Analysis of Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra Essay

Analysis of Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra The most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a successful middle-class glove maker in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare attended grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582 he married an older woman, Anne Hathaway, and had three children with her. Around 1590 he left his family behind and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical acclaim quickly followed, and Shakespeare eventually became the most popular playwright in England and part-owner of the Globe Theater. His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 1558–1603) and James I (ruled 1603–1625), and he was a†¦show more content†¦Shakespeare’s primary source for Antony and Cleopatra was the Life of Marcus Antonius contained in Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, which was translated into English by Sir Thomas North in 1579. North’s language was so rich that Shakespeare incorporated large, relatively unchanged excerpts of it into his text. The plot of the play also remains close to North’s history, although characters like Enobarbus and Cleopatra’s attendants are largely Shakespearean creations. The action of the story takes place roughly two years after the events of Shakespeare’s earlier play about the Roman Empire, Julius Caesar. At the beginning of that tragedy, Caesar has triumphed over his rival Pompey the Great, the father of young Pompey in Antony and Cleopatra, and aspires to kingship. Caesar is then assassinated by Cassius and Brutus, who hope to preserve the Roman Republic. Instead, Cassius and Brutus are defeated by Mark Antony and Octavius Caesar, Julius’s nephew, who then join Marcus Aemilius Lepidus to create a three-man government, or triumvirate, over the empire. Historically, the action of Antony and Cleopatra takes place over a ten-year span, whereas in the play the story is compressed to fit the needs of the stage. Antony is clearly much older than he was in Julius Caesar, and his political instinctsShow MoreRelatedCritical Analysis of Antony and Cleopatra. Act V, Scene 2- Representation of Power and Death1070 Words   |  5 PagesCleopatra is one of the Shakespeare’s strongest and awe inspiring female characters. She is complex and decidedly inconstant, yet she is never less than her self: passionate, grand and over the top. By killing her self Cleopatra remains her truest, reserving all her greatness and mocking over Caesar’ triumph. Cleopatra is beyond neat categories and tidy synopses. Throughout the course of the play she dons many roles of hussy, enchantress, queen, tyrant, strew and mother. Her character has beenRead More William Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra Essays1003 Words   |  5 PagesWilliam Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra â€Å"Heaven help the American-born boy with a talent for ballet† – Camille Paglia The prim and proper women and the strong and strapping men are no match for Shakespeare’s haze of character’s muddled together in Antony and Cleopatra. As always Shakespeare delivers a luminary cast of individuals that deviate from the socially accepted gender roles. As the audience works its way through the fierce genesis to the catastrophic resolution, it isRead MoreLove Styles of Antony and Cleopatra and Romeo and Juliet1701 Words   |  7 PagesLove Styles of Antony and Cleopatra and Romeo and Juliet The heart of many of Shakespeare’s works is love and tumultuous relationships. It is not a difficult task to attempt to analyze the relationships of his protagonists. Many of his characters would fit into at least one of the â€Å"love-styles† presented by John Alan Lee. There are many different types of relationships and John Alan Lee aims to categorize them, or breaking them down into â€Å"different colors,† (Lee, 40). The love-styles can beRead MoreAll For Love: More Sentiment than Tragedy Essay1224 Words   |  5 Pagesa little space for poets imagination from running riot (unrest). In heroic plays, we often find unconvincing and improbable heroic action. In All for Love one event that is unbelievable is related to Antony won a lightning victory over Octavius troops, with a small number of Egyptian troops. Antony is not portrayed as his hero in a grand manner by Dryden. He is not portrayed as a man possessing superhuman bravery. It is true that Ventidi us pays a rich tribute to Antonys glory and valour belongRead MoreBetrayal and Loyalty in Shakespeares plays3231 Words   |  13 PagesAP English Literature Composition March 14, 2012 Betrayal and Loyalty in William Shakespeares Plays William Shakespeare is one of the most recognized playwrights in the history of man. People have analyzed every sentence of his works and have taken note of the various styles used in his writing. Ironically enough, little is known about Shakespeares personal life. It is assumed, however, that like other literary writers, Shakespeare relates occurrences in his life into his writing. The averageRead MoreThe Status And Perception Of Women928 Words   |  4 Pagesembrace the stage without reservations. An analysis of research texts and journal articles reveals and connects the way that a queen of ancient times and one of the English Renaissance controlled their image, were affected by societal views of women, and were ultimately depicted. Scholarship on Cleopatra and Queen Elizabeth I relays the idea that society and patriarchy led to their respective authorities and depictions. Mary Hamer, author of Signs of Cleopatra, a historical research text, investigatesRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s The Merchant Of Venice1616 Words   |  7 Pagesin their deception of gender. The final play to which we turn in our analysis of crossdressing and its resulting power relationships on the English stage is none other than Antony and Cleopatra. This play is particularly poignant because it once again calls into question the significance of setting to explore these issues. Rome, represented by Antony, is considered to be strong and masculine. Egypt, represented by Cleopatra, is soft and effeminate. Gender has become a key issue at the outsetRead MoreJulius Caesar Character Analysis Essay1017 Words   |  5 Pagesas the greatest writer in the English language. He was born on July 13 in 1564 and died in 1616. It was written to be a tragedy and was one of the seventh plays written off true events that happened in Roman time. Also includes Coriolanus, Antony, and Cleopatra. Drama of the play focuses on Brutus’ struggle between the conflicting demands of honor, patriotism, and friendship. Opens with â€Å"two tribunes discovering the commoners of Rome c elebrating Julius Caesar’s triumphant return from defeating theRead MoreAnalysis Of Shaw Prefaces 1570 Words   |  7 Pages(Stewart and S. Weintraub paragraph 11). In Caesar and Cleopatra (a possible play on William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra), Shaw characterizes Cleopatra as mean-spirited and overindulged sixteen-year-old child, and Caesar as a philosophically deep, socially shallow and lonely soldier. Shaw uses the historical timeline as an outline for the story, but he doesn’t exactly stick to the historical facts at times. In Caesar and Cleopatra, Shaw describes the Druid people living in Ancient BritonRead More Shakespeares Hamlet - The Character of Ophelia Essay3341 Words   |  14 PagesHamlet: The Character of Ophelia  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚   Concerning the Ophelia of Shakespeare’s tragic drama Hamlet, is she an innocent type or not? Is she a victim or not? This essay will explore these and other questions related to this character.    Rebecca West in â€Å"A Court and World Infected by the Disease of Corruption† viciously, and perhaps unfoundedly, attacks the virginity of Ophelia:    There is no more bizarre aspect of the misreading of Hamlet’s character than the assumption

