Caesar feels guilty Essays

Caesar feels guilty Essays Caesar feels guilty Essay Caesar feels guilty Essay The death of Fulvia means Antony can no longer neglect his duties or the people of Rome will label him a traitor and will lose his power. The death of Fulvia doesnt upset Antony but he feel like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders give the gods a thankful sacrifice essentially this means that he believes Fulvias death was a good thing. However now Shakespeare creates a new stage in Antony and Cleopatras relationship. This event causes Antony to return to Rome to fix his affairs and whilst he is there he leaves insecure Cleopatra to embellish and exaggerate their relationship.This also creates doubts in Cleopatras mind in praising Antony, Ive dispraised Caesar which means she is considering leaving Antony to escape a tragic end. This also shows that she is only with Antony to enhance her reputation. Antony on the other hand is in Rome and dreams only of returning to his Egyptian dish Caesar knows Antony will return to Cleopatra and uses this to his advantage by making Antony marry his sister to capture the now traitorous Antony, which shows how little emotion Caesar has. This grief is crowned with consolation I, ii, 160-165This event has added to Cleopatras insecurity, she feels if he goes back to Rome he will forget her and stay in Rome. I believe Cleopatra is now using Antony to appease her insecurity. Act 2 opens with a speech from Pompeii and in this speech he sums up the three triumvirates. Shakespeare has used Pompeii because he has no emotional attachments to the main characters. This is very effective, as it is an unbiased view. I like how Shakespeare has used this man. He is clearly unbiased and makes it very obvious to the audience that this is the way these men really are. Mark Antony.In Egypt sits at dinner and will make No wars without doors, Caesar gets money where He loses heart: Lepidus flatters both. II, I, 12-14. He says that Antony is a coward and wont commit to a fight unless there is a way for him to escape and that he is lazy. He says that Caesar is only interested in money and if he keeps taxing his people then they will be lost and finally he says that lepidus is useless which is backed up by the fact he is usually drunk. Antony who is now in Rome meets with Caesar and he blames Antony for being in Egypt enjoying himself and neglecting his duties.Did pocket up my letters; and with taunts Did gibe my miss ive out of audience II, ii, 72-73 Aggripa then prompts Antony to marry Ceases sister Octavia. The speech he gives is full of well rehearsed points which will show Antony that Caesar is willing to sacrifice his own sister to capture Antony. Antony must marry Octavia or the triumvirate will fall apart. Antony agrees to marry her but later runs back to his Egyptian dish another food image used by Shakespeare in representation of Antonys love.Shakespeare has used this as a mid point between the stages in their relationship. Antony now is torn between his love and his country. He agrees to marry Octavia to keep the triumvirate together but he could also have realised that Cleopatra will lead him to his downfall. This is where tragedy enters the play for the first time shown when Antony talks with the soothe sayer He heats thee gainst the odds Antony knows he is going to lose but it shows how courageous he is by risking everything.In contrast Cleopatra is a lot more secure however she does still try to manipulate Antony by changing her moods. She now shows us that in light of these new events she is contemplating her other choices in praising Antony we dispraised Caesar this makes us wonder whether Cleopatras feeling for Antony are real. However she is getting old and the only way Caesar would take Cleopatra, as a lover would be as an insult to Antony. There are now a few battle scenes in which Cleopatras inexperience in battle causes them to lose.This makes Antony believe Cleopatra has betrayed him and he is now a complete wreck as he now truly has lost everything. He has a large argument with Cleopatra, which culminates in her running away and telling a messenger to tell Antony she has committed suicide. This is the third and final change in their relationship. Both characters now have been completely destroyed. Antony has no way of escape and Cleopatra will now only be Caesers toy. Antony feels betrayed he has no will to live and as a final attempt tries to over come a tragic end.When Antony hears of Cleopatras death his attitude becomes more focused and he attempts to kill himself which is a final acceptance of Egyptian values, He fails to kill himself with his own sword, which shows how ineffective he has become. I dont like the way Antony dies. It seems less tragic than it could have been. Ill admit that he uses the symbolism especially how his sword has become ineffective against himself is excellent but his death seems to lack the honour Antony deserved. He lies there until he is taken to Cleopatra when he finds out she is still alive.Even now Cleopatra wont let Antony talk and she refuses to get down off her monument to see Antony and makes sure he is taken to her. She refers to sexual imagery and wont let Antony say his dying words. Antony at least had an honourable death, as he wasnt going to let Caesar take his life, he chose the time and the place. The crown othe earth doth melt IV, XV, 62. When Caesar hears about Antonys death he shows some emotion for the first time in the play. He becomes very solemn and his language is very plain.However he composes himself quickly. Caesar feels guilty. Caesar is touched V, I, 33. He now wants Cleopatra to become his lover as a final insult to Antony so that he will be feared and merciless. Cleoptra holds back half of her wealth when Caesar asks for it. We are unsure about her intentions when she did this because it as two outcomes, either she did it to stop Caesar thinking she was going to commit suicide so she could kill herself or that she was planning on running away and building a new empire.Cleo then finally before her death honours Antony memory and it makes the audience believe she really did love Antony, which is the final show of tragedy in the play. In conclusion I believe Antony and Cleopatra truly did love each other in some way even if it was only a memory. However Antony does say they will enter heaven as lovers. This play is fraught with tragedy built up slowly through the play. It truly is a pitiful end for the two lovers.I think Shakespeare has used imagery well to show the love of the two and it helps build up their tragic end. The tragic end comes from the conflict between Rome and Egypt and is illustrated by three images, the sword, armour and dimensions. His lowness or highness shows Antonys tragic end, Antonys own sword is ineffective when he tries to kill himself. The final speech is by Caesar in his monotone, simplistic language however he does seem to be inspired and shows how great Antony and Cleopatra were!