RELEASING THE POWER OF THE POSITIVE FEMININE ARCHETYPE

IN THE PERFORMING ARTS

CASE IN POINT:
SHAKESPEARE’S IMMORTAL QUEEN,
CLEOPATRA AS ISIS

by

JACLYN L. STEIN

A THESIS

Presented to the Independent Study Program

and the Honors College of the University of Oregon
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree
of Bachelor of Arts

March, 1990

[© 2005 Jaclyn Henderson, RC]

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APPROVED BY: ___________________________________________________

Prof. Gloria Johnson

[Signature is on original in my possession and copy in the Honors College of the

University of Oregon. Gloria Johnson was my thesis advisor.]
 3

[Note to the Reader

This is my undergraduate thesis that I wrote while a student enrolled in

the Robert D. Clarke Honors College at the University of Oregon 1988-1990, which was

required of me to research, write, and pass in oral examination for undergraduate

graduation. The Honors College offered then (still does now) a different kind of B.A.

program to undergraduates who are creative beyond normal modes of thinking. It’s hard

to get into, harder to stay with and hardest to leave because to leave the student must

graduate and write a thesis that presents new thought beyond the normal undergraduate

scope.

I remember one Honors College biologist who found and proved to the world that

a new living organism existed that no one knew about before. He wrote about this new

being for his thesis and spoke about this at one of our weekly thesis meetings. I call this

new thought.

It’s been fifteen years since I copied here my thesis for graduation. During this

time I’ve realized that the Honors College is best aligned with graduate work. I may

have only received an undergraduate degree, but I had a graduate education.

The Honors College program develops new thinkers, but students don’t know this

at the time. During their study, students are taught: “you’re not supposed to learn how

things are, but how things are going to be.” That’s the program and it’s kind of a hard

row to hoe. I remember that the program taught its students to: learn and write now, for a

different task will come later that is based on the same kind of thinking. That’s a trusting

statement and many students couldn’t fulfill this or just didn’t see its significance at the

time, so they left. I watched some students leave this school and always knew that they
 4

would miss what they had started, but had not finished. I’m glad that I finished what I

started.

During their study, Honors College students are treated like graduate students

from other university students, and given a six month library privilege for each book

checked out, with extensions as necessary. In this way, all books are kept longer than

usual so that the student can write the thesis. The thesis was the epitome of

undergraduate study, personified the degree earned, and was written gradually. So the

school knew that the Honors College student, who passed her required courses for

graduation, also offered something more to this world by writing her thesis.

This program was unlike any other college program that was offered in the USA

at the time. Several other schools have taken up the same idea that this college offered

first, but I don’t think they will ever encompass it fully. You can’t copy an original.

That would be a forgery, right? And there’s no ego at the Honors College, only minds

open to receive education beyond what’s normally given to others. That’s not a forgery.

This kind of education celebrates the work in progress.

I’ll never forget what happened at my Oral examination. I remember being

asked by one female professor who sat on my committee: “You wrote a thesis about

the work that was written by a man [Shakespeare], yet he couldn’t have possibly known

what it was like to be a woman at the time. How can you back-up Shakespeare’s

rendition of Cleopatra?” I didn’t even blink, but answered, “I don’t care

who wrote this. THIS IS ART!” The committee was satisfied, I passed the Oral and

afterwards Gloria warmly agreed with my response.

I saw that this kind of statement was what I needed to say, even back then, for this
 5

is what I learned with my forward thinking: living on earth required me to see beyond

what others thought of as “normal thinking” so I could create something new. This was

my undergraduate education and how I looked at life then. Come to think of it, I’m still

doing that…

The “icing on the cake” occurred at graduation when the Honors College class

was announced and nine students stood-up, seated just behind the graduate students who

sat in front of them. We filled almost one row of seats. I’ll never forget looking on

the faces of my classmates who were also amazed to see so few numbering a graduating

class from a university school. In all, the entire graduating class that year numbered

about 4,000 students. Family and friends filled Autzen stadium. I remember my mom

(my family in attendance) shouting from the bleachers “Yeah!” when I received my

degree.

I have kept this thesis quiet for years, but now I’m typing it here. “Wow,” I

think! “This is an amazing piece of writing! Did I write this then? Did I really do all of

that work?” I just remember vaguely walking to school from my apartment carrying an

armful of books that were hard to carry. I remember knowing that I had to stay-up all

night studying for my test the next day, while I had all of these books that I didn’t have

the time to read, but these were what I wanted to read! I wanted to learn the ins and outs

of analyzing a character for acting before I played the part. Others might find that kind of

research useful too. After all, when one plays a historical figure on the stage, then one

first needs to learn who the figure was in context, before she adds her own personal mask.

After all, I had been asked to audition for Shakespeare’s Cleopatra to play her in

their Shakespeare’s canon that was underway in Ashland that year. But I never went to
 6

the audition. My life changed, just as Cleo’s had changed, and just as a woman’s life

changes drastically and is not easily recognized or helped along from time to time.

