William Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra Essay -- Shakespeare Antony

William Shakespeares Antony and CleopatraThe triple pillar of the world transformed/Into a strumpets fool. Behold and see (I.1.12). I wee eyes upon him (III.6.61). Shakespeares Antony invites speculation and a greedy voyerism that piece of tail only be instigated by a athletic supporter who, despite perpetually being at the centre of discussion, manages to elude classification.This impression of opacity of character is enhanced by the fact that his own idea of himself and of his refractory infatuation with Cleopatra is constantly mutating. Antony oscillates between wishing Would I had never seen Cleopatra (I.2.253), and admitting IthEast my pleasure lies (II.3.41). One moment he wails I have fled myself ... I have lost command (III.11.7, 23), the next he reassures himself with a mantra-like repetitiveness, Theres hope int yet ... Theres sap int yet (III.13.175, 191). When the protagonist himself is never static, when the other characters define him in accordanc e to their own agendas or morbid curiosity, there is truly little for the audience to hold onto in the way of tangible evidence of one mental state as opposed to another. This common body, like to a vagabond flag upon the stream,/Goes to and back, lackeying the varying tide,/To rot itself with motion (I.4.44) Caesar says this about the tendency of the masses to wish for the ruler who isnt in power or is seen less, and hence when he does come into the limelight, to lose interest and want someone else. But taken out of context, these lines are a disturbingly appropriate depiction of Antonys state throughout the play. For he is discussed and prodded as if he were common property, and shifts continuously between du... ...ity and littleness, an admission of his own weaknesses. The vagueness of Sometimes we see a cloud thats dragonish,/A vapour sometime like a bear or lion, ... That which is now a horse, even with a thought/The rack dislimns, and makes it indistinct/As water is in water is juxtaposed against the profoundly personal, intrspective lines Here I am Antony,/Yet cannot hold this visible shape (IV.14.3-22). The result is the feeling that whether he has fallen or not, whether the Roman way is better than the Egyptian, whether the old Antony is a myth, his own self-disgust and deflated sense of self remains. Perhaps that is the closest we can expect to get to the real Antony the one he reveals when in the throes of self-doubt. Perhaps that is all we deserve to uncover for as Dantes Virgil would say, the desire to hear others dispute is a base desire (xxx.148).