" My honor was not yielded, but conquered merely"-Cleopatra

1. An analysis of the
theme of Shakespearean
Play and the life of the
queen

6. CLEOPATRA- A DANGEROUS
COMBINATION OF BEAUTY AND
BRAIN

7. PERSONALITY
Being ambitious and sexual, Cleopatra works hard to be
everything to nearly everyone especially those in
power. Although addicted to opium she has enough will
to set plans in motion to secure her foothold on Julius
Caesar by purposely impregnating herself before an
encounter with him to ensure a birth that she hopes
will give her political clout in Rome. Later, her alliance
with Mark Antony and her support of his conflict
with Octavian ultimately lead to her undoing.

8. Was Cleopatra beautiful?
Cleopatra was considered to be a remarkably beautiful woman which is perhaps right
because of the fact that she successfully ensnared Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony.
Plutarch contradictorily refers to the "effect of her beauty" on Caesar but then notes
that while her beauty "was in itself not altogether incomparable...the character that
attended all she said or did was something bewitching".
Dio notes that Cleopatra beautified herself when she appeared before Caesar in the
most majestic and pity-inspiring guise that Caesar was instantly captivated by her and
Mark Anthony fell in love with her at the very moment he saw her. Therefore, it can be
perceived that she must have been a charming and charismatic lady reveling in
intelligence and confident of her power.
Pascal remarked "Cleopatra's nose, had it been shorter, the whole fate of the world
would have been changed" (in the seventeenth century prominent noses were treated
as a sign of dominance).

9. Cleopatra had a
voluptuous body.
She used to specially
beautify herself.
She wore gorgeous
clothes.

11. CLEOPATRA THE
DEFIANCE OF
FEMININE VIRTUE

12. STORY IN ONE GLANCE
Since it was a historical love story and more than an epic hence Shakespeare deemed it fit to be the subject of one of his
tragedies. They met in 41 B.C. amidst the turmoil in the Roman Republic; she, an Egyptian queen, seduced him, a powerful
(and already married) general, into a romantic and tenuous political alliance between their territories. The alliance would
prove sour when future emperor Octavian convinced the Roman senate that Marc Antony was power savvy and bewitched
by Cleopatra, declaring war on his former partner in 31 B.C. Both Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide during the war
rather than be captured.

13. STORY IN SHORT

14. CLEOPATRA: QUOTES

19. QUEEN CLEOPATRA: AN EXOTIC BEAUTY

22. CLEOPATRA’S CHILDHOOD
Cleopatra’s father was known as Ptolemy XII. Her
father was also known as Auletes or the Piper
because he played the flute. But the manner in
which he ruled his empire did not offer very many
benefits to the general public. This of course made
him very unpopular; however, he ensured that his
children were well taken care of in spite of his
harsh rule over his kingdom. Cleopatra studied
philosophy, literature, art, music, medicine, and
was able to speak six different languages. These
languages were Aramaic, Egyptian, Ethiopic,
Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. Being very educated,
she soon learned of all her political surroundings
and of her father’s status and power he had as
pharaoh. Because of this education and
knowledge, Cleopatra as well as her siblings,
longed to be in power and to control.

23. CLEPOPATRA TAKES THE BLAME
Cleopatra as well as her siblings, longed to be in power and to
control. Auletes would have to choose one of his children to rule
after his death. Auletes went to Rome and asked Caesar and
Pompey to recognize him as the legal ruler of Egypt. It was during
this trip that the oldest daughter, Cleopatra Tryphaina (Cleopatra’s
older sister), seized the throne. While on his way to recover his
throne, Cleopatra Tryphaina was killed and overthrown by her
sister Berenice. This proved to be a fatal mistake because she was
quickly overthrown and executed by Auletes followers . So both of
the women were killed and Auletes restored his reign. Auletes
was only to keep the throne two years after regaining it as he died
in the spring of 51 B.C. His will stated that Cleopatra, who was 18
at the time, would marry her brother Ptolemy XIII. Ptolemy XIII
was only ten years old at that time and they were to rule together.

25. Cleopatra’s perfume
Cleopatra was fond of the scents of Neroli
and Rose and used their aphrodisiac qualities to a
great effect while seducing Caesar and Mark Anthony.
She favoured the goddess of love and sexuality,
Hathor, who was associated with both Myrrh and
Sandalwood. She indulged with intoxicating and
sensuous perfume which was a combination
of Neroli, Rose, Myrrh and Sandalwood to create an
aroma fit for Cleopatra herself.

28. She was a direct heiress, a descendant of
the Ptolemies, who became Queen of
Egypt at 17. She also spoke Greek,
Egyptian, Ethiopian, Aramaic and Hebrew,
had a lavish lifestyle, torrid romances and
family dramas to spare.

