Analyse Shakespeares presentation of the characters of Antony and Cleopatra in Act 1.

Cleopatra is the Queen of Egypt and a Jacobean audience would have related to her in several ways.  Cleopatra in the play is unmarried and this could help the Jacobean audience to communicate with as their past monarch Queen Elizabeth I was an unmarried queen.  Cleopatra can be related to Queen Elizabeth I again when Charmian tells her in Scene 3 that she would be a submissive woman.  In Jacobean times and Egyptian times woman were meant to be submissive and Cleopatra is clearly not as is Queen Elizabeth as they both were very powerful rulers.

The relationship between Antony and Cleopatra is extremely strong but playful and sometimes lustful.  The playful nature of their relationship can be seen in the very first Scene; Cleopatra toys with Antony asking him how much he loves her, Antony uses grandiose language to describe how much he loves Cleopatra this demonstrates the love they have for each other and the simplistic side of their relationship.  The lustful side of their relationship can be seen in Scene 5 when Cleopatra misses Antony and their playful interactions and wants to be with him.  The love in the relationship is very evident as Cleopatra is described as “Venus” the goddess of love.  This comparison made of her can suggest that she is actually in love and possibly in love with being in love.  The pair can be seen as being desperately in love as Cleopatra says in Scene 2 that she forgets things because of him, this can also suggest that she does in fact abandon her role as ruler in Egypt and chooses Antony over Egypt.  Their relationship can be seen as strong as Cleopatra talks about Antony using superlative terms such as in Scene 5 praising him, this highlights that they are very supportive of each other and love each other.  In scene 5 Antony sends Cleopatra a pearl which I think reminds Cleopatra that he does love her also in Scene 5 Cleopatra uses the possessive pronoun “my” in “My Antony” to portray that he is hers and she is his and that they love each other.

Cleopatra can be seen as a being a multifaceted character, this is apparent in Scene 3 when Cleopatra is angry at Antony but divides her emotions in a split second as she learns about Fulvia and changers her reaction towards everything.  Cleopatra is evidentially the typical hysterical woman as whilst in love she is worried that they feelings aren’t mutual, with this Antony becomes the dominant man when Shakespeare uses aggressive, monosyllabic language.  She can be seen as being very controlling of the whole situation around he, she continually asks questions, wanting to know more and more information.

In conclusion I think that Shakespeare presents Antony and Cleopatra as being madly and deeply in love but they are lustful towards each other and this enhances their relationship.  Also that the two of them are incredibly powerful leaders but do neglect this and put their relationship first and foremost.