Politics and Love in Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra Essay -- Anton

Politics and Love in Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra Although the policy-making struggles in Antony and Cleopatra are a lot treated as backdrops to the supposedly more engaging go to bed familiarity among the two title characters, these struggles permeate the entire play, and give the cacoethes story its heightened sense of importance and tragedy. The relationship between Antony and Cleopatra would not hire attained its renown and immortality had they not had been extremely stringy and populace figures. The mesh between public duty and personal desire is the underlying al-Qaida of the play, and how the characters respond to this conflict is what imbues the play with suspense and interest. This conflict is most intelligibly seen in Antony who is caught between his role as a triumvir of Rome and his rage for the Egyptian Queen. By allowing his all-consuming passion to overwhelm his sense of responsibility, he loses his half of the empire to Octavian. Octavian, on the ot her hand, consistently places the interests of the state before his own. Although he is calculating, shrewd, and unscrupulous, all of his thoughts are devoted to the ruling of Rome politics is his unmatched interest, and power his only obsession. Cleopatra as ruler is often treated secondarily to Cleopatra as seductress and lover. While most of the obvious power struggle is between Antony and Octavian, one cannot ignore Cleopatras involvement. Throughout the play, and particularly at the end, she demonstrates an acute political awareness as she does her utmost to secure what is best for Egypt. In a play with three powerful figures it is expected that political motivations be neer far from the foreground or from the characters minds.Antonys conflict is succinctly described at th... ...ads and embodies. Question of politics and duty are present throughout Antony and Cleopatra, and the love story cannot be considered independently of them. The private emotions of the characters are influenced by the public world that they inhabit, and their actions are not only the actions of individuals, but also of powerful leaders. WORKS CITED Bradley, A.C. Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra. Shakespeare Antony and Cleopatra. Ed. John Russell Brown. London MacMillan Press Ltd., 1968.Greenblatt et al., ed. Antony and Cleopatra. The Norton Shakespeare Tragedies. New York W.W. Norton and Company Inc. 1997.Holloway, John. The attain of Antony and Cleopatra. Shakespeare Antony and Cleopatra. Ed. John Russell Brown. London MacMillan Press Ltd. 1968.Lissner, Ivar. The Caesars Might and Madness. New York G.P. Putnams Sons, 1958.