what can you say about the theme of passion in antony and cleopatra

[omtaimiah]

hi everybody
i would like to take your opinions
the theme of passion is everywhere in the play
but how do you sse this theme ?
or what are the consequences of passion in antony and cleopatra?
thank you

[Charles Darnay]

The simple answer is: "of course passion is everywhere. Just look at how Cleopatra acts when Antony is not around. Or how she treats the Messenger. Or how she demands every detail about Octavia. Look at Antony when he is not with Cleopatra - how he desires to always get back to her. And the consequence? Two title characters die, and the triumvirate is broken, leading to the destruction of the Roman Republic and establishing Augustus as sole Emperor."
is E
If you are looking for an answer for a school essay or test - take this and run.

But what I just wrote was all BS.

"Passion is everyone" is a an over-zealous claim. You are confusing passion with lust and desire. No. Passion is suffering, emotional suffering that rends your insides. Romeo driven by passion knew he could not live in Mantua without Juliet so he sought out the apothecary. Juliet, driven by the passion caused by Romeo's banishment, tried to kill herself. This is passion.

I would argue that the only character in A&C who displays passion is Enobarbus. Is is so overcome by what he did (abandoning Antony) that he sees no other option than to throw himself in a pit. His passion alone drives his action: he is not in any danger, no one has done anything to him that causes him to kill himself, he alone (or his passion) is responsible for his death.)

You can make this same claim about Cleopatra, but there comes a time when you have to ask whether she is really in love with Antony and so overcome by passion when he is not around, or is she in love with power. I think that Act 5 Cleopatra proves the latter. To say that she is hopelessly in love with Antony, and that her death is a result of her passion, is to relegate her to a position beneath Antony, which Shakespeare does not allow. She is better than him, stronger than him, in every way. The only thing he has that she does not is power in the world. Without him, her power extends only as far as Egypt, until Caesar comes to take it from her. With Antony, she is untouchable. Her death is driven by a desire to remain untouchable, not by passion.

As for Antony - he is not Romeo, nor was he meant to be. I think one of the most beautiful parts in any Shakespeare play is the scene where Antony commands Eros to kill him. Eros, the Greek god of Love, instead kills himself. Antony desires to die of love, to be the quintessential tortured lover, but he is not. He is too narcissistic to recognize anyone around him, including Cleopatra. So begging to die from love, love instead kills itself leaving Antony a pathetic, empty mess.

[omtaimiah]

but how can you say that cleopatra is not passionately in love with antony ?!!
when i said the consequences of that passion , i meant that because of the choices antony has made , (he gave much more importance to passion than reason) , he will kill himself by the end
what do you think?
thank you

[Charles Darnay]

but how can you say that cleopatra is not passionately in love with antony ?!!
when i said the consequences of that passion , i meant that because of the choices antony has made , (he gave much more importance to passion than reason) , he will kill himself by the end
what do you think?
thank you

I think Cleopatra enjoys Antony as far as it goes, but she is only dependent on him as far as his power extends. If he was not co-ruler of the world, she would probably disregard him.

Antony made the choice to be with Cleopatra instead of Octavia because (1) He was consumed by the lusty nature of Egyptian existence and (2) He didn't want to be under Caesar's boot. Despite their supposedly equal partnership, Antony and Caesar could not both be in Rome, their personalities cannot accommodate one another.

[omtaimiah]

thank you for answering
i found your answers interesting
may be i have a shallow reading of the play
thank you for thses axplanations

[Charles Darnay]

Don't take what I say as the be-all-and-end-all, and although when it comes to Shakespeare I tend to staunchly defend my opinions, feel free to dispute them or disregard them if you think otherwise.

Particularly when it comes to Cleopatra: many would disagree with my claim that she is not really in love with Antony, or that she is not consumed with passion. But I stick by my claims and have the textual evidence to back them up if required - and in the end isn't that what literary studies are all about?

[cacian]

I would say from the word go Cleopatra is a player of another breed and so anyone wanting to mix with that would either be lost or simply looking for trouble of a third kind.
She was famousfor her taboo relationships, like the one she had with her younger brother..to this day it makes my stomach churn just thinking about it.
A person who sees no boundaries in close relationships be it family/sibblings/romans..then anyhting goes as far as I am concerned. Their faith after is their own making.
the same applies to Antony...romans were famous for their orgies and their sexual deviances.
If these two, anton and cleo had anything more then just lust and greed in their shaky relationship,then the meaning of passion is dawned on me.
These two characters only met to make business roll their way, and so I do not consider their relationship anything but strictly business where pleasure/sex and power reek and go hand in hand. Passion and love is something Socrates wrote about.
Glad I do not have to go through this or even think about it.
Enough said.

[cafolini]

Enough said about the part of Caesar also.

[omtaimiah]

i found that both , cleo is passionate about antony and antony is passionate about cleo !!!
i agree that cleo loves power