In his play Antony and Cleopatra, William Shakespeare develops a constant theme of clashing duty and desire that can be seen throughout the entirety of the work; this theme is most potently exemplified through the actions of the main characters, and the overall characterization of said characters. On the eve of the battle, Antony's soldiers hear strange portents, which they interpret as the god Hercules abandoning his protection of Antony. Sometimes it can end up there. The play centers around the struggle for power between Antony and Octavius Caesar, another one of the three rulers of the Roman Republic. "[40]:p.175. GradeSaver, 16 June 2003 Web. Although Antony dies believing himself a man of honor, discipline, and reason, our understanding of him is not nearly as straight-forward. [25] His language and writings use images of darkness, desire, beauty, sensuality, and carnality to portray not a strong, powerful woman, but a temptress. He is, in the end, a man ruled by passion as much as by reason. Continue to start your free trial. Scherer and critics who recognise the wide appeal of Egypt have connected the spectacle and glory of Cleopatra's greatness with the spectacle and glory of the theatre itself. (Act 2, Scene 2). A third major theme in Antony and Cleopatra is the conflict between East and West. She tries to take her own life with a dagger, but Proculeius disarms her. The reign of pharaohs, which has continued in Egypt under different dynasties for over three thousand years. "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human" (Riverhead Books, 1998), A. R. Braunmuller and Michael Hattaway (eds.) on 2-49 accounts, Save 30% "[28]:p.310. The theme of Antony and Cleopatra can therefore be summed up as "the conflict between love and public duty" or, more dramatically, "the loss of the world for love." Antony is portrayed as. Shakespeare critics such as Tracey Sedinger interpret this as Shakespeare's critique of the London stage, which, by the perpetuation of boy actors playing the part of the woman, serves to establish the superiority of the male spectator's sexuality. It beggared all description. The perpetual swaying between alliances strengthens the ambiguity and uncertainty amid the characters' loyalty and disloyalty. While the Romans express disgust with Cleopatra's hold on Antony, and eagerly dismiss her as a manipulative whore, their fascination with her is obvious. The soothsayer's presence adds a sinister inevitability to a historical event playing out before us. That Cleopatra takes on the role of male aggressor in her relationship with Antony should not be surprising; after all, "a culture attempting to dominate another culture will [often] endow itself with masculine qualities and the culture it seeks to dominate with feminine ones"[75]appropriately, the queen's romantic assault is frequently imparted in a political, even militaristic fashion. Beguiled me to the very heart of loss. Furthermore, because of the unlikelihood that Shakespeare would have had direct access to the Greek text of Plutarch's Parallel Lives and probably read it through a French translation from a Latin translation, his play constructs Romans with an anachronistic Christian sensibility that might have been influenced by St. Augustine's Confessions among others. On the contrary, the Roman understanding of Cleopatra and her kingdom seems exceedingly superficial. Antony and Cleopatra takes place at a time of serious political turmoil and civil strife, with leaders rising and falling, as Fulvia, Pompey, Lepidus, Octavius, Antony, and Cleopatra all jostle for political power. In these ways, William Shakespeare develops a constant theme of clashing duty and desire in his play Antony and Cleopatra; these instances are a few of the manners that Shakespeare is able to accomplish creating this theme. The form of the play therefore reflects its deeper thematic inquiries: while Antony and Cleopatra try to reconcile their relationship with their disparate nations and different forms of power, the play itself struggles to keep up with their machinations and mindsets. [68]:p.201. However the isolation and microscopic examination of a single aspect apart from its host environment is an effort to improve the understanding of the broader context. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. [28]:p.301 Finally, Fitz emphasises the tendency of early critics to assert that Antony is the sole protagonist of the play. [39] According to this reading, Egypt is viewed as destructive and vulgar; the critic Paul Lawrence Rose writes: "Shakespeare clearly envisages Egypt as a political hell for the subject, where natural rights count for nothing. Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools. We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. "The Characterization of Shakespeare's Cleopatra. Which in the scuffles of greatness hath burst When threatened to be made a fool and fully overpowered by Octavius, she takes her own life: "She is not to be silenced by the new master, she is the one who will silence herself: 'My resolution and my hands I'll trust/ None about Caesar' (IV. | Antony's lieutenant Enobarbus, though, knows that Octavia can never satisfy him after Cleopatra. Makes only wars on thee. In the Pelican edition of Antony and Cleopatra, Professor Albert R. Braunmuller discusses how, in the play she is insulted by Philo by being called a "gypsy" which is a derivative of the word "Egyptian" but also but also evokes imagery of "Romany people, dark-haired, dark-skinned" which would be in line with a much more racialized version of Cleopatra. Freeman states, "We understand Antony as a grand failure because the container of his Romanness "dislimns": it can no longer outline and define him even to himself. Cleopatra, being the complex figure that she is, has faced a variety of interpretations of character throughout history. All come to this? Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids, "[66] Antony feels restrained by "Egyptian fetters" indicating that he recognises Cleopatra's control over him. To us, the defeat of Antony is inevitable, fated, because it has already happened. It would immediately have established the sportiveness of the lovers. Other critics argue that the crossdressing as it occurs in the play is less of a mere convention, and more of an embodiment of dominant power structures. "[36]:p.415 For example, Antony only desires his wife Fulvia after she is dead: There's a great spirit gone! [40]:p.16777 Where Rome is viewed as structured, moral, mature, and essentially masculine, Egypt is the polar opposite; chaotic, immoral, immature, and feminine. The textual motif of empire within Antony and Cleopatra has strong gendered and erotic undercurrents. The hand could pluck her back that shov'd her on. In doing this, Shakespeare presents Antony as being an disloyal character. In great pain, he learns that Cleopatra is indeed alive. she did lie Manipulation and the quest for power are very prominent themes not only in the play but specifically in the relationship between Antony and Cleopatra. The political attitudes of Antony, Caesar, and Cleopatra are all basic archetypes for the conflicting sixteenth-century views of kingship. Ace your assignments with our guide to Antony and Cleopatra! The motif of "card playing" has a political undertone, as it relates to the nature of political dealings. The language of conflict used in the prologue are words like 'Mutiny' and 'Ancient Grudge' These words and many others are all words which . While conversing about this news from Rome with Cleopatra, Antony proclaims that Egypt is my [his] place. Because of this scene, the audience is also given insight that Mark Antony has a wife, and due to his status in Egypt, Antony is unable to uphold his duties as a husband, therefore succumbing to his desires with Cleopatra. [73]:p.63 The crossdresser, then, is not a visible object but rather a structure "enacting the failure of a dominant epistemology in which knowledge is equated with visibility". Egypt is a land of sovereign and subject. As amorous of their strokes. Yachnin's article focuses on Cleopatra's usurping of Antony's authority through her own and his language, while Hooks' article gives weight to Antony's attempts to assert his authority through rhetoric. Antony and Cleopatra is essentially a male-dominated play in which the character of Cleopatra takes significance as one of few female figures and definitely the only strong female character. Aebischer eventually concludes that "we must accept that Shakespeare's Cleopatra is neither black nor white, but that should not stop us from appreciating the political significance of casting choices, nor should it fool us into thinking that, for a character like Cleopatra, any casting choice will ever be 'colourblind.'" $24.99 Free trial is available to new customers only. Antony eventually realises that he, like other characters, is merely "Fortune's knave", a mere card in the game of Chance rather than a player. [69]:p.65. Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. The play presents a chapter of Roman history in which the articulations for the construction of a world empire were being made. [75] Furthermore, he writes, "Rome shapes its Egyptian imperial struggle most visually around the contours of Cleopatra's sexualised and racialised black bodymost explicitly her "tawny front", her "gipsy's lust", and her licentious climactic genealogy, "with Phoebus' amorous pinches black". The triumvirs meet in Rome, where Antony and Octavius put to rest, for now, their disagreements. Old orders will fall, a new one will be built, and Egypt will be left forever altered. The main conflict in the play is between Antony and his conscience. This is not to say that Antony's love is wholly negative or that all love in