Antony & Cleopatra essays

Antony & Cleopatra essays Life's events often cause an individual to re-evaluate what his or her priorities are. In Antony and Cleopatra, Antony is constantly examining his priorities through experiences as he changes or affirms what is truly important in his life. Antony is forced to decide between the Roman lifestyle which he found great success with as a political leader and the frivolous Egyptian lifestyle of the East. After his experiences in battle, Antony makes an initial priority adjustment as he leaves his political success for his emotion dominated relationship with Cleopatra in Egypt. Soon he recognizes, through his experiences in Egypt, that his relationship is playing a negative role in his political involvement, and his strong Roman qualities are losing effect in his character. When he begins to fail in his role as a leader of the Roman Empire, he begins to doubt his priorities are where they should be. Antony finally reassess his life and his values after he has gone to battle ag! ain, and in turn, he accepts that his priorities are no longer found in politics, but are with Cleopatra; and so Antony proceeds to makes the ultimate sacrifice for what he found to be truly important in his life. Antony's initial priority adjustment is the most drastic, as he abandons his political responsibilities as a member of the Triumvirate for his passionate relation with Cleopatra. Caesar states about the Antony who was a great leader: "When thou once wast beaten from Modena... Thou dist drink the stale of horses and the gilded puddle Caesar acknowledges that Antony had such success in the past as a Roman leader as he was inspirational to his men in battle. This potential is abandoned in his infatuation with Cleopatra in the East. Thus, Caesar realizes Antony's potential to be a great leader in the Second Triumvirate in the Roman way of life. At the start of the play, Philo expresses his distrust of Antony and his doubt of Antony's pri...