Antony and Cleopatra

Drama has been described as a verse or prose composition that tends to present a story in the form of dialogue. In a dramatic performance, the actors must be convincing enough to bring about actual anxiety, sympathy, and feelings of struggle in the audience. Moreover, writing a drama can be characterized by using one's imagination as a writer to morph an ordinary situation or scene into something over the top. Drama has been categorized into comedy and tragedy. In addition, drama is identified to be guided by several elements such as dialogue, plot, diction, song, thought, and character.

This paper aims to explain how select characters in a play are chosen to contribute to building mood, theme, or tone by describing their growth across the play.

The relationship between Antony and Cleopatra has been observed to be powerful but one-sided. Their relationship is often described as intense, interesting, and passionate, eventually morphing into something strange. However, their relationship is also characterized by love built on ulterior and deceitful motives. The author thus creates a relationship in which their love feels sloppy, as if they are two gears that do not turn together. Moreover, both characters have been known to use their love for each other for personal and political gains. Antony experiences betrayal, given that he sacrifices his country for Cleopatra. Cleopatra, on the other hand, uses her infatuations with Antony to acquire political power, increase her self-esteem, and give birth to a male heir. Cleopatra expresses her love for Antony with some ultimatums. Infatuated by her, Antony turns his back on his fellow countrymen, which eventually leads to his demise.

The relationship between Antony and Cleopatra is described as strange. It is built on both love and lies throughout the play. Antony is blinded by his love for Cleopatra, even to the point of betraying his country. The author portrays Antony as a manipulated individual, with Cleopatra constantly toying with his mind to acquire what she desires. Therefore, Antony serves as a weapon for Cleopatra against her enemies. The relationship is described as having dramatic development across the play. In the first scene, Antony is intoxicated by Cleopatra's exoticness and beauty. When a message arrives from Rome, he dismisses it quickly, suggesting that the world should acknowledge what a great couple they are. Cleopatra, meanwhile, is observed to mutter about her plan to deceive Antony. The author describes Cleopatra as playing a fool, convincing her confidants that it would be foolish not to use Antony. Although Cleopatra holds some degree of love for Antony, her feelings are identified as strange since she is not genuinely in love with him. She misses not only Antony but also men in general, mentioning her former lovers often when discussing Antony's future. Therefore, the author describes her as being in a relationship where she only cares about herself and her desires. Antony, despite his love for Cleopatra, marries Octavia, further complicating their relationship.

Honor is portrayed as a common theme throughout the play in nonintuitive ways. The author links honor with death through Antony, who expresses that he would either live or bathe his honor in blood to make it live again. The ideology expressed here is that achieving honor sometimes necessitates death. Both Antony's and Cleopatra's deaths are described as honorable, even though they killed themselves for different reasons. Antony reclaims his honor through returning to his true self in death. Cleopatra kills herself to avoid capture and humiliation by the Romans, suggesting she experiences an honorable death. Her suicide ensures she remains uncompromised and true to herself. Their refusal to compromise themselves results in what the author describes as honorable deaths.

Betrayal is a concept applied extensively across the play. Antony feels betrayed by Cleopatra after turning against his country for love, only to find that Cleopatra is more interested in using him to achieve her sexual and political desires. Antony is depicted as willing to forget his duty in order to defend his love. Cleopatra seizes the opportunity to gain political power. Her sense of betrayal is also highlighted when Cleopatra learns of Antony's marriage to Octavia, hoping to marry him one day. This marriage is a strategic move by Antony to gain Caesar's trust and escape a long life in Egypt. Cleopatra uses guilt to delay Antony's departure, ensuring he doesn't leave her for his wife's funeral in Rome, thereby avoiding further betrayal.

In the end, Antony's love for Cleopatra leads to his death. He sacrifices a significant portion of his life to express his love for Cleopatra, who is identified as having ulterior motives. She engages in a romantic relationship with Antony to gain what she desires—political power and an heir. Cleopatra is willing to exchange sexual favors with a Roman as long as she benefits. Thus, the characters significantly contribute to building the theme of betrayal in the play.

The author dictates that tragic love is the primary theme in the play. In many scenes, both characters contribute to the tragedy, with their love ending in their deaths. Antony's genuine feelings for Cleopatra, despite her being Egyptian, are constrained by external factors that hinder their union. Antony gives up everything important to him in the name of love for Cleopatra, such as dismissing messages from Rome and declaring his love to be great.

In conclusion, the play is characterized as a tragedy drama, as the main characters die in the end. Themes such as love, betrayal, and honor play significant roles in the narrative. Both characters contribute significantly to building the themes and tones identified in the play, making "Antony and Cleopatra" a complex exploration of human emotions and motivations.

Work Cited

Traci, Philip J. The Love Play of Antony and Cleopatra: A Critical Study of Shakespeare’s Play. Vol. 64. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2018.

Mowat, Barbara A. Antony and Cleopatra. Simon & Schuster, 2005.

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