East and West in Antony and Cleopatra Essay

Shakespeargon used as his source for the course Norths translation of Plutarchs Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. Plutarch, along with different Greek and Roman authors, saw an competition betwixt the conquering West, rest for moral and political virtue, and the conquered eastern, representing luxury and decadence.Do you agree that this is prerequisitely how Shakespeare presents the opposition between East and West in Antony and Cleopatra?Rome and Egypt have importation far beyond physical locations they symbolize two oppositional value systems essential within some(prenominal) federation and the psyche. The world of Antony and Cleopatra is riddled with polarised opposites, such as civilisation and nature, public and private, and, perhaps most importantly, passion and esteem.The inability of the East and West to reconcile their values inevitably causes conflict, forcing Antony, the tragic protagonist, to choose between the spheres. In suicide, he transcends the limit ations the world thrusts upon him joined later by Cleopatra, who in conclusion discovers the significance of Western values, in a triumphant death.The notion of any sphere having moral superiority to the other is moot Shakespeare passes no concrete judgement, and no simple platitude of good and evil could suffice to justify the complex behaviour of the principal characters.Neither Egypt nor Rome bes to be authentically virtuous, despite the moralising of the Roman characters. In Rome the traditional system of honour is rapidly being subjugated beneath Caesars cold pick up for individual supremacy. Loyalty now belongs only to the winner, and individuals such as Lepidus and Pompey are sacrificed in the imperialistic drive of Octavius. A certain misogyny is Rome, with women denounced as whores, and the harsh treatment that Cleopatra would have faced as a confined indicates the presence of violence in the Roman psyche.Nor is Egypt an ideal of purity. A society wrinkled deep in ti me, its preoccupation with emotion leads it to hastiness (such as when Cleopatra flees the Battle of Actium). Theatrical and dramatic, the lifestyle at courtyard is extremely decadent, often approaching vulgarity. Cleopatra is cosseted by her courtiers, and encouraged towards vanity, narcissism, pettiness and self-indulgence,The notion of a duality is more important than the probity of either force by being opposites, East and West become inextricable. Without East there would be no concept of West, and vice versa, and this pattern is applicable to all the converses that the different spheres represent.Both are equally important in the development of skilful humanity the values that West and East represent should be in harmony within both society and the human psyche. In Antony and Cleopatra they seem to be inherently conflicted, and the subsequent polarisation causes the demise of the lovers, which allows them to, paradoxically, conquer the patrol wagon of a world that has t ried to conquer and restrict them.The structure of the cinch serves to highlight the antithesis, with frequent changes between the machinations of Rome and the hyperbole of Cleopatras court emphasizing both the opposition of the value systems and the effect that exposure to both has upon Antony.