Contrast in Antony and Cleopatra

Contrast in Antony and Cleopatra

1. Characters

   • Antony
     • Acts in one way when he's in Egypt and with Cleopatra; as soon as he has to go back to Rome and tend to his duties, he is willing to , for example, marry Octavia because it makes political sense
   • Caesar
     • Complete opposite to Egyptian culture: he epitomizes the perfect Roman. Him and Antony don't get on when they first meet because of the power struggle between them. Antony is older and so should be more responsible but it is Caesar who has to lead the business. He also hates drinking, which Antony loves
   • Cleopatra
     • Epitome of Egyptian culture. Complete contrast to Octavia. This also shows Antony's contrast in women - he enjoys the lavish company of Cleopatra but says to Octavia, the perfect Roman wife, that he will not be around much
   • Pompey
     • He is quite double because his overarching plan is to overthrow the Triumverate yet he still drinks with them and parties with them. When Menas tells his plan to kill them, he wishes he wasn't told and Menas had just done it because it would be un-noble of him to condone their death, which shows he has changed slightly

2. East and West

   • Physical settings
     • BBC interpretation - Rome is a lot less colourful
   • Attitudes
     • East: Pleasure, Wealth, Gluttony, Excess, Decadence
     • West: Politics, Virtue, Discipline, Measure

3. Quotes

   • 'Sit' 'Sit, sir'
   • 'Leave thy laviscious wassails'
   • 'And stand the buffet with knaves that smell of sweat'
   • 'You are too indulgent' (Caesar)

4. Critics

   • John Wilders - Rome is 'masculine, pragmatic and martial'
   • Jonathan Harris - Cleopatra is 'as abundant, leaky and changeable as the Nile'
   • William Wolf - Central conflict involves the tension between change and permenance