29. CLEOPATRA VII EEAUTY WITH BRAINS
It was said that Cleopatra’s intelligence far outweighed
her looks. According to Plutarch, a Greek essayist
Cleopatra was supposedly an irresistible person by her
conversation. She was a bewitching character. It was
said that she was a pleasure to be around . As a matter
of fact she did not make use of her beauty to get to the
top of the power chain but she greatly relied on her gift
of intelligence. In addition, she had to come up with a
plan to remove her ten year old brother from power.
Because her brother was only ten at the time he could
easily be influenced. However, he had three crooked
advisers at his disposal. They were Pothinus, Achillas,
and Theodotus, and all three also wanted to control
Egypt.
When Caesar who defeated his friend, became the
world’s most powerful man. Pompey and his army,
accepting defeat, sailed to Egypt seeking help. Achillas,
Pothinus, and Theodotus saw another opportunity when
Pompey arrived. They planned to murder him hoping
that this would gain Caesar’s appreciation and he would
help them wipe out Cleopatra.

31. ROLE OF WOMEN IN HER TIME
At this period in time, women did not hold
positions of power and were absent from
politics. Any woman not seen playing her
“proper role” was perceived as intimidating
and as a disgrace, while men were the only
ones allowed in public affairs. Women had
to intrinsically remain in the private sector.
Therefore, men played a predominant role
in all walks of life.

32. It was inevitable for a woman
ruler like Cleopatra to have
generated peculiar tensions
within a ‘patriarchal’ society”.
In a culture dominated by men,
it is no wonder a woman ruler
caused extreme cases of
anxiety, especially for men of
the time period when women
had to remain in the private
sphere.

34. Cleopatra projected her queenship as a feminized authority who proved
an enabling strategy for negating otherwise seemingly unmanageable
authorial channels. She played a crucial role to explore the increasingly
high tension that occurred due to a woman holding position when all
forms of public and domestic authority was vested in the hands of men
such as in fathers, husbands, masters, teachers, magistrates , lords and
so on and so forth. Women of her time were meant to be domestic,
taking care of the housework, husband, and children. They were subject
to abide by the unwritten laws of their culture and to remain silent and
chaste.
AS A FEMALE AUTHORITY

35. HIGHLY SEXUALIZED WOMAN RULER
While playing the role of a highly
theatrical, sexualized woman
ruler, Cleopatra violates the
European model of feminine
virtue which is otherwise
associated with purity, obedience,
and whiteness or Europeanness.
Therefore, as a powerful, non-
white Egyptian woman, Cleopatra
is viewed as threatening and as an
object of scrutiny.

41. CLEOPATRA AND JULIUS CAESAR
When Caesar announced his intention to execute
Ptolemy Auletes will (under which Cleopatra was co-
regent with Ptolemy XIII). Pothinus, the ever present
guardian of Ptolemy XIII and the real power behind his
throne, stirred the Alexandrian mob up against Caesar
but Caesar was not easily frightened. He landed with a
small force and made his way to the palace. He insisted
that Ptolemy and Cleopatra dismiss their armies and
reminded Pothinus that the heirs of Ptolemy Auletes
owed him 6000 talents (a large sum of money). Pothinus
resented any challenge to his authority (he was acting
chancellor and so controlled Egypt's finances) and was
openly rude to Caesar doing untold damage to the cause
of his ward Ptolemy. Cleopatra was determined to make
the most of Pothinus' miscalculation and managed to
arrange a secret meeting with Caesar. Plutarch tells the
famous tale of how Cleopatra was hidden in a role of
carpet or sleeping bag which was unrolled to reveal her
in all her glory..

42. ROMANCE
Whether it was the beauty of Cleopatra or the fact that
she was a direct descendant of Alexander the Great, her
courage or her charisma which charmed Caesar from this
point they became lovers.
Caesar immediately reversed the decision of Pompey and
reinstated Cleopatra as co-ruler with her brother. When
Ptolemy XIII arrived for a meeting with Caesar he found
his sister relaxing on a couch in his chambers and flew
into a fit of rage. He burst out of the palace screaming
that he had been betrayed and tried to rouse the
Alexandrian mob against Caesar and Cleopatra.
However, ever the great orator, Caesar calmed the crowd
by producing the will of Ptolemy Auletes decreeing that
the siblings should rule together and by naming their
younger siblings (Ptolemy XIV and Arsinoe) as the rulers
of Rhodes which Rome had recently recaptured).
Returning Rhodes to the Egyptians was by no means a
popular move with the Roman people, but it bought
Caesar time, ensured the gratitude of Cleopatra and
undermined the attempts of Pothinus and Ptolemy XIII to
stir up rebellion.