Dido and Camilla - Leaders Blinded by their Passions in...

Dido and Camilla - Leaders Blinded by their Passions in the Aeneid In Book I of Virgils Aeneid, Aeneas observes a depiction of the female warrior, Penthesilea, on the walls of Didos temple. As Aeneas is looking at this portrait, Dido enters the temple. Later in Book XI, as Camilla walks through the carnage of battle, she is likened to an image of Penthesilea returning home victorious. Virgil presents many such similarities in his portrayals of Dido and Camilla because it is through them, the only two female leaders in his work, that he illustrates the destinies of rulers who fall victim to their passions. To Virgil, a great leader is one who practices restraint, represses all passions, and†¦show more content†¦She also had commanding power. Venus describes how Dido was the captain of the entire escape venture. Thus, it is Dido who is behind the founding of Carthage, a nation hard to fight against in war. (I, 463) From a ridge above the city, Aeneas observes Didos Carthage for the first time: Marvelous buildings, gateways, cobbled ways, And din of wagons. There the Tyrians Were hard at work: laying courses for walls, Rolling up stones to build the citadel, While others picked out buildings sites and plowed A boundary furrow. Laws were being enacted, Magistrates and a sacred senate chosen. Here men were dredging harbors, there they laid The deep foundation of a theatre. (Book I 577-585) Carthage is a place of progress. Didos subjects are engaged in building her citys future political and defense systems. Under Didos command, Carthage is to be untyrranical and unconquerable. Dido and her subjects are creating Carthages potential future greatness. As Dido is engaged in the building a great temple planned in Junos honor, she is initially a pious Queen who does not forget to make rich offerings to the gods. When Dido first appears in the work, as she is walking towards her temple, Virgil compares her to a goddess. The queen paced toward herShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Women of the Aeneid1745 Words   |  7 PagesThe Roman epic of Virgils Aeneid describes the hardship and misadventures of Aeneas and the Trojans quest from Troy to Italy. Like Homer’s famous epics, the Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil’s narrative style and structure portrays similar attributes in the finding of Rome. Aeneas encounters several women on his journey who play a significant role throughout this epic in assisting or destroying his journey to Rome. His representation of female characters provides the readers with a better understanding

