Cleopatra Is To Blame For The Death Of Cleopatra

Cleopatra is describing one night with Antony, while they were in pleasure and she is happy for emasculating Antony, she makes him wear her clothes and she wears Antony's sword. Shakespeare argues that Cleopatra is dominating the acts of Antony and, in contrary to the Roman values, she plays his role of being the man who controls the situation. The accusation of Cleopatra by Shakespeare continues to blame her for the war of Actium, as it is said in Rome. Octavius Caesar, in Shakespeare's play, claims that Cleopatra and her maids manage for the war: "Enobarbus. And 'tis said in Rome / That Photinus, an eunuch and your maids / Manage this war" (III. vii. 12 – 14), Shakespeare directs his audiences to Cleopatra as the one who flames the war.

She never suspects Octavius Caesar's power over her and she considers herself his servant, and her being a queen of Egypt means that she is in her position because of Caesar's merciful heart and because she accepts the hegemony of Rome over Egypt. Cleopatra tells Thyrius that: "I kiss his [Octavius'] conquering hand: tell him, I am prompt / To lay my crown at's feet, and there to kneel" (III. xiii. 74 – 76). Then she proves what she tells Thyrius and kneels in behalf of all the Egyptians where she confesses that the power of Rome is undefeatable, and it is a fate she and her people should accept as if it comes by God. When Cleopatra meets Octavius Caesar, she represents all the Egyptians and kneels in his presence. Caesar after regaining his power over Egypt and after proving the victory of the Roman masculinity over the Egyptian femininity shows his Roman virtues and his mercifulness by requesting from "Egypt" not to kneel: "Caesar. Arise, you shall not kneel: / I pray you, rise; rise, Egypt" (V. ii. 112 – 13), but Cleopatra knows the God's will and accepts her position as a servant by telling Octavius that: "Cleopatra. Sir, the gods / Will have it thus; my master and my lord / I must obey" (V. ii. 114 – 15). The dialogue between Octavius Caesar and Cleopatra shows the ideology of the imperial Shakespeare who represents Octavius as merciful and at the same time strict, so he treats Cleopatra

His characterization of Cleopatra shows a respect of her as a queen who is responsible for her acts and her people, and he represents her in a different way to prove that he does not accept the accusation that Shakespeare has articulated in his play to Cleopatra, in which he reveals the imperial ambition that Shakespeare bears in his play to the Orient, particularly the oriental queen, Cleopatra. From the beginning of the play, Sedley chooses to concentrate on Antony and Cleopatra as two lovers and he avoids the political interpretation of the love story. Sedley writes his play in the style of heroic drama in which he uses the dramatic couplets, and he portrays Antony as a hero in actions and speeches. Jeremy Webster argues