the play is bad, though. (one code per order). Avaunt! Many scholars believe Shakespeare's play was written in 160607,[a] although some researchers have argued for an earlier dating, around 160304. An element of Fate lies within the play's concept of Chance, as the subject of Fortune/Chance's favour at any particular moment becomes the most successful character. Antony, the great Roman warrior who conceives an overwhelming passion for Cleopatra, is torn between these two worlds. Caesars concerns throughout the play are certainly imperial: he means to invade foreign lands in order to invest them with traditions and sensibilities of his own. The play makes several mentions of Antonys superiority as a soldier over Caesar. [86] Once pleasure has become a dynamic of power, then it permeates society and politics. Triumvirate and the political conflicts of the present, and to Cleopatra's old love affairs, which cast such an ambiguous . The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in around 1607;[1][2] its first appearance in print was in the Folio of 1623. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% [75] The abundant imagery concerning his person"of penetration, wounds, blood, marriage, orgasm, and shame"informs the view of some critics that the Roman "figures Antony's body as queer, that is, as an open male body [he] not only 'bends' in devotion' but bends over". In 41 BC Cleopatra was summoned to Tarsus (in modern southern Turkey) by Mark Antony.She is said to have entered the city by sailing up the Cydnus River in a decorated barge with purple sails, while dressed in the robes of the Greek goddess Aphrodite.Antony, who equated himself with the god Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, was instantly won over. [58] Her mix of sexual prowess with the political power is a threat to Roman politics. For example, after Antony abandons his army during the sea battle to follow Cleopatra, he expresses his remorse and pain in his famous speech: All is lost; asps. To cool a gipsy's lust.[57]. Power is one of Cleopatra's most dominant character traits and she uses it as a means of control. [77] While Caesar's empirical objective can be considered strictly political, however, Cleopatra's is explicitly erotic; she conquers carnallyindeed, "she made great Caesar lay his sword to bed;/ He plough'd her, and she cropp'd" (2.2.232233). ", If Shakespeare had indeed intended for Antony to crossdress, it would have drawn even more similarities between Antony and Hercules, a comparison that many scholars have noted many times before. The fancy outwork nature: on each side her [29] Later we also see Antony's heart-container swells again because it "o'erflows the measure." Octavius sends a messenger to ask Cleopatra to give up Antony and come over to his side. Since Egypt has been defeated, the captive Cleopatra is placed under a guard of Roman soldiers. Most productions rely on rather predictable contrasts in costuming to imply the rigid discipline of the former and the languid self-indulgence of the latter. In this quiz, you must choose the correct fill-ins when given a prompt stating a fact about the rulers of the Roman Empire. The Egyptians view the Romans as boring, oppressive, strict and lacking in passion and creativity, preferring strict rules and regulations. [60] We see the significance of this figure by the constant mention of her, even when she is not on stage. The battles of this war are another example of Shakespeare presenting duty and desire in this play. Diana Kleiner points out "Anthony's perceived betrayal of Rome was greeted with public calls for war with Egypt". While Plutarch singles out the "order of exclusive society" that the lovers surrounded themselves witha society with a specifically defined and clear understanding of the hierarchies of power as determined by birth and statusShakespeare's play seems more preoccupied with the power dynamics of pleasure as a main theme throughout the play. He is middle-aged. Great military men such as Hotspur, Lear, Hal and Julius Caesar share a proclivity for the military arts with Othello and Marc Antony. / No: I will go seek some ditch wherein to die"[50] (IV. Enobarbus sees honor as loyalty between friends, and his failure to live up to that precept leads to his death from grief. People lucky enough to be rich should enjoy life, not behave as others would like or expect. The first scene is set in Alexandria, where two of Antony's men, Demetrius and Philo, describe the lovers' relationship. With Eros dead, Antony is also dead. As a play concerning the relationship between two empires, the presence of a power dynamic is apparent and becomes a recurring theme. There is tension between Octavius and Antony; Octavius feels that Antony has left . Antony and Cleopatra. