cleopatra character analysis essay

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Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra

Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 26, 2020 • ( 0 )

Antony and Cleopatra is the definitive tragedy of passion, and in it the ironic and heroic themes, the day world of history and the night world of passion, expand into natural forces of cosmological proportions.

—Northrup Frye, “The Tailors of the Earth: The Tragedy of Passion,” in Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy

Among   William   Shakespeare’s   great   tragedies,   Antony  and  Cleopatra  is   the   anomaly. Written around 1607, following the completion of the sequence of tragedies that began with Hamlet and concluded with Macbeth , Antony and Cleopatra stands in marked contrast from them in tone, theme, and structure. For his last great tragedy, Shakespeare returned to his first, Romeo and Juliet . Like   it,   Antony   and   Cleopatra   is   a   love   story   that   ends   in   a   double   suicide;   however, the lovers here are not teenagers, but the middle-aged Antony and Cleopatra   whose battle between private desires and public responsibilities is played   out   with   world   domination   in   the   balance.   Having   raised   adolescent   love   to   the   level   of   tragic   seriousness   in   Romeo   and   Juliet,   Shakespeare   here   dramatizes a love story on a massive, global scale. If Hamlet , Othello, King Lear , and Macbeth conclude with the prescribed pity and terror, Anthony and Cleopatra ends very differently with pity and triumph, as the title lovers, who have   lost   the   world,   enact   a   kind   of   triumphant   marriage   in   death.   Losing   everything,   they   manage   to   win   much more   by   choosing   love   over   worldly   power. Antony  and  Cleopatra  is   the   last in a   series   of   plays,   beginning   with  Romeo and Juliet and including Troilus and Cressida and Othello, that explores the   connection   between   love   and   tragedy.   It also can be   seen   as   the   first of the playwright’s final series of romances, followed by Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest in which love eventually triumphs over every obstacle. Antony and Cleopatra is therefore a peculiar tragedy of affirmation, setting the dominant tone of Shakespeare’s final plays.

Structurally,   as   well,   Antony   and   Cleopatra   is   exceptional.   Ranging over the Mediterranean world from Egypt to Rome to Athens, Sicily, and Syria, the play has 44 scenes, more than twice the average number in Shakespeare’s plays. The effect is a dizzying rush of events, approximating the method of montage in film. Shakespeare’s previous tragedies were constructed around a few major   scenes.   Here   there   are   so   many   entrances   and   exits,   so   many   shifts of locations and incidents that Samuel Johnson condemned the play as a mere string of episodes “produced without any art of connection or care of disposition.” Later critics have discovered the play’s organizing principle in   its   thematic   contrast   between   Rome   and   Egypt,   supported   by   an   elaborate pattern of images, contrasts, and juxtapositions. There is still, however, disagreement over issues of Shakespeare’s methods and intentions in Antony and Cleopatra . Critic Howard Felperin has suggested that the play “creates an ambiguity   of   effect   and   response   unprecedented   even   within   Shakespeare’s   work.” The critical debate turns on how to interpret Antony and Cleopatra , perhaps the most complex, contradictory, and fascinating characters Shakespeare ever created.

Antony and Cleopatra   picks up where Julius Caesar left off. Four years after Caesar’s   murder,   an   alliance   among   Octavius,   Julius   Caesar’s   grandnephew;   Mark   Antony;   and   the   patrician   politician   Lepidus   has   put   down   the   conspiracy   led   by   Brutus   and   Cassius   and   resulted   in   a   division   of   the   Roman   world among them. Antony, given the eastern sphere of the empire to rule, is   now   in   Alexandria,   where   he   has   fallen   in   love   with   the   Egyptian   queen   Cleopatra.   Enthralled,   Antony   has   ignored   repeated   summonses   to   return   to   Rome   to   attend   to   his   political   responsibilities.   By   pursuing   his   desires   instead, in the words of his men, Antony, “the triple pillar of the world,” has been “transform’d into a strumpet’s fool.” The play immediately establishes a dominant thematic contrast between Rome and Egypt that represents two contrasting worldviews and value systems. Rome is duty, rationality, and the practical   world   of   politics;   Egypt,   embodied   by   its   queen,   is   private   needs,   sensual pleasure, and revelry. The play’s tragedy stems from the irreconcilable division between   the   two,   represented   in   the   play’s   two   major   movements:   Antony’s   abandoning   Cleopatra   and   Egypt   for   Rome   and   his   duties   and   his   subsequent defection back to them. Antony’s lieutenant Enobarbus functions in the play as Antony’s conscience, whose sexual cynicism stands in contrast to the love-drenched Egyptian court.

