Cleopatra believes that she has more power than she actually possesses. This is shown by the way she uses all her different tricks and ideas to try to prevent Antony from leaving her, but fails.
Cleopatra uses her “infinite variety” (2.2.246) to maintain power over other characters in the play, particularly Antony. She uses different tricks and tactics to try and keep him under her thumb. She appears desperate for power over him and always has a backup plan in case he fails to comply. Shakespeare illustrates this throughout the play, but one of the scenes where it is most noticeable is at the very start, - Act1, Scene3. Antony is breaking the news to Cleopatra that he has to leave Egypt and return to Rome, she uses many different approaches to try to change his mind. Whilst keeping Antony in the dark, Shakespeare reveals a lot about Cleopatra’s character to the audience, meaning they can follow her manipulation of Antony and have an insight into her tactics and motives.
At the start of the scene, Cleopatra is anxious to know why Antony is not with her and instructs Charmian to “see where he is, who’s with him, what he does” (1.3.3).
This is an insight into her need for control over Antony. She already suspects that he is thinking about returning to Rome,
“A Roman thought hath struck him” (1.2.88)
so is worried that he will leave before she has a chance to stop him.
She is adamant that he should not know that she is inquiring after him and says to Charmian “I did not send you” (1.3.4)
This is evidence that she does not reveal her whole self to Antony. In order to maintain power over him, she does not reveal feelings of love or concern for him. She likes him to be submissive to her and to tell her how much he loves her,
“If it be love indeed, tell me how much” (1.1.14)
but doesn’t reveal her love for him unless she has to.
Shakespeare again gives the audience an insight into Cleopatra’s manipulative nature here, by letting them see how Cleopatra’s theories are constructed and executed.
Almost as if she wants to punish him and reiterate her power over him, Cleopatra tells Alexas:
“If you find him sad /Say I am dancing; if in mirth, report / That I am sudden sick.” (1.3.4-6)
In doing this, Cleopatra is showing that although she wants Antony to worry about her
Cleopatra has power over other people in their love for her. She is a strong, beautiful woman, who uses her beauty to her advantage.
Enobarbus’ description of the barge scene is a good example of how enrapturing she can be. The scene was constructed for Antony, but the fact that even level-headed Enobarbus was caught up in it shows the extent of this power that she has over people. The language used in this scene is very powerful, made even more so by the fact that it is recounted by Enobarbus. There is a lot of sensory language used, such as “to the tune of flutes” (2.2.205) and “flower-soft hands” (2.2.220). This emphasis on the sensuousness of the scene helps the audience to understand the way Cleopatra captivates her audiences. Enobarbus even makes indirect references to Cleopatra beauty and its links to love when he describes her as “O’erpicturing that Venus” (2.2.210). This image is clearly hyperbolic, and again lets the audience see how captivated Enobarbus was by Cleopatra on her barge.
He follows the description with the paradoxical image of her hopping “forty paces through the public street” (2.2.239), showing that the barge scene was quite staged and that it wasn’t her natural self. Instead of being critical of her un-regal behaviour however, Enobarbus says that “she did make defect perfection” (2.2.241). This shows that he thinks that what is unbecoming in others, completes her character, proving the power she creates over people by having them love her.
Maintaining control and power over him means maintaining power over Rome, something that is important to her as the Queen of Egypt.
Like Antony, Cleopatra’s former lover and the father of her child was another extremely high-powered man, - Julius Caesar. This can lead to the audience questioning whether Cleopatra genuinely loves Antony, or whether she just likes to prove her power over these influential Roman men.
When Antony leaves her to return to Rome, she loses this power, diminishing Egypt’s power over Rome simultaneously. His marriage to Octavia adds to this loss of power, because she represents Rome, being Caesar’s sister.
the most drastic being when she sends word that she has killed herself to prevent him from being angry after the sea battle.
“send him word you are dead” (4.13.4)
Shakespeare’s use of language when describing and talking about Cleopatra
