OPPOSITIONAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA.

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OPPOSITIONAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA.

Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra is aptly named, not just because the play centers around these two characters, but also because it encompasses the play's fixation on the lovers' oppositional relationship. On the surface level, Antony embodies the Roman ideals of a good, noble man, while Cleopatra represents the hyper-sexualized, dangerous Eastern woman. However, upon further examination both Antony and Cleopatra display complicated internal conflicts that effectively reverse these polar positions repeatedly throughout the play. In this way, the opposition between Antony and Cleopatra that exists on a simple, interpersonal level is echoed by more complicated, internal conflicts within each of these characters on a deeper, more individual level. The tension between the title characters creates the love that draws them together at the same time as it drives them further apart, thus establishing yet another layer of antagonistic relationships within the play. The importance of these oppositional relationships is underlined most starkly in Act II.2. In particular Enobarbus' speech describing Cleopatra's beauty functions as one of the greatest statements of the play's conflicting themes. This speech reflects the antagonistic nature of the play's central relationships through the invocation of equivalent antagonistic relationships between the violent descriptors used to depict Cleopatra.

Throughout the play, Shakespeare establishes a love-hate relationship between Antony and Cleopatra. In doing so, there are times when the lovers are characterized as stark opposites of each other as well as instances where these characterizations are reversed. The Romans, represented by Caesar, define Antony as a strong, rational Roman general who has unwillingly been seduced by a vile Egyptian temptress. However, throughout the play, Antony struggles to live up to this reputation. As audience members, we, like the Romans, begin the play thinking of Antony as a victorious Roman general, not as Cleopatra's lover. This characterization is immediately attacked in the play's opening scene. Here, Antony abandons the cold, calculating rationalism of warfare and declares that he will love Cleopatra through all obstacles, even if that means letting, "Rome in Tiber melt and the wide arch/ Of the ranged empire fall!" (Antony and Cleopatra, I, 1, lines XXXV-XXXVI). Antony's declaration effectively rejects his duties for the state and embraces Cleopatra's passion.

However, in the very next scene Antony contradicts these unexpected sentiments by expressing guilt over neglecting his stately duties. Throughout the remainder of the play, Antony vacillates between his passion for Cleopatra and his love for the Roman Empire. Eventually, he commits suicide to save his own honor and subsequently clings to the Roman rules for proper male behavior. However, not even the taking of his own life can mask his fascination with Cleopatra's passion and sensuality. In the end he may have saved his honor, yet his internal struggles throughout the play demonstrate the internal battles that raged within him.
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Even greater oppositional relationships exist within Cleopatra. She can be charming and seductive, she can be domineering, rude and abusive or she can be weak and dependent. Her behavior at any given moment is either reflective of her irrational passionate true feelings or of her manipulative, more rational acting skills. Due to her consummate acting abilities, it is incredibly difficult to determine when Cleopatra's behaviors stem from an authentic source. Is she a beautiful goddess or a dangerous whore, a manipulative, power-hungry ruler or a woman deeply in love? This ambiguity effectively establishes Cleopatra's character as an indefinable ...

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