Antony is forced to take action when he learns that his wife, Fulvia, who started   a   rebellion   against   Octavius,   has   died,   and   that   Sextus   Pompey,   son   of Pompey the Great, is claiming his right to power by harrying Octavius on the seas. His resolve to return to Rome to take up his duties there displeases Cleopatra,   and   they   engage   in   a   back-and-forth   lover’s   exchange   of   insults,   avowals of love, and jealous recriminations and, ultimately, a mutual   awareness of Antony’s dilemma in trying to reconcile his personal desires with his political responsibilities. Antony comforts Cleopatra by saying:

Our separation so abides and flies, That thou residing here, goes yet with me; And I hence fleeting, here remain with thee.

The   second   act   begins   in   the   house   of   Sextus   Pompey,   who   gauges   the   weakness of the three triumvirs, especially Antony, whom he hopes will continue to be distracted by Cleopatra: “Let witchcraft join with beauty, lust with both,   /   Tie   up   the   libertine   in   a   field   of   feasts.”   In   the   house   of   Lepidus,   a   quarrel between Antony and Octavius over Fulvia’s rebellion and Antony’s irresponsibility   threatens   to   sever   the   bond   between   them.   Agrippa,   Octavius’s   general,   suggests   a   marriage   between   Antony   and   Octavius’s   sister,   Octavia.   Antony agrees to the marriage as a political necessity, for the good of Rome and to patch up the quarrel. After Antony and Octavius leave to visit Octavia, Enobarbus   tells   Agrippa   and   Maecenas,   another   follower   of   Octavius,   about   the splendors of Egypt and Cleopatra’s remarkable allure. Maecenas remarks sadly   that,   because   of   the   marriage,   “Now   Antony   /   Must   leave   her   utterly.”   Enobarbus, despite his cynicism, understands Cleopatra’s powerful attractiveness and disagrees:

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety. Other women cloy The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry Where most she satisfies.

Enobarbus’s remarks make clear that the alliance between Antony and Octavius will be short lived, setting both on a collision course.

After his marriage Antony consults an Egyptian soothsayer, who predicts Octavius’s rise and counsels Antony to return to Egypt:

Nobel, courageous, high, unmatchable, Where Caesar’s is not. But near him thy ange l Becomes afeard, as being o’erpowered. Therefore Make space enough between you.

.Angrily dismissing the soothsayer, Antony nevertheless agrees with his analysis,   recognizing   that   “I’th’   East   my   pleasure   lies.”   Before   Antony   leaves   for   Egypt, however, the triumvirs and rebels meet on Pompey’s galley for a night of drinking and feasting following negotiations. Antony’s capacity for raucous merrymaking   shows   the   self-indulgence   that   will   lead   to   his   downfall,   while   Octavius’s sobriety, if puritanical and passionless, nevertheless bespeaks an iron will and determination that eventually will insure his victory over his rivals.

As the third act begins, Ventidius, another of Antony’s commanders, has conquered   the   Parthians,   a   victory   for   which   he   diplomatically   plans   to   let   Antony take credit. Antony, now in Athens with Octavia, learns that Octavius has slandered him and is warring against Pompey. The alliance between the two triumvirs, as well as Antony’s control over his own forces, is further threatened when Antony discovers that Octavius has imprisoned Lepidus to solidify his position and that one of his officers has murdered Pompey. Octavia returns to   Rome   to   try   to   repair   the   breach   between   husband   and   brother.   There,   Octavius tells her that Antony has returned to Egypt and convinces her that Antony   is   not   only   unfaithful   but   is   preparing   for   war:   “He   hath   given   his   empire / Up to a whore.” Octavius responds by preparing to engage Antony in battle at Actium. In Egypt Enobarbus fails to convince Cleopatra not to take part   in   the   battle,   and   the   lovers   also   discount   Enorbarbus’s   logical   reasons   for fighting Octavius on land rather than sea. This decision is partly due to Octavius’s   challenge:   He   dares   Antony   to   meet   him   in   a   naval   engagement.   Cleopatra claims, “I have   sixty   sails.   Octavius none   better,”   and   Antony   is   unable to resist either Octavius’s challenge or Cleopatra’s bravado. At Actium a   sickened   Enobarbus   watches   as   Cleopatra’s   ships   turn   tail   and   flee,   and   a   despairing, shame-filled Antony follows her “like a doting mallard” with his ships. Cleopatra apologizes to Antony for the retreat, and he forgives her, but when   Antony   sees   Octavius’s   ambassador   kissing   Cleopatra’s   hand   and   her   cordial   behavior   toward   him,   he   becomes   enraged,   berating   Cleopatra   and   ordering the messenger Thidias to be whipped. Again the couple are reconciled, and Antony decides to stake all on another battle. Enobarbus, however, has had enough of Antony’s clouded judgment and makes plans to desert him and join Octavius.

