Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare: An Analysis
What is it that makes Shakespeare’s ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ such a timeless classic that transcends time? It is the ideas and themes that are shown throughout the play and the techniques, such as hyperbolic language, used to present those. Love and duty are juxtaposed in the play and this shows the connection most people face today, the choice between what they need to do and the pleasure they want. The other theme explore in ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ is jealousy. This is what makes Antony and Cleopatra so relatable today, it shows they are human beings and are not perfect, just like us.
Throughout ‘Antony and Cleopatra’, Antony is torn between his love of Cleopatra and his Duty to Rome. At the beginning of the text we see Antony claim his love for Cleopatra stating “Let Rome in Tiber melt and the wide arch of the ranged empire fall. Here is my space. Kingdoms are clay. In other words he is saying he wouldn’t care if Rome was washed away in the Tiber River or if the empire fell. Kingdoms are materialistic and made of dirt. His place is in Egypt with Cleopatra. The use of hyperbolic language shows that Antony is so in love Cleopatra and does not care if Rome is destroyed. Antony’s biggest weakness is not that he always goes back for Cleopatra’s love; it’s that in order to do so, he ignores his duty to Rome and places the burden on the shoulders of his friends and fellow Roman people. In order to fix the damage he has done, Caesar offers his sister, Octavia’s hand in marriage, in the hope that it will help create a truce between them. “May I never to this good purpose, that so fairly shows, Dream of Impediment!” are the words that Antony speaks to Caesar to accept his offer. Little did Caesar know that Antony would soon dishonour his word and duty for his immediate pleasure with Cleopatra. Then because of this betrayal the two great leaders go to war and Antony depends on Cleopatra’s fleet of ships to help him, but Cleopatra’s ships leave and Antony closely follows.
Throughout ‘Antony and Cleopatra’, Antony is torn between his love of Cleopatra and his Duty to Rome. At the beginning of the text we see Antony claim his love for Cleopatra stating “Let Rome in Tiber melt and the wide arch of the ranged empire fall. Here is my space. Kingdoms are clay. In other words he is saying he wouldn’t care if Rome was washed away in the Tiber River or if the empire fell. Kingdoms are materialistic and made of dirt. His place is in Egypt with Cleopatra. The use of hyperbolic language shows that Antony is so in love Cleopatra and does not care if Rome is destroyed. Antony’s biggest weakness is not that he always goes back for Cleopatra’s love; it’s that in order to do so, he ignores his duty to Rome and places the burden on the shoulders of his friends and fellow Roman people. In order to fix the damage he has done, Caesar offers his sister, Octavia’s hand in marriage, in the hope that it will help create a truce between them. “May I never to this good purpose, that so fairly shows, Dream of Impediment!” are the words that Antony speaks to Caesar to accept his offer. Little did Caesar know that Antony would soon dishonour his word and duty for his immediate pleasure with Cleopatra. Then because of this betrayal the two great leaders go to war and Antony depends on Cleopatra’s fleet of ships to help him, but Cleopatra’s ships leave and Antony closely follows.