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. James emphasizes the various ways in which Shakespeare's play subverts the ideology of the Virgilian tradition; one such instance of this subversion is Cleopatra's dream of Antony in Act 5 ("I dreamt there was an Emperor Antony" [5.2.75]). Gradesfixer , A Theme of Clashing Duty and Desire in Antony and Cleopatra., A Theme of Clashing Duty and Desire in Antony and Cleopatra [Internet]. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. And what they undid did. 2023 gradesfixer.com. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper. At first, this course of action may appear to be a triumph of reason over passion orof Western sensibilities over Eastern ones, but the play is not that simple. London, England, Date of first publication Published in the First Folio of 1623. for a customized plan. Antony and Cleopatra literature essays are academic essays for citation. For Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, the exclusivity and superiority supplied by pleasure created the disconnect between the ruler and the subjects. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. Antony, hearing of Cleopatra's suicide, stabs himself. Home Essay Samples Literature Antony and Cleopatra A Theme of Clashing Duty and Desire in Antony and Cleopatra. Egypt is an exotic frontier, a welcome escape from a life of soldiership and civic duty. As a center of conversation when not present in the scene, Cleopatra is continually a central point, therefore demanding the control of the stage. [87] This calls into question the extent to which the characters' actions influence the resulting consequences, and whether the characters are subject to the preferences of Fortune or Chance. [68]:p.202 It is because of this distaste that Cleopatra "embodies political power, a power which is continuously underscored, denied, nullified by the Roman counterpart". Cleopatra is a powerful queen, but in Act 1, Scene 1 . I kiss his conqu'ring hand. Cleopatra's "'Roman' language of command works to undermine Antony's authority. Having failed to perform Roman masculinity and virtue, Antony's only means with which he might "write himself into Rome's imperial narrative and position himself at the birth of empire" is to cast himself in the feminine archetype of the sacrificial virgin; "once [he] understands his failed virtus, his failure to be Aeneas, he then tries to emulate Dido". More books than SparkNotes. Shakespeare wastes no time establishing this theme, as it is seen in the very first line of the play. Early critics like Georg Brandes presented Egypt as a lesser nation because of its lack of rigidity and structure and presented Cleopatra, negatively, as "the woman of women, quintessentiated Eve. As the play opens, he is clearly divided against himself; he has failed to integrate the sensual nature with the martial aspect. Betrayal is a recurring theme throughout the play. At this point, even Enobarbus who is Antonys most loyal soldier begins to blame Antony for this defeat. She embodies the mystical, exotic, and dangerous nature of Egypt as the "serpent of old Nile". Cleopatra's power has been described as "naked, hereditary, and despotic",[39] and it is argued that she is reminiscent of Mary Tudor's reignimplying it is not coincidence that she brings about the "doom of Egypt." On September 2, 31 B.C., Octavian's forces soundly defeated those of Antony and Cleopatra in the Battle of Actium. ", Greenblatt, Stephen. Dont have an account? [36] In such a reading, male and female, Rome and Egypt, reason and emotion, and austerity and leisure are treated as mutually exclusive binaries that all interrelate with one another. Gordon P. Jones elaborates on the importance of this detail: Such a saturnalian exchange of costumes in the opening scene would have opened up a number of important perspectives for the play's original audience. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. They cast their caps up and carouse together This is in part due to an emotional comparison in their rule. All credit for the text should go to Mr. Hudson. [88] The play culminates, however, in Antony's realization that he is merely a card, not a player in this game. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. Did you know you can highlight text to take a note? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? Although he has limited influence over [], In Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare uses grand evocative imagery for a variety of reasons such as juxtaposing Rome against Egypt, and to add different dimensions to the main characters. Shakespeare is dealing with history, so he can make events seem fated, but the Soothsayer and his dire predictions are taken from Plutarch. this grave charm, There is much violence and conflict in the play and this in the main, stems from the feud. Web. Furthermore, Enobarbus, Antony's long-serving lieutenant, deserts him and goes over to Octavius' side.

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