Antony and Cleopatra Literary Elements

Drama, Tragedy

English

Antony and Cleopatra is set in both Rome and Egypt during the reign of the Second Triumvirate of Rome.

Because Antony and Cleopatra is a play, there is no distinct narrator. The play contains a number of different perspectives that are often at odds with one another as the Romans feel threatened by the Egyptian way of life.

The tone of the play is sensual and hyperbolic, accommodating Cleopatra's enchanting energy. The mood of the play is tense and contentious.

Antony and Cleopatra are the primary protagonists. The primary antagonist is Octavius Caesar, a fellow member of the Triumvirate who would become the first emperor of the Roman empire.

The central conflict of the play is between Egypt and Rome, as embodied by Antony. He is torn between his duty to the Roman empire and his desire to remain in Egypt with Cleopatra. The two are pitted against one another throughout the play, with Egypt representing opulence and pleasure and Rome representing austerity and order.

The climax of the play occurs when Antony flees the Battle of Actium to follow Cleopatra. His retreat – which denigrates his status as a respectable Roman soldier – is what sets in motion a series of subsequent conflicts that culminate in the death of both him and Cleopatra.

Philo foreshadows the end of the play in the very first act, when he predicts that Antony will experience a "fall" from renowned Roman soldier to a mere play-thing of Cleopatra's.

There is a notable lack of understatement in the play, due to its focus on Cleopatra and the Egyptian culture of excess, decadence, and overflow. As such, the majority of the dialogue is rife with poetic description and hyperbole.

Characters in the play make frequent allusions to Cleopatra's younger self, and to her late lover Julius Caesar. These allusions remind readers that Cleopatra, at the time of this play, is many years older and has grown into her role as queen of Egypt.

Antony and Cleopatra is perhaps one of Shakespeare's most linguistically rich plays. There are a number of instances in which characters appear to be overcome by the very thing or person – usually Cleopatra – that they are describing. This prevalence of imagery in the play helps craft a stark contrast between the structure of Rome and the luxury of Egypt, as well as to contribute to a mythologizing of Cleopatra as larger-than-life.

Cleopatra presents a number of paradoxical thoughts and actions throughout the play. Indeed, Romans – including Antony – find her behavior difficult to make sense of. However, these contradictory actions and expressions help underscore Cleopatra's unpredictable and capricious nature; she is in many ways an expert performer who manipulates through emotion rather than logic or rationality.

The descriptions of that Enobarbus provides of the first time he saw Cleopatra parallel her eventual death. Some of the most famous quotations from the play, Enobarbus's memories of Cleopatra emphasize her majestic and unrivaled sense of power. Cleopatra herself ensures that she dies in a queenly state, asking her chamber-women to dress her in her regalia before committing suicide.

Cleopatra personifies the asp she uses to commit suicide by likening it to a baby breastfeeding.

The play makes frequent use of asides, or comments made from characters that are not always heard by every character on the stage (but are always heard by the audience). These asides are important because they help cultivate secrecy and paranoia in the play, which is ultimately reflected in its chaotic structure as it pivots from Egypt to Rome and back again.