In the fourth act Octavius scoffs at Antony’s challenge to meet him in a duel and prepares for war with confidence, knowing that many of his rival’s men have defected to him. When Antony learns of Enobarbus’s desertion he forgives his friend and generously sends his treasure to him. Enobarbus reacts to Antony’s magnanimity with remorse and dies desiring Antony’s forgiveness. Antony scores an initial victory over Octavius, but in a later sea battle and on land in the Egyptian desert, Antony’s army is routed. Enraged, Antony blames Cleopatra and accuses her of betraying him. Terrified by his anger, Cleopatra seeks refuge in her monument and plots to regain Antony’s affection by send-ing word to him that she has slain herself. Her plan disastrously misfires when the news shames Antony into taking his own life:

I will o’ertake thee, Cleopatra, and Weep for my pardon. So it must be, for now All length is torture; since the torch is out, Lie down and stray no farther.

He orders his servant Eros to stab him, but Eros takes his own life instead to prevent carrying out the order. Antony then falls upon his sword and when he is told that Cleopatra is still alive, asks to be taken to her in a final acknowledgment that his life and happiness are inextricably bound to her. Just before he dies Antony offers his own eulogy at the end of his long struggle between desire and duty:

The miserable change now at my end Lament nor sorrow at; but please your thoughts In feeding them with those my former fortunes Wherein I liv’d the greatest prince o’ th’ world, The noblest; and do now not basely die, Not cowardly put off my helmet to My countryman— a Roman by a RomanValiantly vanquish’d.

In the fifth act Octavius hears of Antony’s death and mourns the passing of a great warrior before moving to procure his spoils: Cleopatra. He sends word that she has nothing to fear from him, but Cleopatra tries to stab herself to prevent the Roman soldiers from taking her prisoner and is stopped. When Dolabella, one of Octavius’s lieutenants, attempts to placate her, she accuses him of lying, and he admits that Octavius plans to display her as his conquest in Rome. Octavius arrives, promising to treat her well if she complies with his wishes while ominously threatening her destruction if she follows “Antony’s course.” Pretending compliance, Cleopatra says of Octavius to her attendants when he departs: “He words me, girls, he words me, that I should not / Be noble to   myself.”   Sending   for   a   basket   of   figs   containing   poisonous   snakes,   Cleopatra prepares herself for death:

Give me my robe, put on my crown, I have Immortal longings in me. Now no more The juice of Egypt’s grace shall moist this lip.

Stage-managing   her   own   end,   Cleopatra   anticipates   joining   Antony   as   his   worthy wife:                            

.     .     .     Methinks I hear Antony call. I see him rouse himself To praise my noble act. I hear him mock The luck of Caesar, which the gods give men To excuse their after wrath. Husband, I come. Now to that name my courage prove my title!

Placing one of the snakes at her breast, Cleopatra dies. When Octavius returns, he speaks admiringly of her:

Bravest at the last, She levell’d at our purposes, and being royal, Took her own way.

Implying by his words an envy of Antony and Cleopatra ’s passion and eminence, Octavius commands:

She shall be buried by her Antony; No grave upon the earth shall clip in it A pair so famous. High events as these Strike those that make them; and their story is No less in pity than his glory which Brought them to be lamented.

In the contest with Rome, Egypt must lose. Desire is no match against cold calculation for worldly power. Human frailty cannot survive an iron will, and   yet   the   play   makes   its   case   that   despite   all   the   contradictions   and   clear   character   imperfections   in   Antony   and   Cleopatra,   with   all   their   willful   self-indulgence, their love trumps all. By the manner of their going and the human values they ultimately assert, Antony and Cleopatra leave an immense emptiness by their death. Octavius wins, but the world loses by their passing. Shakespeare stages an argument on behalf of what makes us human, even at the cost of an empire. His lovers rise to the tragic occasion for a concluding triumph befitting a magnanimous warrior and a queen of “infinite variety.”

