English Coursework- Antony and Cleopatra
English Coursework- Antony and Cleopatra "Compare Shakespeare's presentation of Antony in the Egyptian scenes with his presentation of Antony in the Roman scenes" Shakespeare presents Antony in Egypt and Antony in Rome, in a very contrasting way. We see a man who almost contradicts his own self, dependant upon the company he is in. A great leader, yet he falls before Cleopatra. Antony is presented as the epitome of Roman masculinity, Philo describing Antony in the opening- "...those his goodly eyes, that o'er the files and musters of the war have glow'd like Mars...his captain's heart, which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst the buckles on his breast..."-These words conjuring up imagery of war, machismo, and strength. Ideals that are most reputable in a Roman. Yet this man's role can be seen as sublimely reversed when in the presence of Cleopatra, the domineering, hedonistic Queen of Egypt, his love. Caesar says of Antony in Act 1 scene 4- "... (Speaking of Antony) he fishes, drinks, and wastes the lamps of night in revel; is not more manlike than Cleopatra, nor the Queen of Ptolomy more womanly than he." Coming from Caesar, one of Antony's triumvirate counterparts, this is a strong statement, highlighting the problems Antony has caused. I do believe that there is much more depth to Antony's self in Egypt, however it seems at essence he is a different man.
Explore the presentation and effects of love in Antony and Cleopatra.
Jonathan Azah A-level English-Unit 2 Shakespeare Explore the presentation and effects of love in Antony and Cleopatra Antony and Cleopatra is Shakespeare's peculiarly fluid and intimate historical retelling of the love tale of the Roman soldier, Mark Antony, and the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra. The male protagonist, Antony, is a noble Roman soldier. That being so Shakespeare introduces him as having many cultural personality traits which in this play are affected, alongside with his judgement, by the love he feels for Cleopatra. From the outset of the play, the audience can see that Antony's judgment has been affected by love. This can be observed from the people in Antony's company. While it is obvious they regard him as a powerful figure they also disapprove of his relationship with Cleopatra. The audience can see this from Philo's description of Antony's "dotage" that "O'erflows the measure" (1, 1, 2)1. This shows that his obsession with Cleopatra surpasses a sensible level. Philo says that Antony's heart has "become the bellows and the fan/ To cool a gypsy's lust". (1, 1, 7-10)2 This shows that some of his former greatness has gone as he has been degraded to serving, what others see as a "gypsy". In addition to this the word "gypsy" also reinforces the Romans disapproval of their relationship as "gypsy" would give the audience connotations of a promiscuous woman.
What we learn about the characters of Cleopatra, Enobarbus and Antony
Prepare a critical analysis of this section of the play (the description of the barge), focusing on: The language use What we learn about the characters of Cleopatra, Enobarbus and Antony How this section relates to the play as a whole In this extract Enobarbus is relishing the attention of his fellow Roman soldiers as he recounts the spectacular first meeting between Cleopatra and Antony. He chooses a highly poetic, descriptive vocabulary to paint a picture of the extravagant sight of Cleopatra's barge on its stately voyage down the river, bringing the sights, sounds and colours vividly to life for his spellbound audience. The opening lines of the extract show the dominant position Cleopatra holds in his memory: "she pursued up his heart". The verb suggests that Cleopatra was the active participant in the love affair with Antony, revealing her predatory sexuality and supreme confidence in her own power and attractions. Agrippa's interjections take the form of awestruck exclamations, revealing the extent of curiosity about the exotic lifestyle in Egypt that the Roman soldiers can usually only speculate about. Enobarbus swells with importance as he begins his account, and the line "I will tell you" is both a reminder of his own participation in the events, and a way of heightening expectation. The potent imagery of his speeches portrays Cleopatra as a rival to the
Explain How Shakespeare Uses Language In ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ To Depict the Two Main Protagonists.
