The Role of Cleopatra's Children in Defining Her Character
Abstract
There are few roles that Cleopatra has not been made to fulfill. She is queen, goddess, lover, whore, wife, witch. Yet it is her role as mother that most defines how she is to be perceived, and which of these other roles she will take on in a given work of literature. Cleopatra's children, or the absence of them, play a definitive role in characterizing Cleopatra. When Cleopatra is childless, she acts like a child herself, either petty and selfish or so deeply in love that she ignores all else. When she has children, however, her role as mother extends far beyond her actual offspring and encompasses all of Egypt. Her protectiveness of her children is used to mirror her protectiveness of Egypt-if she is a good mother than she is also a good queen. Whether she is a good mother, a bad mother, or no mother at all is used by every author or director to characterize Cleopatra as a woman and as a symbol.
The Total Absence of Children
Cleopatra's childlessness in literature and film is meant to allow her to be viewed as childish herself. Egypt is of little importance to her. She cares deeply only for love and pleasure, or for nothing at all. Not only is she not yet a queen, but she may never be.
In Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra, Cleopatra is both chronologically and mentally a child. Not only do she and Caesar not have children together, they do not even have a sexual relationship. Shaw "makes Cleopatra, who was probably about nineteen or twenty when Caesar arrived in Egypt, into an emotionally and intellectually retarded sixteen year old who pouts and prattles...peeping out from behind her nurse like a bashful toddler" (Hughes-Hallet 252). In order change Caesar from a lover into a father-figure, Shaw turns Cleopatra into a helpless but petty infant; he glorifies Caesar's character at the detriment of Cleopatra's. After her altogether pointless and foolish carpet scene that actually costs the lives of Roman soldiers, Caesar says to a scared and clinging Cleopatra, "My poor child, your life matters little here to anyone but yourself" (Shaw 84). Not only is Shaw's Cleopatra childish and indifferent to the plight of Egypt, but she is completely useless. Even Caesar, with whom she has the closest relationship to in the play, who takes on the role of a father, does not really care whether she lives or dies.
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)
...eam, as Romero showcases the fact that the flaws shown within the characters end up turning their situation into something far worse than it had been in the beginning. It shows just how depraved, violent and absolutely terrifying humans can easily become when put into situations without consequences. Romero’s film is dredged in cynicism towards the modern American Dream, the way he deals with symbolism towards how “just” the American system is during battles and war, and how incredibly messed up our generalized view on racism and the ever ongoing struggle for certain ethnic groups to survive is. “The negativity of the characters extends, in fact, into every facet of their lives; indeed, the film implies the deepest denial of the goodness of effectiveness of every facet of human life in general. Every kind of human relationship is ridiculed or negated in the film.” 4
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.
Cleopatra's family were the rulers of Egypt for more than 100 years before she was born around 69 B.C. The stories and myths surrounding Cleopatra's life inspired people to write a number of books, movies and plays, including Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare. Cleopatra has become one of the most well known ancient Egyptians.
The Romans were immensely furious with Cleopatra and had primary influence over what sources were left behind about her. So certainly this is going to lead to biases and inaccuracies in the depictions we have. Furthermore, we are all well aware of how Hollywood likes to dramatize and embellish stories in order to generate ticket sales and is not worried about the accuracy of the historical anecdote. Because of this and her popularity, our knowledge of Cleopatra has been flooded with twisted truths. When examining Cleopatra’s full reign beyond her love affairs, reveals Cleopatra put all of her effort forth in order to solve the conflict between Egypt and Rome and should be recognized for her masterminded and commanding leadership
There are extensive studies on retirement covering education in general. The findings suggest that education is an important factor in affecting retirement planning preparedness (Hogarth, 1985; Joo&Pauwels, 2002). Education enables individuals to explore more information relating to their retirement planning and that sources of information will influence their decisions, attitude and intention to do retirement planning (Hogarth, 1985; Joo&Pauwels, 2002). Also, DeVaney (1995) addressed that the effect of education level may serve as a motivator or guidance for individuals to start the preparation for retirement planning. With the increase in age and educational level, individual tends to be more motivated to work on retirement planning preparation or take some action for their retirement (DeVaney, 1995).
"The Effects of Drug Abuse on Teens." Casa Palmera. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Haggerty, Sue (Jun-Aug2017) Retirement planning. Catholic Digest Vol. 81 Issue 7, p33-38. ISSN: 0008-7998 Accession Number: 123563838 Database: MasterFILE Premier 6p. http://www.catholicdigest.com, http://web.b.ebschost.com’umuc.edu/detail
Dryden-Edwards, Roxanne. "Alcohol and Teens: Learn the Effects of Teenage Drinking." MedicineNet. Ed. Melissa C. Stopler. Web. 19 May 2014.
When I found out that I had to do seven hours of volunteer work I immediately knew that I wanted it to involve children. I attended the volunteer fair that was held earlier in the semester and signed up for programs such as Louie’s Kids and Wings for Kids. Unfortunately I could not volunteer for either of these programs because they were not in walking distance of the college and I did not have transportation. A couple weeks after that I saw a flyer advertising for “Reading Partners.” I attended an informational event that they held and signed up to volunteer at Memminger Elementary, which is about two blocks from the college.
A lot of lessons have been learned this past decade. The biggest lessons Americans have learned about is how to save money, to be more money savvy and not to keep our heads buried in the sand. In truth, we are saving more than ever before, or at least trying to. We, however, have many hurdles and ills i...
Gwinnell, Esther, and Christine Adamec. "drug addiction." Health Reference Center. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
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 became 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. Like her father, she tried to have peace with Rome and maybe even have power over them. She would gain her power by having Caesar one and only son, Caesarion, the loyalty of Marc Antony, a well-known general who was popular among the troops in Rome, and of course by using her intelligence and Egypt’s resources. Cleopatra was a successful ruler because she had a thirst for power.
...ation, planning, and considerations, retirement funds can be extremely low and can therefore cause severe hardship. It may cause retirement to be pushed back past the age of 70 to have access to enough funds. It could also bear stress to other family members, children for example, which would have to help out financially and delay their retirement plans. Utilizing the proper education, research tools, guidelines, and determination retirement plans can be set in place early to leave room to fluctuate over time. It is no one else’s responsibility but one’s own to prepare for their future, and therefore should take matters in their own hands. The question now is, are you prepared for retirement, and if not what steps are you going to take?
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.