Antony and Cleopatra Oxford Lecture by Prof. Emma Smith

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Character Analysis in Antony and Cleopatra

Character analysis examples in antony and cleopatra:, act i - act i, scene 5.

"My salad days, When I was green in judgment:--cold in blood..."   See in text   (Act I - Act I, Scene 5)

"Salad days" has come to mean a number of different things, including one's heyday or highest point. However, in this original context, "salad days" refer to a time when one was young, "green" or inexperienced, and passionless. Cleopatra uses this metaphor to refer to her youthful affair with Julius Caesar. Her love and passion for Caesar were not real love as her love for Antony is. Rather, her lack of discretion and passion made him seem greater than he was. Cleopatra contradicts the Chairman's claim that her praises for Antony are similar to her past praise of Caesar by asserting that she has changed and matured.

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Act II - Act II, Scene 2

"For her own person, It beggar'd all description: she did lie In her pavilion,--cloth-of-gold of tissue,-- O'er-picturing that Venus where we see The fancy out-work nature..."   See in text   (Act II - Act II, Scene 2)

Enobarbus is able to describe Cleopatra's extravagant barge, but the woman herself defies description. To "beggar" meant to exhaust or impoverish. In other words, Cleopatra's beauty "impoverishes" the English language because there are no words to describe her. The only way to describe her is to compare her to Venus, the goddess of love who is famed for her beauty. With this introduction, Cleopatra is set up to be the most objectively desirable and beautiful woman on earth.

"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety: other women cloy The appetites they feed; but she makes hungry Where most she satisfies..."   See in text   (Act II - Act II, Scene 2)

Here, Enobarbus describes the addictive quality of Cleopatra's love. He claims that while men grow tired of all other women in the world, loving Cleopatra only makes men desire her more. Notice that this description of Cleopatra's enticing nature comes from a third party rather than Antony. This suggests that Cleopatra is known far and wide for her irresistibly seductive nature. His paean not only foreshadows Antony's eventual return to his lover, but begins to create a mythic image of Cleopatra as the most sensual, and erotically powerful woman in all the world.

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Cleopatra being a queen of Egypt is an attractive woman who knows how to use her beauty to seduce men. She is a former lover of Caesar and Pompey. Now she is in love with Mark Antony. Sometimes emotions control her actions. Cleopatra often behaves like an actress, although her love to Antony is not a play. She is the strongest female character which Shakespeare describes in his works. This woman has a ruling power which makes her look gorgeous. Her suicide is like a symbol of victory over Caesar because she was not ready to be under his power.

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Cleopatra in the Essays

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Antony and Cleopatra

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Mark Antony

Mark Antony is the protagonist and tragic hero of Antony and Cleopatra . He is a middle-aged Roman general renowned for his skill as a soldier. Antony is a former ally of Julius Caesar who is now a member of the Second Triumvirate—an alliance between himself, Octavian, and Lepidus to govern Rome. Entrusted with defending the eastern provinces under Rome’s control, Antony has fallen in love with the Egyptian Queen, Cleopatra, and begins to neglect his duty.

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Caesar and Cleopatra

George bernard shaw, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Cleopatra Quotes in Caesar and Cleopatra

They care nothing about cowardice, these Romans: they fight to win. The pride and honor of war are nothing to them.

Cleopatra is not yet a woman: neither is she wise. But she already troubles men’s wisdom.

BELZANOR [ with solemn arrogance ] Ftatateeta: I am Belzanor, the captain of the Queen’s guard, descended from the gods.

FTATATEETA [ retorting his arrogance with interest ] Belzanor: I am Ftatateeta, the Queen’s chief nurse; and your divine ancestors were proud to be painted on the wall in the pyramids whom my fathers served.

In the little world yonder, Sphinx, my place is as high as yours in this great desert; only I wander, and you sit still; I conquer, and you endure; I work and wonder, you watch and wait; I look up and am dazzled, look down and am darkened, look round and am puzzled, whilst your eyes never turn from looking out—out of the world—to the lost region—the home from which we have strayed. Sphinx, you and I, strangers to the race of men, are no strangers to one another: have I not been conscious of you and of this place since I was born? Rome is a madman's dream: this is my Reality.

Of course not: I am the Queen; and I shall live in the palace at Alexandria when I have killed my brother, who drove me out of it. When I am old enough I shall do just what I like. I shall be able to poison the slaves and see them wriggle, and pretend to Ftatateeta that she is going to be put into the fiery furnace.