The wording of this thesis has not been changed. Only the footnote numbering

and page numbers have changed to keep references accurate. There are Chapter Notes at

the end of each chapter, except for Chapter One’s, Introduction, which only has

footnotes. Writing this thesis taught me at the time how to note my life in a natural

progression, and to think and research what I wrote beyond the free-write genre that

I do now, which doesn’t research anything. Typing this thesis now helps me see that

both are okay to do.

This thesis moved through three complete drafts that were each corrected by

my thesis committee members. Each final outcome was considered by Gloria (my thesis

advisor), who always gave me references that encouraged me never to stop considering

new possibilities. Here was an advisor who welcomed new ideas continually, and then

bade me look at other references for further thinking, which I did.

Today, I still value her uncompromising stance, for this attitude taught me not

only what was expected of me at the time, but what I could do afterwards. This kind of

education is not formally taught anywhere. It is the student who must first seek out what

is needed for her to learn, and then do what is required with that learning. It is the

student who must take the next step from her learning.

Originally, this thesis was typed at the Honors College on a quasi-computer,

which seemed to be the beginning of their computer system. No master or copy was

saved at that time, only the hard copy. This is why I’m typing it here again and I’m

very glad that I’m doing this! Writing this thesis taught me something that I could not
 7

have obtained anywhere else: integrity and character building. I needed to learn this then,

so I could abide with it now, and carry forward my life in that tradition.]
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An Abstract of the Thesis of Jaclyn L. Stein for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in

the Department of Independent Study to be taken June 1990 Title: RELEASING THE

POWER OF THE POSITIVE FEMININE ARCHETYPE IN THE PERFORMING

ARTS; CASE IN POINT: SHAKESPEARE’S IMMORTAL QUEEN, CLEOPATRA AS

ISIS

This thesis gives evidence to support the idea that the character of Cleopatra

(Queen of Egypt), as constructed by William Shakespeare for use in his play The

Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, was based on the Egyptian goddess Isis, as

Shakespeare had available for his use several key documents which demonstrated that the

historical Cleopatra was similar in character to this goddess.

The character of Cleopatra is one of the hardest dramatic roles for women to

master. Using an archetypal identification technique will allow the process of

constructing this character to be an easy one. Archetypal identification allows the actress

to identify with the goddess archetype(s) within her self in order to bring to life the reality

of the character she is portraying. As all dramatic characters are permeated with

archetypal blueprints, they can be brought to life in a realistic fashion for use on the stage

by the actress’s identification with the goddess archetypes that dwell within her.

Cleopatra is a strong choice for presentation of this archetypal identification

technique because her character is based primarily upon the goddess archetype Isis,
 9

thereby giving the actress a clearer picture of the goddess’ characteristics than is

normally present in most dramatic roles. However, this identification technique may be

used throughout the entire range of the dramatic repertoire in some fashion, as well as in

other performing and artistic mediums such as dance, painting and photography.

All artistic mediums carry the potential of bringing to life heroic and positive

archetypal qualities. As artists manifest within themselves and through their work the

positive feminine images of birth, rebirth, fruition and immortality, they and their

surrounding society may see a new and meaningful transformation occur, reflecting this

positive nature.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank the Honors College faculty, staff and students for their assistance

in the completion of this project. In particular, I would like to thank several people

whose help was vital during the process: Tom Youderian, who taught me how to use the

computer software program; Professor Henry Alley, who gave me his support and

friendship while I was getting started; Professor Francine Cogan, who gave me her

support and encouragement; and Dr. Richard Stevenson [President of the Honors College

then] who provided me with many moments of saving grace.

I also wish to thank those who served as members on my thesis committee: Dr.

Anne Laskaya, Dr. Heather Henderson, Dr. Francine Cogan and Dr. Gloria Johnson, for

their patience, understanding and willingness to stay with me while this project took

shape and form throughout my changing life. My heartfelt thanks goes to Professor

Johnson, whose encouragement, guidance and example along the way gave me strength

to move ahead when darkness covered the path.

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I dedicate this project

to the memory of my father,

Louis Ronald Stein,

who gave me the gift of melody,

and to my mother,

Harlene Sharon Stein,

who gave me the voice with which to sing.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

1 Introduction 13

2 Theory: The Nature, Power and Use of the Positive Feminine 17

Archetype

3 Method: Identification with the Archetype 26

4 Application: Cleopatra as Isis 32

5 Process: Script Analysis 50

6 Conclusion: The Positive Feminine Archetype in the 63

Performing Arts

7 Appendix I: Illustrations by Neumann 72

8 Appendix II: Illustrations by the Author 76

9 Appendix III: The Historical Cleopatra 82

Bibliography 87
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1. Introduction

In December, 1988, I began research for this thesis, interested in studying the

nature of Elizabethan nobility as presented in four of Shakespeare’s queens. As an

experienced actress, I welcomed the opportunity to delve into such topics as Renaissance

history and literature, performance practice, women’s issues of the era, and heroic

archetypal character types in order to construct sound character analyses for these roles.