Explain how Shakespeare uses language in 'Antony and Cleopatra' to depict the two main protagonists. The epic love affair of Antony and Cleopatra is a great and powerful love shared by two people at the height of their fame and glory. Plutarch's 'Life of Antonius' is the principal source, and Shakespeare has blended this factual evidence together with fiction and drama to create a play that is strikingly different from many of his other works, especially in terms of theme, structure and the impressive and most descriptive language used. Plutarch wrote in the first century AD, probably not more than a hundred years after the death of Antony, but soon enough to hear personal experiences from his great grandfather about the battle of Actium, and from even his grandfather about Antony's generous entertaining in Alexandria. He was a Greek philosopher, and so his sympathies ran more towards his fellow countrymen than the Roman subjects of his detailed studies. Shakespeare, distilling North's version at the time when his creative skills were at their height, was able to use both the language and the stories exactly to suit his intentions. In many cases he remains remarkably faithful to the original, for example in the famous speech by Enobarbus praising Cleopatra (II.2.193), but he sometimes left out unfavourable comments and expanded the material, adding his own events in
The personal and political are inseparable in 'Antonyand Cleopatra'; the one informs the other. To what extent do you agree with this view of the play?
India Silvani- Jones 12J Mr. Thorpe 25th March The personal and political are inseparable in 'Antony and Cleopatra'; the one informs the other. To what extent do you agree with this view of the play? The political and personal issues in 'Antony and Cleopatra' are often closely linked and it is often the case that political events are results of personal issues. Relationships are also affected by both the personal and political. This is shown when Caesar enforces the idea that Antony should marry his sister, Octavia. Caesar perhaps exploits his sister to an extent, using her as a means of solidifying a link and loyalty of alliance between the second triumvirate in order to defeat Pompey. Caesar's lack of respect for Octavia, shown in this way is something you would not expect from siblings in such a respected position in society. Antony is bound to snub Octavia for Cleopatra, as Enobarbus predicts to Caesar's men, leaving her extremely upset and with this as a possible reason for Caesar to propose war. Antony agrees to the idea, perhaps to attempt to strengthen the links between him and Caesar for his own benefits, by bringing himself into the family. This shows that such personal issues such as love and marriage, which should normally be taken so seriously, are used for the advantage of political affairs. Caesar's Machiavellian actions show the extent that the characters
How much does Antony's love for Cleopatra contribute to his downfall?
How much does Antony's love for Cleopatra contribute to his downfall? Throughout the play, Antony grapples with the conflict between his love for Cleopatra and his duties to the Roman Empire. In his opening lines to Demetrius, Philo complains that Antony has abandoned the military endeavours on which his reputation is based for Cleopatra's sake. His criticism of Antony's "dotage," or stupidity, introduces a tension between reason and emotion that runs throughout the play. Antony and Cleopatra's first exchange heightens this tension, as they argue whether their love can be put into words and understood or whether it exceeds such faculties and boundaries of reason. Shakespeare has mainly concentrated with the battle between reason and emotion, rather than the triumph of one over the other. Antony vacillates between Western and Eastern sensibilities, feeling pulled by both his duty to the empire and his desire for pleasure, his want for military glory and his passion for Cleopatra. Enobarbus' speech in Act 2 sc. 2 tells the audience of Antony and Cleopatra's first encounter. Shakespeare uses simile after simile and plenty of metaphors as well for example, "like a burnished throne/the poop was beaten gold." Enobarbus tells of "Antony...invited her to supper" and he uses food imagery to try and explain how Antony felt when he looked at Cleopatra, "pays his heart for what his
Antony and Cleopatra - How does Shakespeare create this sense of distance and power in the play?
"Antony and Cleopatra work so powerfully through distance. Vast geographical distances had opened up for the English imagination a sense of power over space to audiences of both 1607 and now." How does Shakespeare create this sense of distance and power in the play? Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra is a clash of cultural values in the union of a fine Roman general and a sultry Egyptian queen. Whilst it purports to being a tragic love story, the play traverses the ancient world in an important survey of a twelve-year history that determines the fate of two empires - a history that seals the demise of Roman republicanism, and decisively shifts the balance of Mediterranean power from East to West. Written ten years before Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra portrays actual events and persons from Roman history, but also embodies the love story of the two title characters. For the historical background, plot and intimate details of the affair between Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare drew upon the work of the ancient Roman historian Plutarch. However, Shakespeare transformed the play into his own personal masterpiece by portraying the power over distance that the relationship of the two protagonists exerts, and this sense of power over vast geographical space is a fundamental aspect of the play. Critic Harley Granville-Barker comments, 'Roman and Egyptian are set against
Examine Shakespeare's handling of one of these relationships in any one of the plays and show how the balance of power swings between the two characters concerned throughout the course of the play.
