Cleopatra is one of the Shakespeare’s strongest and awe inspiring female characters. She is complex and decidedly inconstant, yet she is never less than her self: passionate, grand and over the top. By killing her self Cleopatra remains her truest, reserving all her greatness and mocking over Caesar’ triumph. Cleopatra is beyond neat categories and tidy synopses. Throughout the course of the play she dons many roles of hussy, enchantress, queen, tyrant, strew and mother. Her character has been as shifting as the clouds that Antony describes in Act IV, scene xv. Despite Romans’ victory she does not allow her multifaceted identity to be stripped to one of its simplest, basest components. Thus she refuses to parade through the filthy streets of Rome as a trophy of the Romans’ Empire while some prepubescent boy mimics her greatness.” I’th posture of a whore” (V.ii.217). By killing her self Cleopatra remains Cleopatra. [SparkNotes, Antony and Cleopatra, Analysis, Act v, scene 2] The multifaceted Cleopatra seemed to have secret longings and undisclosed motivations. For instance she does not stick to the forth act – closing resolution of suicide, until she knows what Caesar intends for her. Her withholding of a part of her inventory for her suggests she had planned to survive even after Antony’s death. [GradeSaver, Antony and Cleopatra, Analysis, Act v, scene ii] All this comes to testify to the complexity and the contradictions inherent in the queen’s character. There are depths in Cleopatra that we glimpse but to which we never gain total access. In Antony and Cleopatra, West meets East, but it does not, regardless of Caesar’s triumph over the land of Egypt, conquer it. Cleopatra’s suicide implies that something of the East’ s ... ... middle of paper ... ...ginations of writers like Shakespeare, her name has ultimately even more famous than that of her conqueror. [GradeSaver, Antony and Cleopatra, Analysis, Act v, scene ii] Works cited: Book. Single Author Antony and Cleopatra, David Bevington p.128 Book. Single Author The problems of Shakespeare, Ernest Schanzer, p.162 Electronic Source SparkNotes, Antony and Cleopatra, William Shakespeare Analysis, Act v, scene 2 http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/antony/section10.rhtml Electronic Source SparkNotes, Antony and Cleopatra, William Shakespeare Themes and Motives http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/antony/themes.html Electronic Source GradeSaver, Antony and Cleopatra William Shakespeare, Analysis, Act v, scene 1-2 http://www.freebooknotes.com/page.php?link=http://www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/cleopatra&book=26
Stacy Schiff author of Cleopatra strives through her book to denounce all historical myths surrounding Cleopatra. With the rigor of a true historian she is able to distinguish historical veracity from historical myth surrounding the queen from antiquity. The author highlights Cleopatra’s role as a powerful woman and in particular how she attempts to manage the various political or economic predicaments she faced. Stacy Schiff gives us a story that is masterfully reconstructed, allowing the reader insight into the historical context of the time- shedding new light on a woman whose greatest fault was not being a man.
Cleopatra’s embodiment, though, does aim for her to become “one of [them.]” Her new body fits in a very specific niche – she does not f...
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)
Cleopatra, born in 69 B.C., was an Egyptian Queen and the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. She was from Greek descent and a member of the Ptolemies, who ruled Egypt for nearly 300 years. In just her early twenties, Cleopatra became Queen of Egypt following the death of her father and the defeat of her siblings. Popularly, she is remembered because of her physical beauty, love affairs, and the tragedy of her life. But more importantly she should be celebrated as a commanding female leader who used her intellect to exercise considerable power and influence in a male-dominated world.
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.
Despite Egypt’s provincial annexation to Rome after her death, Cleopatra managed to keep the Romans at bay for nearly twenty-two years. Unfortunately, much of her achievements have been disparaged and attributed to the utilization of her sexuality. To add, her image as a competent female ruler has been further distorted by the media and literature alike. Much of this misrepresentation can be accredited to the scarcity of reliable and unbiased accounts about her life. The Romans were afraid of Cleopatra’s power and the alliances she created with their generals. Therefore, accounts of her life in Roman scripture are not particularly in her favor.
... were disgusted by this behavior before he ever saw the Egyptian Queen’s arrival by barge. The omission of this information from Antony and Cleopatra alters not only the reputation of Antony, but also ones interpretation of Cleopatra.
Cleopatra and the province of Egypt are not accepted by the Romans because the relationship between the two city-states is not equal, as Rome does not benefit from a partnership between the two, although Egypt expects to be treated as a people of equal power and prestige. While it is true that Egypt is a country with great wealth and fertile land, thus able to give to Rome ample amounts of gold and grain, these are not reasons enough to make Rome tolerant of...
Who is Cleopatra? Cleopatra was the queen of Egypt and the last bloodline of the family dynasty. Cleopatra was also one of the few queens to speak multiple languages.
The woman, by definition is the nurturer of life. She labors through birth, tends to the needs of her family, and assumes unending responsibilities. And while women have given birth to the ancient and modern day male heroes we've come to glorify to this day, we must remember that some of those same women have also been tremendously influential and invaluable all throughout the depths of history. One such woman is Cleopatra, the temptress whose ambition and seduction both augmented her empire's prestige and brought about her theatrical downfall.
All in all Cleopatra was a powerful queen who left a meaningful impact on society.
Around 69 B.C, one of the most famous female rulers ever known was born, she was Cleopatra. She was the descendent of the Egyptian ruler, Ptolemy XII, and she would eventually become the queen of ancient Egypt herself. She was known for being extremely intelligent and very charming, and because of this many romans feared her and viewed her as a threat. When her father died the throne of Egypt was left to her and her brother, Ptolemy XIII, and rivalry formed between the two, making her even more determined to become the sole ruler of Egypt. Cleopatra had trained all her life to be the successor of Egypt, and she hungered for power.
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.
"When she first met Mark Antony she purs'd up his heart upon the river. of Cycnus", in other words she dominated him from that point on. Antony went to Egypt with his only political purpose, Rome. Over the course of time however, Cleopatra's engineering, Antony lost his. purpose.
Cleopatra VII, one of the most renowned female ruler in history to be last the last one of her family line of Pharaohs. The myths and stories that surrounded her life have made her the subject of books, movies, and plays. Cleopatra VII has been fascinated people throughout the years, but has been misunderstood by all of them.