My thought was to accompany my literary study with performances of monologues taken

from each play, demonstrating how theory about performance practice can be translated

into form.

Behind my keen interest to learn more about Shakespeare, I was fascinated by his

portrayal of royal women who displayed dignity and strength in the face of challenging

circumstances; the nature of nobility was the intriguing factor. My understanding of how

to portray this one character trait on the stage seemed to me to be the critical factor to my

work, one which would carry the part if I could hone it. Since two of my chosen queens,

Hermione (The Winter’s Tale) and Cleopatra (Antony and Cleopatra) had similarities,

both in character and story line, to that of goddess archetypes (Demeter and Isis), I began

research into goddess archetypes to see if I could discover ways to bring alive the

inherent royal strength and nobility found in the goddess, and carry it over into my

acting. What I found was a gold mine.

I discovered, particularly through the works of Dr. Jean Bolen (Goddesses in

Everywoman), and Dr. Erich Neumann (The Great Mother, Armor and Psyche, Art and

the Creative Unconscious), that within every woman, and therefore every actress’s

psyche, there is the feminine archetype, composed of four major groupings or

 14

“mysteries,” as defined by Neumann. Tapping into these mysteries allows a powerful

force to surface from the subconscious, and release into a woman’s life. I realized that by

using archetypal identification techniques, spoken of in different ways by Bolen, Jung

and Neumann, along with method acting techniques, I could tap into the goddess

archetypal aspects residing in myself, thus enabling my acting presentation to be genuine

and powerful.

As my research continued, three queens were eliminated: Hermione (The

Winter’s Tale), Catherine (Henry VIII), and Imogen (Cymbeline), because I could not

find adequate source material in the literature to prove that they could be played based on

a goddess archetype. I decided to work solely with Cleopatra, because all the source

material I found, which is based on the historical Cleopatra, presented her as a goddess

figure and a royal figure. As well, Shakespeare’s presentation of Cleopatra’s character as

containing good/evil personality traits indicated his understanding of her multi-faceted

personality, and was a perfect example with which to work.

Discovering that the archetypal mysteries of Isis were birth, rebirth, fruition, and

immortality, I became fascinated with how these qualities could be expressed personally

and collectively, thereby sustaining their essences in our lives socially. I researched the

beginnings of theatre, sacred ritual and dance, myth, symbols, collective worship, and

read all the Joseph Campbell I could find. I was captivated with how these powerful

forces could be used artistically. Personal identification with mythological images and

characters such as heroes and villains, and historic material steeped in royal splendor,

have all opened doors in consciousness, in times past, to what inherently abides inside us.

Speaking of the mythological archetype, Joseph Campbell states that there is

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“a wonderful reconstruction of the bolder, cleaner, more spacious and

fully human life,” that comes from expressing the hero we carry within.1

I have found that the archetypal mysteries of birth, rebirth, fruition and

immortality found within the goddess Isis are tremendously powerful tools for the artist

to use. As images, they evoke their own processes, and thereby may allow renewal of

life processes when represented through artistic mediums. I was so interested in these

mysteries, that I chose to work with them through another medium, that of art (see

Appendix II), in order to visualize them, which in turn, has assisted in my understanding

of how these mysteries affect my own acting processes while presenting Cleopatra.

I think that the idea of “process,” evoked by the feminine archetypal mysteries of

birth, rebirth, fruition and immortality, as well as the heroic archetype warrants further

exploration and development in our society as a whole, particularly through artistic and

performing mediums. This is why I chose to work with this topic as the basis for my

thesis. The natural function of mythology and archetypes seeks to integrate and carry

forward new seeds for creative action in society, as Campbell states:

It has always been the prime function of mythology and rite to supply the
symbols that carry the human spirit forward, in counteraction to those
other constant human fantasies that tend to tie it back.2

Speaking of how the heroic archetype functions within us personally, and in society,

Michael Exeter says:

…People in our world long to be heroic. They long to be truly effective.

The question is as to whether any individual will be willing to pass
through the training that makes a hero or heroine and ultimately…the
question arises as to how factually able we are to handle the force, the
power that is natural to the true hero. This has to do with purification of

1
Joseph Campbell, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, (New York: The Bollingen Series XVII, Pantheon
Books, 1949), p. 8.
2
Ibid., p. 11.
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the heart. There can be no focused mental activity… if the heart is

incoherent.3

Life-oriented artistic forms which clothe a regenerative theme, and are created by

like-minded artists, may serve to awaken society to a more creative approach to living as

Campbell notes:

Only birth can conquer death…the birth…of something new. Within the
soul, within the body social there must be…a continuous reoccurrence of
birth…for it is by means of our own victories, if we are not regenerated,
that the work of Nemesis (imitation) is wrought: doom breaks from the
shell of our very virtue.4

Ultimately, it is not a question of reshaping artistic forms or theatrical mediums, but of

reshaping the minds and hearts of those artists who give creation its meaning, for it is

here, within the internal mechanisms of our being, that the world we see external to

ourselves is artistically recreated.

