Editing Antony and Cleopatra (section)

==== The characterization of Rome and Egypt ====

Critics have often used the opposition between Rome and Egypt in ''Antony and Cleopatra'' to set forth defining characteristics of the various characters. While some characters are distinctly Egyptian, others are distinctly Roman, some are torn between the two, and still others attempt to remain neutral.<ref name="Hirsh" /> Critic James Hirsh has stated that, "as a result, the play dramatises not two but four main figurative locales: Rome as it is perceived from a Roman point of view; Rome as it is perceived from an Egyptian point of view; Egypt as it is perceived from a Roman point of view; and Egypt as it is perceived from an Egyptian point of view."<ref name="Hirsh" />{{rp|p.175}}

===== Rome from the Roman perspective =====
According to Hirsh, Rome largely defines itself by its opposition to Egypt.<ref name="Hirsh" />{{rp|p.167–77}} Where Rome is viewed as structured, moral, mature, and essentially masculine, Egypt is the polar opposite; chaotic, immoral, immature, and feminine. In fact, even the distinction between masculine and feminine is a purely Roman idea which the Egyptians largely ignore. The Romans view the "world" as nothing more than something for them to conquer and control. They believe they are "impervious to environmental influence"<ref name="Crane" /> and that they are not to be influenced and controlled by the world but vice versa.

===== Rome from the Egyptian perspective =====
The Egyptians view the Romans as boring, oppressive, strict and lacking in passion and creativity, preferring strict rules and regulations.<ref name="Hirsh" />{{rp|p.177}}

===== Egypt from the Egyptian perspective =====
The Egyptian worldview reflects what Mary Floyd-Wilson has called geo-humoralism, or the belief that climate and other environmental factors shapes racial character.<ref>Floyd-Wilson, Mary (2003). ''English Ethnicity and Race in Early Modern Drama''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1–2. {{ISBN|0-521-81056-6}}.</ref> The Egyptians view themselves as deeply entwined with the natural "earth". Egypt is not a location for them to rule over, but an inextricable part of them. Cleopatra envisions herself as the embodiment of Egypt because she has been nurtured and moulded by the environment<ref name="Crane" /> fed by "the dung, / The beggar's nurse and Caesar's" (5.2.7–8). They view life as more fluid and less structured allowing for creativity and passionate pursuits.

===== Egypt from the Roman perspective =====
The Romans view the Egyptians essentially as improper. Their passion for life is continuously viewed as irresponsible, indulgent, over-sexualised and disorderly.<ref name="Hirsh" />{{rp|p.176–77}} The Romans view Egypt as a distraction that can send even the best men off course. This is demonstrated in the following passage describing Antony.

<blockquote><poem>
Boys who, being mature in knowledge,
Pawn their experience to their present pleasure,
And so rebel judgment.
(1.4.31–33)
</poem></blockquote>

Ultimately the dichotomy between Rome and Egypt is used to distinguish two sets of conflicting values between two different locales. Yet, it goes beyond this division to show the conflicting sets of values not only between two cultures but within cultures, even within individuals.<ref name="Hirsh" />{{rp|p.180}} As John Gillies has argued "the 'orientalism' of Cleopatra's court—with its luxury, decadence, splendour, sensuality, appetite, effeminacy and eunuchs—seems a systematic inversion of the legendary Roman values of temperance, manliness, courage".<ref>Gillies, John (1994). ''Shakespeare and the Geography of Difference''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 118. {{ISBN|0-521-45853-6}}.</ref> While some characters fall completely into the category of Roman or Egyptian (Octavius as Roman, Cleopatra Egyptian) others, such as Antony, cannot choose between the two conflicting locales and cultures. Instead he oscillates between the two. In the beginning of the play Cleopatra calls attention to this saying

<blockquote><poem>
He was dispos'd to mirth, but on the sudden
A Roman thought hath strook him.
(1.2.82–83)
</poem></blockquote>

This shows Antony's willingness to embrace the pleasures of Egyptian life, yet his tendency to still be drawn back into Roman thoughts and ideas.

Orientalism plays a very specific, and yet, nuanced role in the story of Antony and Cleopatra. A more specific term comes to mind, from Richmond Barbour, that of proto-orientalism, that is orientalism before the age of imperialism.<ref>Barbour, Richmond. ''Before Orientalism: London's Theatre of the East 1576–1626''. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Print.</ref> This puts Antony and Cleopatra in an interesting period of time, one that existed before the West knew much about what would eventually be called the Orient, but still a time where it was known that there were lands beyond Europe. This allowed Shakespeare to use widespread assumptions about the "exotic" east with little academic recourse. It could be said that Antony and Cleopatra and their relationship represent the first meeting of the two cultures in a literary sense, and that this relationship would lay the foundation for the idea of Western superiority vs. Eastern inferiority.<ref>Al-Dabbagh, Abdulla. ''Literary Orientalism, Postcolonialism, and Universalism''. New York: Peter Lang, 2010. Print.</ref> The case could also be made that at least in a literary sense, the relationship between Antony and Cleopatra was some people's first exposure to an inter-racial relationship, and in a major way. This plays into the idea that Cleopatra has been made out to be an "other", with terms used to describe her like "gypsy".<ref name="Crane" /> And it is this otherization that is at the heart of the piece itself, the idea that Antony, a man of Western origin and upbringing has coupled himself with the Eastern women, the stereotypical "other".<ref>Gajowski, Evelyn. ''The Art of Loving: Female Subjectivity and Male Discursive Traditions in Shakespeare's Tragedies''. Newark: University of Delaware, 1992. Print.</ref>