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Antony & Cleopatra mini essays
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Lexi ShteinAntony and Cleopatra mini-essay practice:
1. ‘The heroes are restless, like big animals in a cage. The cage gets smaller and smaller, and they
writhe more and more violently.’
[Jan Knott: Shakespeare Our Contemporary, 1965]
To what extent is Knott’s description of the major characters in Antony and Cleopatra accurate?
You must include Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra in your discussion.
The heroes begin as successful, stable characters but as the play progresses they become
increasingly unpredictable. Their individual successes lead to their need for domination as there is
no room for all three to reside in harmony. Consequently, rife tensions evolve between Cleopatra,
Antony and Caesar.
Cleopatra is an independent leader who despite accommodating her lover Antony, maintains her
independence. She begins “a most triumphant lady”, “cunning past man’s thought”. Her “power
breathe forth” which leads to a feeling of invincibility as she sides with her lover Antony in their
quest to defeat Caesar. “She hath nodded [Antony] to her” which allows her to suggest a sea battle
irrationally, despite having no military experience. However, she fails him both in this nonsensical
decision and by surrendering. The “serpent of Egypt” makes independent decisions as pressures
increase which consequently leads to the “fall of Antony” as the “the noble ruin of her magic”
becomes clear.
Antony transitions from a sturdy, noble general to an insecure man as he faces immense pressure.
He commences as “the demi-atlas of this earth”. He is a “firm Roman”, “the greatest soldier of the
world” and a vital member of the Triumvirate. However, as his world splits between his public duty
and private life, Antony begins to waver in his ability to fulfil both obligations as he is more inclined
to “will to his Egyptian dish”. As he did not “make enough space between [himself and Caesar]” a
power battle ensues between the two. As tensions increase he follows “[his] precious queen” and
becomes nonsensical in his decisions as he makes “wars for Egypt”. He soon becomes “stroyed in
dishonour” and “[his] star is fallen”.
Caesar maintains his tactical nature and under pressure curbs from his public duty in favour of self-
gain. Caesar begins as a proficient strategist, focused solely on political expedience. He focuses
initially on domination for the Triumvirate but as Antony’s military position advances as a result of
Cleopatra, he “becomes afeard, as being overpowered”. He turns on his fellow “world-sharers” to
become sole emperor of the Roman empire. Caesar becomes avaricious and “alone deal[s] of
lieutenancy”, with no regard for ethics. Despite being a “lion’s whelp” in comparison to Antony, his
value as a strategist is used for personal gain on his quest to become “the universal landlord”. He
becomes “the world’s greatest snare” as he uses violence and manipulation in his attempt to
become the sole leader.
Cleopatra, Antony and Caesar all begin as sturdy heroes but as tensions arise they become
increasingly irrational and make nonsensical decisions in the quest for dominance. Each one is
malleable and inconsistent in areas. Their world is ultimately not large enough to accommodate the
strength of these three heroes.
WORD COUNT: [455]
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