In the final decade of the twentieth century, it appears that many of the artistic

forms having been and being created have destructive themes, such as isolation, death,

despair. If artistic endeavors are to survive this self-destructive trend, and re-emerge with

a more sustainable purpose, artists [writers] must be present who have a clear picture of

the positive nature of life, and who are interested in representing this nature through

artistic form, thereby influencing society along lines of positive force. Consequently,

these artists will find that the positive feminine archetypal images can serve as a useful

basis for artistic endeavors, impacting society as a whole with creative and re-creative

intent. Through their endeavors comes a wellspring of meaning in alignment with the

positive nature of life.

3
Michael Exeter, “As the Sun Shines in His Strength,” an extemporaneous talk given November 20, 1988.
4
Campbell, p. 16.
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Chapter 2

Theory: The Nature, Power and Use of the Feminine Archetype

My work has proven empirically that the pattern of God exists in every

man, and that this pattern has at its disposal the greatest of all his [man’s]

energies for transformation and transfiguration of his natural being. Not

only the meaning of his life but his renewal and his institutions, depend on

his conscious relationship with this pattern. –Carl G. Jung (1)

Once a powerful symbol and force within an old European matriarchal

society (B.C.), the “Great Mother” feminine archetype was worshipped as the Great

Goddess. Psychiatrist Jean Bolen explains in Goddesses in Everywoman:

The Great Goddess was worshipped as the feminine life force deeply
connected to nature and fertility, responsible both for creating life, and for
destroying life. The snake, the dove, the tree and the moon were her
sacred symbols…she was considered immortal, changeless, and
omnipotent. As a God head, she took lovers not to provide her children
with a father, but for pleasure. Fatherhood had not yet been introduced
into religious thought, and there were no male gods. (2)

This society, however, was invaded and destroyed by “an infiltration of semi-

nomadic and horse-riding Indo-European” people from the distant north and east

which resulted in the incorporation of the authority once attributed to the

female godhead given over to a male godhead; the power of the goddesses
was incorporated into the religion of the invaders. (3)

At this point, the attributes once given to the Great Goddess were divided among many

goddess archetypes and incorporated into differing cultures; as explained by Erich

Neumann in Armor and Psyche, “The splitting up of the primordial archetype into

separate Goddesses leads to individual cults.” (4)

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As well as providing a brief historical perspective on the Great Goddess

archetype, Bolen also classifies the female psyche into three Greek goddess archetypal

groupings: the virgin goddesses containing Artemis, Athena and Hestia, the vulnerable

goddesses Hera, Demeter and Persephone, and the transformative goddess Aphrodite.

For the purposes of this thesis, I will be concerned only with the vulnerable goddess

archetype, known in Egyptian mythology as Isis, with some reference to the Greek

goddess Demeter.

The vulnerable goddesses Isis and Demeter are primarily responsible for the

vegetation mysteries of birth, rebirth, fruition and immortality. (5) These two goddesses

embody the sexual needs of women, including bearing and releasing actions, and the idea

of growth and development in the body of the earth. Neumann summarizes a vegetation

goddess as “preserver of life…goddess of fertility, who is…concerned with the group,

which she bids to be ‘fruitful and multiply’.” (6) Discussing the difference of experience

in the sexual encounter between men and women, Neumann goes on:

What for the masculine is aggression, victory, rape,

and the satisfaction of desire…is for the
feminine destiny, transformation, and the
profoundest mystery of life…To experience
maidenhood, womanhood and nascent motherhood in one,
and in this transformation to plumb the depths of
her own existence: this is given only to the woman. (7)

Bolen describes contemporary women who bear close resemblance to these

archetypes as women who

represent the traditional roles of wife, mother, and daughter.

They are the relationship-oriented goddess archetypes whose
identities and well-being depend on having a significant
relationship…They express women’s needs for affiliation and bonding.
They are attuned to others and are vulnerable. These three
goddesses were raped, abducted, dominated, or humiliated by
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male gods. Each suffered in her characteristic way when an

attachment was broken or dishonored, and showed…
the potential for growth through suffering that is
inherent in each of these goddess archetypes. (8)

Bolen found in her research that it was possible to bring forward into

consciousness the various attributes of goddess archetypes when working with her

patients. Seeking to integrate various elements of the female psyche into a wholesome

Experience for her patients, she suggested that goddess roles could serve as powerful

inner patterns or archetypes and could offer insights into what motivates, compels,

frustrates or satisfies women:

