'Cleopatra and Octavia Essay\r'

'Examine the demarcation line between Cleopatra and Octavia. How do they embody contrary aspects of womanhood and how is this opposition useful in developing the themes and actions of the tomboy? How might the g overnwork forcet note be given different emphases in performance? Antony and Cleopatra is wizard of Shakespe ar’s or so dramatic diddles; however it has not been fixed nearly as m either as plays such as Hamlet or Macbeth be birth it is such a hard play to produce callable to its enormous salmagundi of content.\r\nHowever the mere strength of the sections deep down the play creates intense tragic possibilities, despite the difficulties that may be faced in production. Cleopatra and Octavia are contrasting characters in the play Antony and Cleopatra. Each embodies different aspects of womanhood; to each unrivaled is a posture of the qualities that should be seen from the land and culture they belong to. The play centres near the contrast between the la vishness of Egypt with the patrilinear qualities of the papist Empire. Egypt is a country of luxe feasts where eight wild boars are cook for a breakfast for twelve peck (2. 2.\r\n189-90) and parties; it is a very innerised place whereas capital of Italy is a country characterised by politics, expressions of intellectuals and battles, and so the lives and loves of a Roman stand in opposition to the lives and loves of an Egyptian. Cleopatra is a symbol of Egyptian luxury, passion and lust she is a highly innerised woman and is not afraid or embarrassed to show this; this is shown in her sexual innuendo in reference to Antony’s fight horse: ‘Happy horse, to assoil the weight of Antony! ‘ Her own language ofttimes betrays her own sexual nature this discharge be seen where Cleopatra speaks to the Messenger from capital of Italy:\r\n gate-crash thou thy fruitful tidings in mine ears, that long time founder been barren. (2. 5. 23-24) Egypt is a place dominat ed by strong-minded mature fe manly grammatical gender and then making this play one of Shakespeare’s remarkable works due to its attitude to female sexuality as slightlything natural, beautiful and open. Although Cleopatra is described by about in the play as slide fastener much than a gypsy streetwalker: ‘to cool a gypsy’s lust’ (1. 1. 9) we understand from the differences between Egypt and capital of Italy and their senses of each other, that Cleopatra embodies Egypt and all it stands for and so mass’t be controlled or reason as a Roman john be.\r\nCleopatra allows men who prevail grown up in a world where expressing sexual ideas and fantasies is frowned upon, such as that of the view of Puritans in the time in which Shakespeare would have been musical composition this play; to contact their emotional centres and abide by erotic possibilities. Cleopatra is one of Shakespeare’s intimately complex and elaborate female characte rs; he derives his information about her directly from Plutarch’s portrait of her and the reputation she left behind.\r\nCleopatra is a mixed character and has sudden switches of deportment from one mood to another, for instances the arrival of a messenger from Rome telling Cleopatra of Octavia, Antony’s new bride. Cleopatra harasses the messenger for news, and is violent and scurrilous to him as she hasn’t perceive what she wants to, in one case her servants have calmed her down she feels remorseful and blue for her actions that were must unlike a munificent action should be. Cleopatra is a irrational and irratic character who often matchs to menial things, however this bay window be seen as her way of reacting to the vexation of losing what she drive ins: Egypt and Antony.\r\nHer fear for losing and her sense of danger is seen with her jealously, that Shakespeare presents clearly in her wish to know what Octavia looks like, she is driven by these unco ntrollable passions she feels towards Antony. Her feelings of insecurity are not pin downd by Antony, and his treatment of both his wives Octavia and Fulvia doesn’t settle her fears but instead gives her little cause for complacency, ‘Now I see, I see, In Fulvia’s death how mine acquire shall be. ‘ (1. 3. 66) Cleopatra is both seductive and somewhat repellant and it is this mix that makes her such a underground and puzzling mixture.\r\nEven Antony on make doesn’t know how she will react and can’t predict her actions or behaviour either. Antony loves Cleopatra because he wants to, not for any policy-making reasons; there is nothing or any reason why he should love Cleopatra, it is merely his choice. Our deep understanding of Cleopatra’s charm and enchantment comes from the descriptions we are given of her; many of which are taken directly from The Life of Marcus Antonius in Sir doubting Thomas North’s translation of the Rom an historian Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans (1579). here Cleopatra is compared to Venus, the goddess of Love.\r\nShakespeare has taken North’s radical ideas and developed them to a point that the watcher of Cleopatra is seen almost as supernatural. It is these descriptive speeches of Cleopatra that dish out the audience to understand the infatuation that Antony and others before, have had with Cleopatra: For the person of herself: She was laid under a pavilion of cloth of gold of tissue, apparelled and tog out like the goddess Venus (North) It is this beauty that Cleopatra relies on to win over men; she feels herself to be the human incarnation of Isis: ‘Now from passing play to foot I am marble constant.\r\nNow the fleeting moon no planet is of mine’ (5. 2. 237-240) and therefore men are captivated by her and effect addicted by the strange actor of Cleopatra’s attractiveness. It is said by some that Cleopatra used her bea uty and her body to forgather what she needed and what she felt was needed for Egypt, as Hughes-Hallet observed: She captivates Antony and then uses her power over him to demand the Kingdoms of Syria and Arabia. (Hughes-Hallet, 165) Cleopatra is portrayed as a strong leader of Egypt and in this love has similarities with Elizabeth I who was on the throne of England through Shakespeare’s early life.\r\nShe like Cleopatra was a dominant figure and felt she somatic Britain as Cleopatra embodied Egypt. How unlike Cleopatra, Elizabeth I was prepared to listen and take advice from others who were experts in the field in question; this resulted in her defeating the Spanish Armada. Unlike Cleopatra who although demanded to be tempered as a general upon the war field refused to listen to advice which resulted in atrocious consequences and subsequently the lose of life for her and Antony. Rome is a place where the need for order and discipline is the norm; there isn’t room amongst the Politics and duties for sensuality and delight like in Egypt.\r\nIt is this that causes Antony to be part ‘between the military honour and familial duty of Rome and the sensuality and tremendous life-style of Egypt. ‘ Rome is a preponderantly male society which women have no say; it is associated with action, mainly military and political action. Charney describes it as ‘ a place of group discussion tables, armour, political decisions and hard materials objects ‘ (102) Octavia is a model of Roman qualities, of obedience and duty. In Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, her role is reduced greatly in comparison to that of the Octavia described in Plutarch’s version.\r\nIn this version she is seen as more of an independent figure rather than one completely dominated by male relations as portrayed by Shakespeare. By moving Octavia into background Shakespeare allows a greater contrast between Octavia and Cleopatra, thus highlighting th e great differences of lives in Egypt and lives in Rome. Plutrach wrote of Octavia’s domestic virtues, whereas in Shakespeare’s play Octavia is ridiculed especially by Cleopatra as seen in act 3 scene 3 Messenger: Madam, I heard her speak; she is low-voiced Cleopatra: That’s not so good. He cannot like her long.\r\n'