CLEOPATRA [ very seriously ] Oh, they would eat us if they caught us. They are barbarians. Their chief is called Julius Caesar. His father was a tiger and his mother a burning mountain; and his nose is like an elephant’s trunk [ Caesar involuntarily rubs his nose ]. They all have long noses, and ivory tusks, and little tails, and seven arms with a hundred arrows in each; and they live on human flesh.

Ptolemy: Yes—the gods would not suffer—not suffer—[ He stops; then, crestfallen ] I forgot what the gods would not suffer.

THEODOTUS: Let Pothinus, the King’s guardian, speak for the King.

POTHINUS [ suppressing his impatience with difficulty ] The King wishes to say that the gods would not suffer the impiety of his sister to go unpunished.

CAESAR [ recovering his self-possession ] Pardon him, Theodotus: he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.

CAESAR. Cleopatra: I really think I must eat you, after all.

CLEOPATRA ( kneeling beside him and looking at him with eager interest, half real, half affected to show how intelligent she is ). You must not talk to me now as if I were a child.

CAESAR. You have been growing up since the Sphinx introduced us the other night; and you think you know more than I do already.

CLEOPATRA ( taken down, and anxious to justify herself ). No: that would be very silly of me: of course I know that. But, ( suddenly ) are you angry with me?

CAESAR. No.

CLEOPATRA ( only half believing him ). Then why are you so thoughtful?

CAESAR ( rising ). I have work to do, Cleopatra.

CLEOPATRA ( drawing back ). Work! ( Offended ) You are tired of talking to me; and that is your excuse to get away from me.

APOLLODORUS. I do not keep a shop. Mine is a temple of the arts. I am a worshipper of beauty. My calling is to choose beautiful things for beautiful Queens. My motto is Art for Art's sake.

CHARMIAN. He makes you so terribly prosy and serious and learned and philosophical.

CLEOPATRA: When I was foolish, I did what I liked, except when Ftatateeta beat me; and even then I cheated her and did it by stealth. Now that Caesar has made me wise, it is no use my liking or disliking; I do what must be done, and have no time to attend to myself. That is not happiness; but it is greatness. If Caesar were gone, I think I could govern the Egyptians; for what Caesar is to me, I am to the fools around me.

POTHINUS ( looking hard at her ). Cleopatra: this may be the vanity of youth.

CLEOPATRA: Love me! Pothinus: Caesar loves no one. Who are those we love? Only those whom we do not hate: all people are strangers and enemies to us except those we love. But it is not so with Caesar. He has no hatred in him: he makes friends with everyone as he does with dogs and children.

POTHINUS. From her own lips I have heard it. You are to be her catspaw: you are to tear the crown from her brother's head and set it on her own, delivering us all into her hand—delivering yourself also. And then Caesar can return to Rome, or depart through the gate of death, which is nearer and surer.

CAESAR ( calmly ). Well, my friend; and is not this very natural?

POTHINUS ( astonished ). Natural! Then you do not resent treachery?

CAESAR. Resent! O thou foolish Egyptian, what have I to do with resentment? Do I resent the wind when it chills me, or the night when it makes me stumble in the darkness? Shall I resent youth when it turns from age, and ambition when it turns from servitude? To tell me such a story as this is but to tell me that the sun will rise to-morrow.

CLEOPATRA ( sinking back trembling on the bench and covering her face with her hands ). I have not betrayed you, Caesar: I swear it.

CAESAR. I know that. I have not trusted you.

CAESAR. If one man in all the world can be found, now or forever, to know that you did wrong, that man will have either to conquer the world as I have, or be crucified by it. […] These knockers at your gate are also believers in vengeance and in stabbing. You have slain their leader: it is right that they shall slay you. […] then in the name of that right ( He emphasizes the word with great scorn .) shall I not slay them for murdering their Queen, and be slain in my turn by their countrymen as the invader of their fatherland? Can Rome do less than slay these slayers too, to show the world how Rome avenges her sons and her honor? And so, to the end of history, murder shall breed murder, always in the name of right and honor and peace, until the gods are tired of blood and create a race that can understand. […]

CAESAR (energetically). On my head be it, then; for it was well done. Rufio: had you set yourself in the seat of the judge, and with hateful ceremonies and appeals to the gods handed that woman over to some hired executioner to be slain before the people in the name of justice, never again would I have touched your hand without a shudder. But this was natural slaying: I feel no horror at it.

