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A “strumpet” and her “fool”. Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra are too sordid as characters to ever achieve genuine tragedy- discuss.
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A "strumpet" and her "fool". Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra are too sordid as characters to ever achieve genuine tragedy- discuss. Antony and Cleopatra's behaviour at intervals in the play do make her appear a "strumpet" and he her "fool". However, to solely condemn then as such fails to recognise the other qualities they possess as world leaders. They are judged initially for their inability to recognise the duty they have to their subjects. Their all-consuming passion is viewed as self-gratifying, fulfilling their needs to the destruction of others. The audience could view Cleopatra in two ways. As a strong heroin, a Royal Queen, fighting for her own political and literal survival by any means open to her yet at the same time insecure about her all-consuming love for a man she cannot fully possess. Furthermore it is arguably that she is a manipulative, irrational woman who is often disloyal to Antony, a...
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