When a woman senses that there is a mythic dimension to something

she is undertaking, that knowledge touches and inspires deep
creative centers in her. Myths evoke feeling and imagination, and touch
on themes that are part of the human collective inheritance. (9)

Erich Neumann, a student of Carl Jung, psychologist, and the author of

The Great Mother, spent many years developing the role that the feminine archetype

plays in human consciousness. He states that in order for psychic wholeness to be

developed in an individual, the consciousness of the individual needs to be allied with the

contents of the unconscious. Striving for a synthesis between a dominantly patriarchal

society and a suppressed matriarchal potential, Neumann develops in his book a

description of the entire feminine spectrum, asserting that psychic wholeness in the

individual “makes possible a fertile living community…sound individual basis for a

sound community.” (10)

Describing the feminine archetype with larger and more in-depth analysis than

Bolen, Neumann brings forward the idea that deep-seated images or pictures of the
 20

feminine archetype reside within the subconscious of women. He agrees with his

teacher, Carl Jung, who describes an archetype as

a phenomenon transcending consciousness, eternally

present, non-visible and probably forming the
structural dominants of the psyche….The function
of the image symbol in the psyche produces a
compelling effect on consciousness. (11)

The process works in this way: a woman draws up the archetype from the

subconscious, and this archetypal picture becomes visible to the consciousness through

the mind’s pictorial plane. Now conscious of the nature of the archetype, the woman can

develop her personality within a larger understanding of the components contained

therein. Inward images work in the feminine psyche at conscious and unconscious levels,

and influence behavior patterns according to archetypal character traits. Awareness of

archetypal character traits within oneself brings about instinctive changes in one’s drive,

passion, feeling, and tone of personality. The archetype works on all these levels, and

serves as the unifying component in the development of personality.

Looking at the feminine component in a larger sense, Jung states that the central

symbol of the feminine is “vessel” and that the experience of the body as a vessel is

universally human and not limited to woman, though women primarily bring the “vessel”

image and functional components to focus due to their child bearing capacity.

Additionally, Neumann believes that the entire spectrum of feminine function—“the

giving of life, nourishment, warmth, and protection”—“occupies so central a position in

human symbolism and from the very beginning bears the character of ‘greatness.’ ” (12)

Neumann describes the two basic aspects of the feminine, that of the positive, or

“Good Mother,” and the negative, or “Terrible Mother,” each with its corresponding
 21

goddess archetypes who embody these traits. The positive side of the feminine contains

the goddess archetypes Isis, Demeter, Mary, and the virgin goddesses Mary, Sophia, and

Muse types. These archetypes carry positive mysteries such as the vegetation mysteries,

fruit, birth, rebirth and immortality, and the Inspiration Mysteries of the virgin types:

wisdom, vision, inspiration and ecstasy:

Bearing and releasing belong to the positive side of

the elementary character: their typical symbol is
the vegetation symbol in which the plant bursts out
of the dark womb of the earth and sees “the light of
the world.” This release from the darkness to the
light characterizes the way of life and also the way
of consciousness. Both ways lead always and
essentially from darkness to light. This is one of
the reasons for the archetypal connection between
growth symbolism and consciousness—while earth,
night, darkness and unconscious belong together, in
opposition to light and consciousness. In so far as
the Feminine releases what is contained in it to
life and light, it is the Great and Good Mother of
all life. (13)

The negative of Terrible Mother contains such goddesses as Lilith, Circe and

Astarte who bring to focus the mysteries of drunkenness with attributes such as ecstasy,

madness, impotence and stupor; and the goddesses Kali, Hectate and Gorgon who carry

the death mysteries of dismemberment, death, extinction and sickness:

On the other hand, the Great Mother in her function

of fixation and not releasing what aspires toward
independence and freedom is dangerous. This
situation constellates essential phases in the
history of consciousness and its conflict with the
Archetypal Feminine. To this context belongs a
symbol that plays an important role in myth and
fairy tale, namely captivity. This term implies
that the individual who is no longer in the original
and natural situation of childlike containment
experiences the attitude of the Feminine as
restricting and hostile. Moreover, the function of
 22

ensnaring implies an aggressive tendency, which,

like the symbolism of captivity, belongs to the
witch character of the negative mother. Net and
noose, spider, and the octopus with its ensnaring
arms are here the appropriate symbols. Victims of
this constellation…become “strugglers.” (14)

An important point in this discussion of feminine archetypes is that literary and dramatic

characters which possess mythic or archetypal patterning often carry differing

characteristics from those of the purely archetypal in order to serve the purposes of the

dramatic action. Cleopatra is a perfect example: Neumann’s analysis of Isis being purely

good or “positive,” differs from Shakespeare’s literary interpretation which portrays

Cleopatra with both good and bad aspects together in one. Blending both positive and

negative aspects together in the central character of an earthly queen gave Shakespeare

the source he needed to compel the action of the text simultaneously up and downwards:

Cleopatra reaches her ultimate immortal longing in the final moments of the play, but

only at the expense of losing her lover Antony.