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA

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Character Analysis Cleopatra

If an imaginary spectrum were constructed and if Octavius Caesar were placed at one end of the spectrum, Antony would waver, swaying and shifting in the middle, and Cleopatra would be found at the other end of the spectrum. Not only is she queen of Egypt, she is the epitome of Egypt itself. She represents all those qualities that Octavius and the practical Romans have denied themselves — enjoyment, playfulness, sensuality, and passion. But like all the other major characters, Cleopatra is more than an allegory of personality traits. She is a full-dimensional, complex human being. In his portrayal of this woman, Shakespeare has taken the view of her as presented in countless legends and blended in many subtler features. She is no longer the one-dimensional, near-mythical queen of a mysterious and erotic country.

Cleopatra is a monarch, but we rarely see her performing any of the functions of one. She meets Antony, falls in love with him, and she appears to be totally devoted to pleasure and to finding fulfillment through her relationship with him. Her love for Antony becomes, ultimately, the most important thing in her life. But the strength of her passion is hidden by the superficial mannerisms which she uses to manipulate people, so that initially in the play, the impression that the audience has of her is simplistic — that is, it is consistent with the stereotype of the Egyptian harlot-queen. Later, Shakespeare transforms her into a complex, confused woman. Tragically, Cleopatra never realizes that the games which she plays to gain attention are often misinterpreted by Antony; yet it is clear that she is devoted to him — more than even he is to her, at first. Nor does she betray him at the end in order to bargain for her own life. One reason for her continual playacting with Antony is that she is basically an insecure woman. Initially, she would like Antony to marry her, but he is married to Fulvia. When Fulvia dies, Antony is almost immediately married to Octavius’s sister, Octavia, in order to cement a political truce recently formed between himself and his rival, Octavius Caesar. Cleopatra fears that if she were Antony’s wife, he would treat her in as cavalier a manner as he has his other women, for he willingly abandons them to spend time with her.

One important thing to note about Cleopatra throughout the play is her technique of subterfuge which she employs to get her way: all her ploys are part and parcel of the culture she lives in, the “mysterious East” which has long been symbolized for Westerners by indirection and pretense. Audiences don’t often realize this fact until the end of the play, but Cleopatra’s manner never affects her essential integrity. It is yet one more illusion in a country known for illusion and mystery to Shakespeare’s audience.

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Antony and Cleopatra

By william shakespeare, antony and cleopatra character list, mark antony.

Triumvir. One third of the triumvirate, the alliance between Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus that rules the Roman Empire. Antony is a great general, beloved by his men. He is middle-aged. He is also a lover of pleasure, far less single-minded than Octavius. He is a complicated and fatally divided man, failing to rise to the task of generalship at key points. Plutarch represents his love for Cleopatra as the cause of his doom, and Shakespeare shares this view, but the play also shows their love as a kind of triumph, beautiful and wonderful on its own terms.

Queen of Egypt. She is the last of the Greek dynasty that began its rule over Egypt, centuries before, with Ptolemy. (Ptomely was a general under Alexander the Great who inherited the Egyptian part of Alexander's empire after Alexander's death.) Cleopatra is the lover of Antony, and others in the past, including the deceased Julius Caesar. She is middle-aged. Cleopatra is one of Shakespeare's most accomplished creations, an intriguing woman who wraps great men around her finger. She is possessive, commanding, dramatic. She is complicated and fickle. Her own emotions are of supreme importance to her, and she has a violent temper. Her personal charisma far exceeds her talents as a strategist, and her interference partly causes Antony's defeat. Her final suicide is not done according to the precepts of a Roman conception of honor, but rather because she will allow no fundamental compromise to her persona. She will not be paraded through the streets as Caesar's trophy.

Octavius Caesar

Triumvir. Julius Caesar's nephew and adopted son. Destined to become Augustus, the ruler of the Roman Empire. Referred to both as "Caesar" and "Octavius." He is much younger than Antony. As in Julius Caesar, Octavius is depicted in Antony and Cleopatra as possessing nearly inhuman detachment and self-control. He is a cold, calculating, political animal. He uses Antony when he needs him, and turns on both Antony and Lepidus when he can. But he is not malicious. He is single-minded. His ambition is of a single empire, ruled by a single Emperor, and war will be his tool for achieving a universal peace in the Mediterranean world. He is not nearly as good a field commander as Antony, but his absolute devotion to his ambition proves decisive.

