Antony and Cleopatra William Shakespeare

The Tragedy of “Antony and Cleopatra” details the affair between “Antony” of Roman fame and “Cleopatra”, Queen of Egypt, and the ensuing complications that arise from the triumvirate that was formed after the assassination of “Julius Caesar”. “Cleopatra” is one of the Shakespearean strongest and awe inspiring female characters. She is complex and decidedly inconstant, yet she is never less than herself: passionate, grand and over the top.

“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. “Cleopatra” is one of the Shakespearean most accomplished creations, an intriguing woman who wraps great men around her finger. She is possessive, commanding, dramatic. She is complicated and fickle. Her own emotions are of supreme importance to her, and she has a violent temper. Her personal charisma far exceeds her talents as a strategist, and her interference partly causes the defeat of “Antony”. Her character has been as shifting as the clouds; the matter that “Antony” describes. 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.

“Antony” is noted for his bravery, which makes his love for “Cleopatra” all the more interesting The same way that he gave himself over to his soldierly duties, he submits himself to “Cleopatra”, and revels in the sensuous pleasures of the Egyptian world. “Antony” is pretty straight up about it all and admits that he is held captive by the powerful spell of “Cleopatra”. Interestingly, he thinks of his situation personally, and not politically. As “Antony” dies, he wishes the world to remember him as a man who was his own conqueror. By taking his own life, “Antony” makes a final resolute act: his death is the final assurance that, no matter the circumstance, he was the master of his own life.