As well, it is important to note that the universal nature of the hero archetype has

taken both masculine and feminine parts. Again, Cleopatra is a perfect example. Though

she is a woman, her role parallels that of a male Renaissance hero: she is given the entire

emphasis of the fifth act, and her role is based on a mythological and hero type—typical

practice during the Renaissance. Her journey into her monument in the fifth act and

subsequent death are usual descriptive events of the masculine hero. Joseph Campbell

explains:

The standard path of the mythological adventure of

The hero is a magnification of the formula
represented in the rites of passage: separation—
initiation—return…the hero ventures forth from
the world of common day into a region of
 23

supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there

encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero
comes back from this mysterious adventure with the
power to bestow boons on his fellow man. (15)

On his return, the hero unlocks and releases the flow of “life into the body of the world.”

(16)

At some point in the hero’s mythic journey, he moves into a kind of womb state, a

dark void wherein annihilation of the false or first self occurs. We may note Cleopatra’s

movement into her monument as representing this point in her journey:

[She[ passes into a temple of sacred duty, placing

[her] consciousness on the altar to be purified in
the flame of immortal consciousness [of the]
universal whole, to let what isn’t of truth of that
universal truth be burned away. (17)

At the moment of the hero’s entry into the temple, he undergoes a change, a

metamorphosis; he passes into a deeper, darker realm of what appears to be a wilderness,

but which in reality, is the initiation of a life renewing act of new consciousness being

restored. Part of his new conscious power is the ability to impart the same universal

power to others. In Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, symbols of the temple

experience can also be found in Cleopatra’s monument experience in Act V, and—in a

larger sense—Alexandria, the capitol of Cleopatra’s Egypt, which represents (in contrast

to Rome):

[the] place of eternal peace, calling man back to

rest among its olives from the heat and dust of
battering days…[an] eternity re-spaced on
earth. (18)
 24

The heroic journey may also be seen in terms of masculine and feminine

“mysteries” (a Greek term implying secret initiation into cult practice). (19) Neumann

describes the difference between the feminine and masculine mysteries:

The masculine mystery is bound up with the active

heroic struggle of the ego and is based on the
central insight that ‘I and the father are one’
(such as Christ). But the primordial feminine
mysteries have a different structure. They are
mysteries of birth and rebirth and appear
predominantly in three forms: as birth of the logos,
son of light (such as Mary and Jesus); as birth of
the daughter, the new self (such as the Aphrodite
and Psyche myth); and as birth of the dead in
rebirth (such as the Osiris/Isis myth). (20)

Thus, both masculine and feminine archetypal figures undergo dramatic

transformations resulting in renewal or rebirth of life in some form which is then given to

the world as a gift of salvation. Of note is that Shakespeare’s portrayal of Cleopatra

transcends the usual Elizabethan concept of woman, which was based on subservient

attitudes of those of men. Shakespeare created a Cleopatra based on a goddess figure,

instead of an Elizabethan noble woman. By reason of her goddess-like character traits,

Shakespeare’s Cleopatra creates the self she wills herself to be throughout the course of

the play, thereby attaining a status equal to that of other male Shakespearian heroes. (21)
 25

NOTES CHAPTER 2

1) As quoted by Michael Exeter, “The Master Pattern,” an extemporaneous talk

given June 25, 1989, 100 Mile House, B.C., Canada.
2) Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D., Goddesses in Everywoman, New York: Harper &
Row, 1984), p. 20.
3) Ibid.
4) Erich Neumann, Armor and Psyche, The Psychic Development of the
Feminine, A Commentary on the Tale by Apuleius. (New York: Bollingen
Foundation, Inc., 1956), p. 116.
5) Please see Appendix I, page 1.
6) Neumann. P. 113.
7) Ibid., p. 64.
8) Bolen, p. 17.
9) Ibid., p. 6.
10) Erich Neumann, The Great Mother, (New York: (Pantheon Books, 1954), p.
xiii.
11) Ibid., p. 5.
12) Ibid., p. 43 (See Appendix I, page 2).
13) Ibid., p. 65.
14) Ibid.
15) Campbell, p. 30.
16) Ibid., p. 40.
17) Ibid., p. 92.
18) G. Wilson Knight, The Imperial Theme, (Great Britain: Methuen and
Company, Ltd, 1951), p. 298.
19) Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride, ed. J. Gwyn Griffiths, (Great Britain: University
of Wales Press, 1970), p. 43.
20) Neumann, Amor and Psyche, p. 149.
21) Lucie Simpson, The Secondary Heroes of Shakespeare and Other Essays,
(Great Britain: The Frederick Printing Co., Ltd., No date cited), p. 28.
 26