48. A POEM ON ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA

49. Poem on Cleopatra by Algernon Charles Swinburne
Her mouth is fragrant as a vine,
A vine with birds in all its boughs;
Serpent and scarab for a sign
Between the beauty of her brows
And the amorous deep lids divine.
Her great curled hair makes luminous
Her cheeks, her lifted throat and chin.
Shall she not have the hearts of us
To shatter, and the loves therein
To shred between her fingers thus?
Small ruined broken strays of light,
Pearl after pearl she shreds them through
Her long sweet sleepy fingers, white
As any pearl's heart veined with blue,
And soft as dew on a soft night.
As if the very eyes of love
Shone through her shutting lids, and stole
The slow looks of a snake or dove;
As if her lips absorbed the whole
Of love, her soul the soul thereof.
Lost, all the lordly pearls that were
Wrung from the sea's heart, from the green
Coasts of the Indian gulf-river;
Lost, all the loves of the world---so keen
Towards this queen for love of her.

50. You see against her throat the small
Sharp glittering shadows of them shake;
And through her hair the imperial
Curled likeness of the river snake,
Whose bite shall make an end of all.
Through the scales sheathing him like wings,
Through hieroglyphs of gold and gem,
The strong sense of her beauty stings,
Like a keen pulse of love in them,
A running flame through all his rings.
Under those low large lids of hers
She hath the histories of all time
The fruit of foliage-stricken years;
The old seasons with their heavy chime
That leaves its rhyme in the world’s ears
She sees the hand of death made bear
The ravelled riddle of the skies
The faces faded that were fair,
The mouths made speechless that were wise,
The hollow eyes and dusty hair;
The shape and shadow of mystic things,
Things that fate fashions or forbids
The staff of time-forgotten Kings
Whose name falls off the Pyramids,
Their coffin-lids and grave-clothings;

51. Dank dregs, the scum of pool or clod,
God-spawn of lizard-footed clans,
And those dog-headed hulks that trod
Swart necks of the old Egyptians,
Raw draughts of man's beginning God;
The poised hawk, quivering ere he smote,
With plume-like gems on breast and back;
The asps and water-worms afloat
Between the rush-flowers moist and slack;
The cat's warm black bright rising throat.
The purple days of drouth expand
Like a scroll opened out again;
The molten heaven drier than sand,
The hot red heaven without rain,
Sheds iron pain on the empty land.
All Egypt aches in the sun's sight;
The lips of men are harsh for drouth,
The fierce air leaves their cheeks burnt white,
Charred by the bitter blowing south,
Whose dusty mouth is sharp to bite.
All this she dreams of, and her eyes
Are wrought after the sense hereof.
There is no heart in her for sighs;
The face of her is more than love---
A name above the Ptolemies

52. Her great grave beauty covers her
As that sleek spoil beneath her feet
Clothed once the anointed soothsayer;
The hallowing is gone forth from it
Now, made unmeet for priests to wear.
She treads on gods and god-like things,
On fate and fear and life and death,
On hate that cleaves and love that clings,
All that is brought forth of man's breath
And perisheth with what it brings.
She holds her future close, her lips
Holds fast the face of things to be;
Actium, and sound of war that dips
down the blown valleys of the sea,
Far sails that flee, and storms of ships;
The laughing red sweet mouth of wine
At ending of life's festival;
That spice of cerecloths, and the fine
White bitter dust funereal
Sprinkled on all things for a sign;
His face, who was and was not he,
In whom, alive, her life abode;
The end, when she gained heart to see
Those ways of death wherein she trod,
Goddess by god, with Antony.

55. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA written by Shakespeare

56. In 41 BC despite her limited finances and
famine that swept across Egypt she led
her ostentatiously equipped fleet to
impress and seduce Anthony.

57. In Antony and Cleopatra, William Shakespeare entangles
all of the anxieties held during the Elizabethan era. By
placing a high emphasis on race, female sexuality and
authority, as well as the dangerous reversal of gender
roles he reveals the cultural anguish of the time period
specially through Cleopatra. From the beginning to the
end of the play, Cleopatra struggled to succeed within a
patriarchal society which can be paralleled to the
challenges that Queen Elizabeth herself faced in her
regime. Just as Queen Elizabeth was extravagant,
Cleopatra’s theatrical nature contributed to her role as
Egyptian Queen and revealed that a woman can be a
highly intelligent, successful, strong ruler while living in a
patriarchal society

