she wanted, she still cheated on him, which probably he kept in his inside and never forgave her. Exactly like Daisy how she has a clue that Tom is cheating on herby having an affair with another woman in NewYork, but she still acts out and make everything seems alright . While Gatsby share in common Fitzgerald 's admiration of his love, that he never gives up from pursuing to win Daisy 's love and thinks he could repeat the past by having a love relationship with Daisy ,"Can 't repeat the past?..Why of course you can!"(Fitzgerald 110) . No matter what Nick gives an advice to Gatsby that his relationship with Daisy won 't, but he still has this image in his mind enjoying the rest of his life with Daisy, that will never make him quit trying to get back Daisy. After all getting the fame and wealth for both Fitzgerald and Gatsby are having some kind of gap, that makes them
The book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe details the account of an African tribal named Okonkwo as his life goes from great to horrible. While this book has many lessons that can be learned, I will be primarily focusing on the effect that Christianity had on the population of the African tribe. While Christianity is a religion of peace, its followers often do not follow this basic tenant. The first missionary, Mr. Brown, practiced compromise and tolerance. His replacement, Mr. Smith, was much more aggressive in his tactics. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe shows through the characterization of Mr. Smith a shameful and harmful look at the spread of Christianity during the British empirical period.
Julius Caesar, believed to have been written around 1599, is one of William Shakespeare’s most well-known historical works. The events of the play follow the conspiracy to assassinate Julius Caesar by a group of Roman senators, and the subsequent upheaval of the state. The recent Orlando Shakespeare Theatre production of Julius Caesar utilized a cast of seven to portray a Dramatis Personae of more than thirty characters, similar to the style in which acting troupes would have performed Shakespeare’s works in taverns and smaller towns of the period. The reduced cast size and intimate setting of the Goldman Theatre, in which the play was staged, combined to more fully immerse the audience in the action of the play.
The hero, who was born simply as a man Fitzgerald “once knew,” ultimately morphed into himself. They were both men striving to make a better life for themselves than their fathers had and both succeeded to do so. Moreover, Fitzgerald’s infatuation with Zelda is largely paralleled with Gatsby’s similar fixation for Daisy. The two men yearn for the green light, which becomes an emblem for their greatest dreams and desires. Both immensely devoted to their dreams, Scott and Gatsby transform into wealthy, successful men, in an attempts to win over both Zelda and Daisy, respectively. Often dismissed from the wealthier class, Gatsby experiences a similar isolation, as Scott
Fitzgerald was an intellectual, and he was a very dramatic child, but did poorly in school and he was often known as an outcast (Philips, 1). He grew up experiencing the end of WW1 and the jazz age. He also got to experience the roaring twenties (Prigozy, 1). He moved many times with his family in his young age. His family often moved to different apartments in the same cities (Prigozy, 1). These, his teen years, had a great impact on his life. “A sense of estrangement so characteristic of his formative years marks much of his fiction, from the first short stories, written when he was thirteen, to his last efforts in Hollywood” (Prigozy, 2). In 1911, at the age of fourteen, Fitzgerald was enrolled into St. Paul academy. This would be where he published his first few short stories in the school magazine. He later re-created his school years in the Basil Duke Lee series, which showed what it was like to be an outsider and to be disliked, as Fitzgerald was (Prigozy, 2). He was an average student, but managed to get into Princeton in 1913, from which he never graduated (Philips, 1). His years at Princeton were the most influential on his writings, mostly because of a man named John Peale Bishop. Bishop introduced Fitzgerald to poetry, that especially of John Keats and Edmund Wilson, who would become the “intellectual conscience” of Fitzgerald’s life (Prigozy, 3). Instead of graduating, he enlisted into the Army at the end of WW1, which is when he met his wife Zelda Sayre, whom he met in a boot camp during the war (Philips, 2).
Mirroring his own unsuccessful love story, Fitzgerald incorporates the idea of failing marriages into his novel. ““Neither of them can stand the person they’re married to” (Fitzgerald 33).” Fitzgerald implies that marriage in the 1920’s was so corrupted by wealth that though the couples nearly hated each other, they still remained together for monetary and convenience purposes. Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda Sayre much like Daisy, married Fitzgerald for money. Until Fitzgerald started to become rich off his first novel, she had refused to marry him, much like how Daisy broke her promise to Gatsby and married Tom Buchanan. Zelda also cheated on Fitzgerald with a French naval aviator, mimicking Myrtle Wilson who pursued her own American Dream through having an affair with Tom (Willett).
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was a world renowned author, particularly known for his remarkable novel The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s early life was filled with experiences that shaped him to be the man that he later became. His early life includes his family and his schooling, both of which gave him values and traditions to follow. Fitzgerald’s later life contained hardships, illness and the production of his own family. The factors involved in his later life aided him in composing his most well-known novels with their influence. Lastly, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s list of works is an important aspect in understanding his life and personality. His novels and short stories were all written at various moments in Fitzgerald’s life, while all have the influence of unique factors surrounding his life. F. Scott Fitzgerald was a successful author whose stories have remained universally read and relevant today.
The reign of Cleopatra. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004. Print. The. Grant, Michael.
Shakespeare uses many forms of imagery in his plays. Imagery, the art of making images, the products of imagination. In the play Macbeth Shakespeare applies the imagery of clothing, darkness and blood. Each detail in his imagery contains an important symbol of the play. These symbols need to be understood in order to interpret the entire play.
In Antony and Cleopatra Shakespeare shifts from praising Antony as a great warrior to condemning him by depicting the gradual decline of his honor and image in order to show his inner battle between reason and emotion. This is an apparent theme in both the book and the play, though there might be some small differences that both show how this inner battle defeats him and leaves Cleopatra with most of the power. One thing that I noticed is that Cleopatra seemed far more regal in the book than in the play. For example, in the book when Antony wants Scarus to kiss her “favoring hand” (2005) he makes it sound like a big honor that he is able to do this and the way he describes her makes me imagine that is is a regal and important moment. In the play however, she does a little dance after he kisses her hand which to me seemed like she was acting inappropriately and taking away the importance of the moment.
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.
This movie’s portrayal of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra is historically accurate. For example, Julius Caesar visits Alexandria, he finds himself in the middle of the dispute between Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIII, portrayed by Anthony Harvey. After the death of Ptolemy XII Auletes, Cleopatra is forced by ancient Egyptian custom to marry her brother Ptolemy XIII. Once Ptolemy sees that Cleopatra wants the throne to herself, he drives her away. At the beginning of the movie, Cleopatra meets Julius Caesar in hopes that he will help her become the sole ruler of Egypt. In order to get an audience with Caesar, Cleopatra gets her servant to wrap her up in a carpet and rush her to Caesar to plead her case. Fortunately for Cleopatra, Julius Caesar takes her side on the ordeal and teaches her fearlessness and leadership. As Cleopatra and Caesar spend more and more time together, their relationship as lovers begins to flourish. Although Julius Caesar and Cleopatra loved each other, she also had a special place in her heart for Mark Antony. In fact, Cleopatra and Mark Antony eventually married- to the dismay of the Romans- and had 2 children. A war eventually breaks out and Julius Caesar is called to fight with his men. Before he leaves for the war, Julius Caesar is notified that the Great Library of Alexandria caught fire due to the raging warfare. Caesar displays a nonchal...