CHAPTER 3

METHOD: IDENTIFICATION WITH THE ARCHETYPE

The inward work…consists in his turning the man he is, and the self he feels

himself and perpetually finds himself to be, into the raw material…whose end is

mastery…Mastery proves its validity as a form of life only when it dwells in the

boundless Truth, and sustained by it, becomes the art of the origin. The master no

longer seeks, but finds. –Eugen Herrigel (1)

Both Neumann and Bolen have been instrumental in reconstructing the nature of

the feminine psyche using goddess archetypes within our twentieth-century western

society—a society shaped by patriarchal dominance, yet awakening to the deep stirrings

of women as they try to find what is of genuine value in and among them. Proven to be

valuable in the healing arts, the goddess archetype identification technique, by reason of

its powerful nature and characteristics, may also be of use in the dramatic arts to help

actresses formulate a substantial character base in the dramatic roles they are given. For

example, both the positive and negative aspects of the Great Mother may be used to

develop complex roles other than Cleopatra, such as Lady Macbeth and Ophelia, which

demand the reality of madness. Also, since many of Shakespeare’s female roles

represent royalty or higher class status, identifying with the power and station of a

goddess archetype may allow an actress to experience an increased sense of majesty,

command and presence on the stage.

Uta Hagen, in her training manual Respect for Acting, emphasizes the importance

of the actor’s developing a deep understanding of the natural expanse of her own

abilities. “The more an actor develops a full sense of his own identity,” Hagen says, “the
 27

more his scope and capacity for identification with other characters than his own will be

possible.” (2) The same idea applies to the integration of a character or role. If a

dramatic role is constructed in such a way as to incorporate goddess archetypes, their

various attributes and/or selective characteristics, an actress selects those particular

archetypal patterns within herself that will provide her with a pattern of expression

genuine to herself and the role she is portraying. Bringing the goddesses that dwell

within her to the role she is portraying, she is able to select and embody specific images

at work in her psyche and express through them on the stage. The actress may then begin

to develop a pattern of identification with these images or behavior traits (if she is aware

they exist as traits within her personality) as the character. This technique is meant to

provide an added basis for the actress’s identification work—simply to reinforce what is

naturally present.

Archetypal identification technique works well with the “method” acting style, as

explained by Hagen in Respect for Acting. The actress is taught to construct the

background of the character and work for identification with this background until she

believes herself to be the character, in the given circumstances, with the character’s

personality and the given relationship. (3) Method acting training allows for a

“presentational” acting style, wherein the actor

Attempts to reveal human behavior through the use of himself,

Through an understanding of himself, and consequently an understanding
of the character he is portraying. (4)

In presentational or internal acting, the actor experiences (and subsequently presents) a

truthful moment-to-moment creation of life. Correct repetition of this method creates

technical expertise.
 28

Presentational actors (those who present what is true of themselves), then, serve to

“enlighten the audience about the human experience.” (5) Experiences called for from

the script must be searched for and found within the actor’s own experiential repertoire,

as Hagen explains:

The more I discover, the more I realize that I have endless sources in
Myself to put to use in the illumination of endless characters in dramatic
literature; that I am compounded of endless human beings depending on
the events moving in on me, my surrounding circumstance, relationships
with a variety of people, what I want, and what’s in my way at a given
moment: all within the context of my unique identity. (6)

Other role construction components that use identification techniques and that

may include archetypal awareness are: substitution; emotional memory or recall; careful

construction of the character; understanding of circumstances confronting the character;

relationships to others in the play; age; objectives; obstacles to objectives; and actions.

(7)

If the actress pursues her objectives clearly and strongly, and that is all she does in

any given moment of stage life, then it will “cost” the character something to be alive.

This is because the obstacles to the character’s objectives will be brought to bear upon

the character, either by an unforeseen circumstance, or by other characters’ actions, and

this is exactly what the playwright has written to have presented. The action needs to be

immediate and vital; one, clear, exciting, motivational choice will work. As Stanislavski

has written, “less is more.”

Several noted theatre professionals have long advocated Method or identification

approaches to character analysis. Harley Granville-Barker, for example, states that

Shakespeare did not aim at perfection but at “vitality, and achieved it intensely.” (8)

From my previous Shakespeare training, I find that some of this vitality comes from the
 29

actor’s identification with the character, but most of it comes from how the actor uses the

language—her verbal command of the speech. Granville-Barker states, “The

dialogue…is charged with an emotion which the speech releases, yet only releases fully

when the speaker…is identified with the character.” (9)

Granville-Barker also makes reference to Shakespeare’s innate understanding of

the human dilemma, noting that actors can identify with the reality of the drama he

constructed for them. He states that the illusion of live stage performance is “lodged in

the actors and characters alone,” and that his aim is to keep the actor, now identified with

the character

in as close a relation to the spectators…expressing over them…

through personal appeal, the intimacy set-up, the persuading them
that what he has to say is his own concern and theirs. (10)