58. HIGHLY THEATRICAL
The barge she sat in like a burnished throne Burned on
the water. The poop was beaten gold, Purple the sails,
and so perfumed that The winds were lovesick with
them. The oars were Silver, Which to the tune of flutes
kept stroke, and made The water which they beat to
follow faster As amorous of their strokes. For her own
person, It beggared all description: she did lie In her
pavilion—cloth-of-gold, of tissue— O’erpicturing that
Venus where we see The fancy outwork nature. (2.2.
227-237)
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
Cleopatra is highly theatrical; she is therefore depicted in an extravagant fashion. This is
portrayed when Enobarbus describes Cleopatra when Antony sees her for the first time:
Shakespeare’s description of Cleopatra is nothing but simple. She is depicted as
luminous and luxurious, which parallels her as a character. She is so radiating that she is
more beautiful than any artist’s depiction of the goddess Venus. Cleopatra is revealed as
so stunning that the “fancy outwork nature” which again contrasts the natural woman
with the unnatural woman.

59. ANTONY VS CLEOPATRA
Nay but this dotage of our general’s O’erflows the measure:
those his goodly eyes,
That o’er the files and musters of the war Have glowed like
plated Mars, now bend, now turn Upon a tawny front. His
captain’s heart, Which in the scuffles of great fights hath
burst The buckles on his breast, reneges all temper, And is
become the bellows and the fan To cool a gipsy’s lust. (1.1.
1-10)
It is important that these first lines in the play are about the portrayal of both Antony
and Cleopatra, but are said by outsiders. Their romance plays a central role in the
entirety of the play, and everyone around them is involved in their personal affair. This
opening passage sets up the foundation for the rest of the play: Antony is political and
highly militarized, while Cleopatra is a highly sexualized woman in power, which
reveals her to be intimidating and living against the social and cultural standards that
have been set for the time period. According to Philo Antony instead of tending his
obligations in Rome leaves behind his Roman values and made Cleopatra a dark ruler
his primary focus.

60. PLAYS A THREATENING ROLE
Cleopatra broke the social norms by passing from the private
sphere into the public sphere, which caused others to
perceive her as much more threatening.
Cleopatra’s extravagant and theatrical nature makes her
extremely threatening to men and women. For this reason,
she goes against the social norms prevalent at that time rather
than being submissive and compliant. Cleopatra possesses
qualities that are contrary to be expected of an ideal woman.

62. Cleopatra’s choice of suicide is the last
time she will exert control in a
patriarchal society. Since Caesar was set
on exploiting Cleopatra, she instead
mocks the limitations of his power by
making such a spectacle of her death
(Cook 265). She keeps her theatrics until
the final scene of the play, in which she
is speaking to Iras and Chairman and
states, “Give me my robe. Put on my
crown. I have / Immortal longings in
me” (5.2. 335-336).
Even in death she is determined to be
represented as a queen rather than an
“Egyptian puppet” (5.5. 224) which is
how Caesar would have presented her to
all of Rome.

64. After two failed attempts to commit suicide “she
dressed herself in her richest attire, as was her
custom, and settled herself next to her Antony in
a sarcophagus filled with aromatic perfumes. She
then put snakes to her veins and slipped into
death as if into sleep,” wrote Florus in the second
century A.D.

66. Cultural depictions
Cleopatra was regarded as a great she would more easily bring Antony to her feet. For
Caesar and Pompey had known her when she was still a girl and inexperienced in affairs, but
she was going to visit Antony at the very time when women have the most brilliant
beauty.”Later in the work, however, Plutarch indicates that "her beauty, even in the ancient
world. In his Life of Antony, Plutarch remarks beauty upon Caius Caesar and Gnaeus the son
of Pompey was in itself neither altogether incomparable, nor such as to strike those who
saw her." Rather, what ultimately made Cleopatra attractive were her wit, charm and
"sweetness in the tones of her voice.“
Cassius Dio also spoke of Cleopatra: "For she was a woman of surpassing beauty, and at that
time, when she was in the prime of her youth, she was most striking; she also possessed a
most charming voice and knowledge of how to make herself agreeable to everyone.
These accounts influenced later cultural depictions of Cleopatra, which typically present her
using her charms to influence the most powerful men in the Western world.
Cleopatra was also renowned for her intellect. Plutarch writes that she could speak at least
nine languages and rarely had need of an interpreter.

67. REFERENCES
1. Suetonius, On the Life of the Caesars, Augustus, XVII 4
2. Cleopatra: the life of an Egyptian queen By Gary Jeffrey, Anita Ganeri page
6 :” Throughout their dynasty, the Ptolemies held onto their Greek culture
and continued to speak Greek as their main language.”
3. Plutarch, Life of Antony 25-29; Appian, Civil Wars 5.8-11; Cassius
Dio, Roman History 48.24
4. Walker, Susan; Higgs, Peter (2001), Cleopatra of Egypt, From History to
Myth, British Museum Press, ISBN978-0-7141-1943-4