Compare and contest the differing perspectives of Anthony and Cleopatra in act one.In your opinion which one of the characters is portrayed in a more positive light?

The first three scenes of act one all takes place in Queen Cleopatra's palace in Alexandria. Promptly establishing the conflict between duty and passion, ambition and pleasure, Rome and Egypt. The complexity of Cleopatra's character manifests itself, her incredible emotional vicissitudes, her theatricalllity, her manipulative streak and her genuine passion for Anthony. We are immediately greeted with a less than kind impression of Cleopatra when Philo and Elemetrius have a conversation where they imply that she is a whore "gipsys lust" In Shakespeare's time this connotated sorcery, treachery and cheap trickery. However their view is simple and straight forward and perhaps not entirely in keeping with what we see when Anthony and Cleopatra enter themselves. Demetrius makes out that Anthony has been seduced by lust rather than love. However, a paradox is made when Anthony and Cleopatra enter, whilst enobarbus makes account of her 'infinite variety'. Anthony calls her 'a wrangling queen/ whom everything becomes. The way Anthony and Cleopatra act around each other could actually be conveyed as love rather than lust and would therefore contradict enobarbus and Demetrius. Nonetheless, Enobarbus and Demetrius' speech gives an insight as to what fellow Romans think of Anthony. When perceived in this way the tables have been turned and now Anthony is portrayed in a more harsh way.

The theme of duty versus passion, Rome versus Egypt, both come together in this scene and show how Anthony is forgetting what he is and neglecting his duties; "let Rome in Tiber melt, and wide arch /of the ranged empire fall! Here is my space, kingdoms are clay....." Anthony is torn between duty and passion. He would be seen more respectable if he stuck with one and had a plausible excuse, but he contradicts this statement by going back to Rome in the next scene.

He is unable to reconcile the two, their fundamental incompatibility are emphasized by the commentary provided by Philo and Demetrius. When Anthony and Cleopatra appear before us they are beautiful in their excess. They are a grand, godlike couple, a handsome Roman general and a magnificent queen, playful and exuberant, and conscious of their glamour. Anthony revels in his Egyptian life as a respite from a lifetime of fighting wars. Anthony proudly proclaims "we stand up peerless" and within a certain realm he is right, but the world where they stand up peerless is different to Rome's world of duty of war and ambition. After all, Anthony is Roman and should not forget this. The couple's beautiful language and delight in one another make no great impression on Philo and Demetrius, who fail to understand Anthony's evasion of his duties.

In Act ll we are given a far more dignified view of Anthony. He is noble in repenting his sins. He hears the messenger and finally hears the news that he has been quoting. Anthony sees the cost of the neglect of his duties and he is immediately remorseful, owning up to his faults he encourages the messenger to inform him of all the bad news without fear. This forms an interesting juxtaposition with later scenes where Cleopatra takes retribution on the messenger for bringing bad news. One of Anthony's most outstanding qualities is his capacity for remorse and in these circumstances he is viewed in a more positive light.

A good source of evidence in answering the question would be Enobarbus because he offers insights on both characters. He mocks Cleopatra's intense emotions, " I have seen her die twenty times upon far poorer movement" He then proceeds to criticize Cleopatra even more when he cynically tells Anthony that Fulvias death would only be sad if there were no other woman left on the Earth. This might be a real bit of misogany from Enobarbus, however I believe it is an underlying pun against Cleopatra. He then also goes on to criticize Anthony saying with sly innuendo that though the business in Rome cannot do without him, the sexual business he has started with Cleopatra cannot do without him either. This would indicate that Enobarbus thinks that they are both as bad as each other. However, the actual conversation would also be an indication of their familiarity with each other and would intimate that this is a relationship not between master and subject but between two soldiers and old friends. Nonetheless, Anthony is indeed superior to him but is able to have a conversation with Enobarbus as an equal. This would not be possible between Cleopatra and one of her subjects and thus emphasizes Anthony's noble, traditional side, even though it seems to be fraying.

Scene lll gives an amazing characterization of Cleopatra. She is depicted as very selfish and very self centered. In the way she tries to deceive Anthony, "if you find him sad, say I am happy", just so he feels guilty no matter what. This gives her relationship with Anthony a feeling of a game to it. She starts to play him in a way to keep him hers. She sees nothing wrong with

Keeping Anthony on his toes with a few well placed lies. Cleopatra views every bit of news only in terms of how it relates to her. Anthony's departure, for reasons of vital importance to the empire, is seen as faithfulness to his love. Fulvias death is evaluated not as news of death, but as a sign of faithfulness of Anthony's heart. Even when Cleopatra realizes Anthony is not going to stand down, she lets him go but wallows in her own self pity.

"Therefore be deaf to my unpitted folly, I and all the gods go with you. Upon your sword/ sit laurel victory and smooth success/ be strewn before your feet?" She cannot help but toss in a self pitying note to elicit some response from Anthony. Cleopatra has lived her life as the centre of attention, as if life is a play in which she is the star. For the queen, even love has an element of performance and Anthony must proclaim his love to satisfy her.

CONCLUSION

Throughout the play we are given many different perspectives of Anthony and Cleopatra. We are shown how Anthony can be tempted by the exotic frontier of Egypt and Cleopatra; while he is in Egypt he can forget all his worries. In Egypt he can be a sort of King and self indulge. In Rome he is treated as an equal. When in Rome he reverts back to his warlike self. He is a man torn between Egypt and Rome, duty and passion, political ambition and love. He is clearly divided and unsure about what he really wants. He is seen by Romans, not as a traitor, but as someone who has succumbed to Cleopatra. Albeit Anthony's love for Cleopatra is genuine.

Cleopatra is perceived by many as a whore, because of her past, she is frowned upon by the Romans who know nothing apart from war and duty, Cleopatra is in a world of her own and knows nothing apart from the Egyptian way of life of luxury and passion. Act 1 shows a clash of cultures and the struggle to cope in a relationship between such diverse emotions. Therefore I feel that because of their polar differences neither Anthony or Cleopatra can be seen in a more positive light to one another and I therefore cannot give a definitive answer.