M. Aemilius Lepidus

Triumvir. The lame duck of the triumvirate. Lepidus is not a serious contender for power. Octavius disposes of him as soon as it becomes politically expedient.

Sextus Pompeius

His father was Pompey the Great, a popular Roman general who shared power with Caesar in the first triumvirate. Sextus Pompeius, aka Pompey, is a formidable threat to the triumvirate. His power by sea is threatening enough to force the triumvirate to put aside their differences. Although he has an opportunity to slay the triumvirate while they are guests aboard his ship, he refuses out of his sense of honor.

Domitius Enobarbus

Friend to Antony. An officer, one of Antony's closest friends and supporters. Enobarbus is a cynical observer of the events of the play, disapproving of Antony often but always speaking from a complex and sophisticated perspective. His sense of irony runs deep, and he is completely outspoken until his master begins to lose self-control. His penetrating insights make him one of the play's most memorable characters. After he has betrayed Antony, Enobarbus' keen insight is turned on himself, and he dies of grief.

A gifted officer of Antony, blessed also with political savvy. When victorious against Rome's formidable enemy, the Parthian Empire, Ventidius is careful not to capitalize too well on his victories, as too much success for an officer can lead to a superior's fear, envy, and suspicion. Although not at all integral to the central story of the play, Ventidius' scene (3.1) speaks volumes about the volatile politics of the Roman military.

One of Antony's attendants. With Octavius' victory close, Antony asks Eros to kill him (4.14). Eros kills himself instead.

Friend to Antony, brave soldier and faithful companion.

Friend to Antony. After Antony's suicide, Decretas brings Antony's bloody sword to Caesar.

Friend to Antony. At the beginning of the play, he and Philo speak disapproving of Antony's affair with Cleopatra.

Friend to Antony. At the beginning of the play, he and Demetrius speak disapprovingly of Antony's affair with Cleopatra.

Lieutenant general to Antony. After Antony's shocking desertion of his own men at Actium, Canidius defects to Caesar's camp

An officer in Ventidius' army

Friend to Caesar.

Friend to Caesar

Friend to Caesar. He guards the captured Cleopatra, and helps her to preserve her honor.

Friend to Caesar. Antony warns Cleopatra to trust none in Caesar's camp but Proculeius, but in the end Dolabella proves her greatest friend.

Friend to Caesar. Messenger. When Caesar's messages to Antony enrage him, Antony has the unfortunate Thidias whipped.

Lieutenant general to Caesar.

One of Pompey's men. When Pompey entertains the triumvirate as guests aboard his barge, Menas asks if he should murder the three men and make Pompey the world's master.

Friend to Pompey.

Attendant on Cleopatra.

Attendant on Cleopatra. A eunuch. He brings Antony the false news that Cleopatra is dead.

Attendant on Cleopatra. Her spineless treasurer, who betrays her when she's down.

Attendant on Cleopatra. He brings Antony the news that the queen is still living.

A Soothsayer

He predicts many things, although some of his predictions are masked. He tells Charmian that she will outlive her mistress, which she does, but only by a few moments. He warns Antony that whenever Antony contests with Octavius, he will lose.

Deliverer of the asp that kills Cleopatra.

Attendant on Cleopatra. This devoted lady in waiting follows her mistress even unto death. Her memorable last words are taken directly from Plutarch.

Attendant on Cleopatra. Another lady-in-waiting. Saucy and high-spirited, she also proves loyal enough to join her mistress in suicide.

Antony and Cleopatra Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Antony and Cleopatra is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What does Antony mean when he says that Romans never link their love to the deserving

What scene is this in?

What is dramatic significance and theatrical appeal in 'Antony and Cleopatra'?

Shakespeare is dealing with history, so he can make events seem fated, but the Soothsayer and his dire predictions are taken from Plutarch. The use of the soothsayer underscores the theme of destiny, which in a play based on historical events can...

Do Shakespeare, in your opinion value more the goals of octavius or antony and why ?

I think Shakespeare is more interested in Antony. Antony is a great general, beloved by his men. He is middle-aged. He is also a lover of pleasure, far less single-minded than Octavius. He is a complicated and fatally divided man, failing to rise...

Study Guide for Antony and Cleopatra

Antony and Cleopatra study guide contains a biography of William Shakespeare, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Antony and Cleopatra
• Antony and Cleopatra Summary
• Character List

Essays for Antony and Cleopatra

Antony and Cleopatra literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Antony and Cleopatra.