Jaime Smith Examine Shakespeare's handling of one of these relationships in any one of the plays and show how the balance of power swings between the two characters concerned throughout the course of the play. In your answer you must refer closely to the text and to at least two of characterisation, plot, key scenes, theme or any other appropriate feature. Antony and Cleopatra is a play in which the balance of power swings interestingly between two lovers. It is set in the First Century BC between Rome and Egypt. Antony is one of the three members of the second triumvirate who jointly rule the Roman Empire. Antony is the eponymous tragic hero, who allows his love for Cleopatra to cloud his judgement. According to Aristotle this is hamartia, an error of judgment caused by fate. This leads to his downfall. Cleopatra is the Queen of Egypt; she is a very clever yet volatile lady. We follow their relationship and changes in power between them throughout the play in chronological order. The great feeling of love between the two characters allows the play to have unexpected twists. Culminating in both their suicides, unusually Cleopatra lives on past Antony's death. We can easily see the balance of power shift throughout the play, between Antony and Cleopatra. From the opening of the play we see the imbalance of power between the two as in Act one Scene one
An essay on the first stanza of 'A game of chess'
An essay on the first stanza of 'A game of chess' Through calling this poem 'A game of chess', Eliot continues with the theme he starts in 'The burial of the dead' of people who are trapped in a wasteland and making no effort to escape it, so are therefore stuck like a those in a check-mate during a real game of chess. The title is also a reference to 'Women beware women' by Middletone, a story in which a mother-in-law is playing chess, unaware that each move she makes on the chess board is matched by a move in the seduction of her daughter-in-law by the duke in the story. The reference to Middleton's 'Women beware women' gives a depiction of passion and lust which Eliot uses as a contrast in the poem. In the first stanza, Eliot describes a room that is elaborately decorated and filled with beautiful items such as, "Sevenbranched candelabra" and "Vials of ivory and coloured glass." Even though the room is decorated expensively, through listing the expensive items, he devalues them using bathos and parodying the woman's efforts to create a room that is full of amazing items and ending up devaluing them. He compares the lady's room to Imogen's bedroom in 'Cymbeline,' through the mention of cupids, symbols of love. To stress the fact that although the woman has them, they are not full of life like the ones in Imogen's bedroom. The woman in the room, a metaphor for
"A better title for this play would be 'Cleopatra and Antony' because Cleopatra is a dominant character throughout. Indeed, it might simply be called 'Cleopatra'". How far do you agree? How would a Jacobean audience react to her strength of character?
"A better title for this play would be 'Cleopatra and Antony' because Cleopatra is a dominant character throughout. Indeed, it might simply be called 'Cleopatra'". How far do you agree? How would a Jacobean audience react to her strength of character? Shakespeare structured 'Antony and Cleopatra' to mirror a historic love affair between two great characters of the past. This love affair develops into the most explosive and destructive love story, both Antony and Cleopatra finding themselves trapped between passion and logic, they both prove their limitless love by the ultimate sacrifices they make, Antony's downfall at the hands of Caesar and Cleopatra losing her beloved Egypt, both dying a 'noble' death as the last tragedy of them all. Cleopatra's dominancy can be proved by how even when not in a scene she holds this incredible power over what is happening, for example, in Act Two, Scene Two Cleopatra's determination to fight beside Antony causes Antony to clash with Caesar and Enobarbus, Enobarbus proclaiming "Would we had all such wives, that the men might go to wars with the women!" emphasising how much control she had but is she central to the play? In recent times, the very people who have studied Cleopatra and her reign in Egypt believe that the real character was never in love with Antony but only interested in the politics, exploiting Antony to prosper herself