Musem arts Essay Example For Students

Musem arts Essay While comparing and contrasting between the NON Arts I noticed that they both where created With strength in mind as the subject and content matter but it was hard not to notice the different materials used thin the bono sculptures while the Head of the roaring lion was created with ivory carvings the Head of a pharaoh was created with stone and copper. While they both are representational and 3-dimensional head figures of art they both contain different meanings. (The Metropolitan Museum Of Art. Head of a roaring lion) For example take the head of the roaring lion represents the strength of the Assyrian culture where as the head of the pharaoh is more of a symbolic figure as a ruler over southern Egypt. Back then such statues where placed on tombs for eternal images tooth deceased. (Antigen Egyptian Art Collection Highlights) believe that the subject matter of both art forms is a little similar while they represent the artist message of strength, leadership, hierarchy, respect and most of all discipline. The head of the pharaoh is black and copper looking but made in a cone shape thats very smooth but yet also curvy and polished while the roaring lion on the other hand looks grey, rough and edgy and broken in several laces. Part 3: (The Metropolitan Museum Of Art- Head of a roaring lion)the head of the roaring lion was during 9th-8TH B. C and the head of the pharaoh 2675-2130 B. C. E. (Antigen Egyptian Art Collection Highlights). To me the artists of both pieces are trying to show us (the art viewers) that important reputation that these to sculpture had in society during those time frames. For example in todays society the Lion is still considered to be a form Of hierarchy as well as the king of the jungle. When looking at the head of the pharaoh believe that the artist is trying to show us the type Of power held by pharaohs during that time period. In which today for example former presidents faces where placed on the currency to be honored or remembered as they have passed on. Art Appreciation unit 1 IP After looking at several definitions came to the conclusion that art can mean several things, My first definition of art is a very controversial topic due to the tact that people deem art to be many things such as a creation, mental beauty, inner beauty, outer beauty as well as philosophy.

Tips to build Personal Ethical Framework

Question: How to build a reputation as a good ICT professional and how to work with others from diverse backgrounds. Answer: Being in ICT profession I need to deal with computers and software where I find many data stored and information saved. There are ways through which I can build up a very good reputation in my firm which would later pay me back. These ways are: 1. Delivering exceptional result- What I have realized is that every single person is just like a particular brand such as Coke, Pepsi and for having a proper career and building good repute in firm I must manage all my personality like a brand and deliver exceptional results. 2. Timely delivery- Through delivering my tasks on time and managing the deadlines I ensure that the managers analyze that I am keen towards finishing my tasks and thus proves that I am serious with my responsibilities thereby making me very effective and efficient employee (Bowern et al., 2006). 3. Managing relations- Since I like to manage all my relations with my superiors as well as my subordinates I am capable of carrying higher ethical values and thereby I am considered as a reputed professional. 4. Valuing privacy of data- Being in IT sector I need to handle and deal with many private data and information of the firm and I ensure that no data gets revealed or no information should be unlocked without higher authoritys permission. 5. Competency- I always try to work competently plus deliberately so that I attain maximum repute in the firm (Eshleman, 1920) For building good relations with dissimilar people I follow many ethics in my work as well as personal life: 1. Respect other people- I always follow an ethics where I believe that people are all same and require same level of respect wherever they are. By following this ethics in life I become capable of managing relations with everyone around me, be them from any background. 2. Understanding people- I always try to understand people in and around and then attempt to make them feel that I am part and parcel of their culture and belief. This makes them very close to me and helps to enhance my relations. 3. Professionalism- I always try to maintain professionalism in the firm and I always try to integrate society by integrating dissimilar people working in the firm and making them feel that we are part and parcel of the same family. 4. Enhancing work life quality- I always attempt to enhance the quality of work life by enable people to coordinate with each other and thereby work all together. This helps me to contribute in the firms human resource management practices and activities and also increase the level and excellence of output that people produce (Schinz, 1906). 5. Primacy of public interest- I try to put public interest above my personal ones. This makes my colleagues and subordinates feel good and carry a feeling of respect and integration within themselves which in return makes the a very efficient and effective individual delivering better results to the firm and enabling the firm to attain maximum profit. References Bowern, M., Burmeister, O., Gotterbarn, D. and Weckert, J. (2006). ICT Integrity: bringing the ACS code of ethics up to date. AJIS, 13(2). Eshleman, C. (1920). A Satisfactory Religious Code. ETHICS, 31(1), p.109. Schinz, A. (1906). Literature and the Moral Code. ETHICS, 16(4), p.464.