• Infinite Virtue: A Close Reading of Antony and Cleopatra, IV.viii.12-18
• Stoic Constancy in Antony and Cleopatra
• The Power of True Loyalty
• Witchy Women: Female Magic and Otherness in Western Literature
• Pain, Power and Folly

Lesson Plan for Antony and Cleopatra

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Antony and Cleopatra
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Antony and Cleopatra Bibliography

E-Text of Antony and Cleopatra

Antony and Cleopatra E-Text contains the full text of Antony and Cleopatra

• Persons Represented

Wikipedia Entries for Antony and Cleopatra

• Introduction
• Date and text

Essay Service Examples Literature Antony and Cleopatra

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Antony and Cleopatra — Antony And Cleopatra Act 2 Analysis: Character Development

Antony and Cleopatra Act 2 Analysis: Character Development

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Published: Jun 29, 2018

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In Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare uses grand evocative imagery for a variety of reasons such as juxtaposing Rome against Egypt, and to add different dimensions to the main characters. Moreover, there are a few overriding [...]

Military prowess is a quality attributed to many of Shakespeare's male characters. Great military men such as Hotspur, Lear, Hal and Julius Caesar share a proclivity for the military arts with Othello and Marc Antony. As a [...]

In William Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra," the character Enobarbus plays a multifaceted and crucial role. As a trusted follower and close friend of Antony, he serves as a confidant to the protagonist, offering a unique [...]

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A Closer Look at “To Kill a Mockingbird”: Themes and Character Analysis

This essay about Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” explores the serious issues of racism and injustice in the Southern United States through the perspective of Scout Finch. Set in the 1930s in Maycomb, Alabama, the story follows Scout, her brother Jem, and their father, Atticus Finch, a lawyer defending Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of a crime. The novel highlights themes of moral courage, with Atticus standing as a symbol of integrity. Scout’s growth from innocence to understanding is marked by encounters with characters like Boo Radley, symbolizing fear and prejudice. The essay emphasizes the novel’s enduring relevance and its call for readers to reflect on their beliefs and biases.

How it works

Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” stands tall in American literature, diving deep into the tough issues of racism and injustice in the Southern United States. This novel isn’t just a story—it’s a journey through the eyes of Scout Finch, a young protagonist learning about life and its complexities.

In the heart of the tale are the Finches, living in the made-up town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the 1930s. Scout, along with her older brother Jem and their dad, Atticus Finch, a lawyer widowed, navigates a place filled with racial bias and social divides.

Atticus, a symbol of integrity, takes on the tough job of defending Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of a crime. This trial forms the backdrop against which Lee spins her tale, testing the characters’ ethics and challenging readers, too.

Scout’s view is gripping. Her innocence shines against a harsh world. As she sees and questions unfairness, Scout grows morally and mentally, a journey that touches readers of all ages. Her path from innocence to understanding human nature is marked by encounters with different folks, like Boo Radley, a mysterious neighbor who sparks the kids’ imaginations.

Boo Radley becomes a potent symbol, standing for misunderstanding and isolation. The rumors about Boo add suspense, and when his true self shows, Lee’s message about fearing the unknown and making snap judgments hits hard. This revelation shifts how the kids see Boo and mirrors broader themes of fear and moral failures in Maycomb.

And “To Kill a Mockingbird” digs into moral bravery, too. Atticus Finch, in defending Tom Robinson, becomes a model of bravery and honor, standing firm despite town scorn. His fight for fairness teaches Scout and Jem about standing up for what’s right, no matter what.

Beyond that, the novel captures human experiences and the messy life in a flawed society open to change. Lee uses Maycomb to reflect on issues that last beyond the ’30s, making it a relevant read today. It asks readers to think about race, class, and true justice.

In the end, “To Kill a Mockingbird” isn’t just about racism. It’s about growing up and understanding, a mirror showing constant struggles needing answers. Through Scout Finch’s eyes, Harper Lee tells a South story that’s universal, about learning, growing, and holding onto hope. It’s a must-read, urging us all to think about our beliefs and biases with bravery and kindness.

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• DOI: 10.54097/ijeh.v8i3.8328
• Corpus ID: 259463831

Analysis of the Characters' Personalities in Everyday Use from the Perspective of Violating the Principle of Cooperation

• Wenlong Liu , Yanying Wang
• Published in International Journal of… 17 May 2023
• Education, Linguistics, Psychology

5 References

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