Granville-Barker thus has identified the effectiveness of Method acting techniques long

before they were incorporated into and defined as a “Method” style. He states that the

actor should create his character out of his own person:

…the actor does not lose himself in the character he plays. On the
contrary, he not only presents it under his own aspect, he lends it his
own emotions too, and he must re-pass the thought of which it is built
through the silence of his own mind. He dissects it and then reconstructs
it in terms of his own personality… (He realizes himself) as the character.
(11)

Other theatre professionals evince an understanding of the ease that may characterize an

actor’s experience while playing Shakespeare, such as Royal Shakespeare Academy

actress Sheila Hancock, quoted during an informal discussion, in John Barton’s book,

Playing Shakespeare:

I found miraculously when I got on the stage and in front of an audience

and had to communicate…that if I let it flow, just happen, it seemed the
most natural thing in the world…and the language was so potent. I felt I
 30

had to make less effort than I’d ever had to make before. (12)

Another actor, Mike Gwilyn adds, “A character is not just what he says but how he says

it.” (13)

Due to the many demands placed upon a Shakespearian actress, Method and

archetypal identification techniques can assist the actress in bringing alive on stage a

larger-than-life reality to her work, often necessary in a large outdoor or in-house setting.

Such demands include but are not limited to: accurate speech control and projection;

poetic inflection; uncomfortable movements due to heavy costumes or stylistic behavior;

mastery of the standard English stage dialects; word usages different from those of the

twentieth century; poetic rhythm, meter and texture, and of course, bringing to life the

complexity of character which remains the central focus of Shakespearian drama. The

most difficult maneuvering, however, has to do with letting the moment-to-moment

delivery be genuine in the actress’s experience while achieving all of the above

simultaneously. Archetypal identification eases this burden because the acting is more

genuine, and the actress may spend more time preparing this in other areas.

A genuine fluidity of expression stemming from an active internal life is the

hallmark of an accomplished actress. Character construction using Method and

archetypal identification techniques can help to create the reality of life inherent in

dramatic text that theoretical commentary can only determine in potential.

 31

NOTES CHAPTER 3

1) Eugen Herrigel, Zen in the Art of Archery, (New York: Random House,
1971), p. 50.
2) Uta Hagen, Respect for Acting, (New York: MacMillan Publishing Co.,
1973), p. 24.
3) Ibid., p. 5.
4) Ibid., p. 12.
5) Ibid., p. 22. Please note there are differing opinions offered by scholars, such
as Beckeman, as to the use of the terms “representational,” and
“presentational.” For the purpose of this thesis, I am using Uta Hagen’s
definition.
6) Ibid., p. 25.
7) Ibid., p. 152.
8) Harley Granville-Barker, More Prefaces to Shakespeare, (Princeton: Princeton
UP, 1974), p. 46.
9) Harley Granville-Barker, Prefaces to Shakespeare, vol. 1, (Princeton:
Princeton UP, 1947), p. 6.
10) Ibid., p. 25.
11) Ibid., p. 26.
12) John Barton, Playing Shakespeare, (New York: Methuen, 1984), p. 13.
13) Ibid., p. 15.
 32

CHAPTER 4

APPLICATION: CLEOPATRA AS ISIS

“I am Isis the goddess, lady of words of power, worker with words of power,

mighty in utterance of speech…Come to me…for my speech hath in it the power

to protect, and it possesses life…And they drew nigh to me at my call, and they

themselves wept at the greatness of my misery…” –Egyptian Book of the Dead

(1)

Three main written sources were available to Shakespeare when he created

Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra, sources which give evidence to suggest that he

created this character based on the goddess Isis, and endowed her with the Isis archetype,

containing the vegetation mysteries of birth, rebirth, fruition and immortality. These

sources describe the historical figure of Cleopatra as one who played out the role of an

earthly queen, and by reason of the duties inherent in her title, necessarily personified the

role and traits of Isis to her people. With artistic skill, Shakespeare took this historical

information, and endowed Cleopatra with a personality of good and evil, blending her

immortal “longings” with her mortal regality, thus achieving a perfect balance between

earthly and divine natures. Her good/evil duality proves to be the essential characteristic

Shakespeare uses to move the storyline in a simultaneously ascending/descending

motion: by reason of Cleopatra’s manipulative behavior, her relationship with Antony

disintegrates and Antony mortally wounds himself. And, after Antony’s death, Cleopatra

quickly follows, achieving immortality with him (as is her belief) in heaven. Cleopatra’s

personification of Isis in her death clearly demonstrates a resemblance to the Isis/Osiris

 33

myth in that she instigates Antony’s and her own movement into a higher, heavenly

realm by means of her regenerative powers.

The first source is Sir Thomas North’s translation of Plutarch’s “Life of Marcus

Antonius,” contained in his Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, published in 1579.

In this chapter, Plutarch portrays Cleopatra as a goddess and Marc Antony as a god:

She was laid under a pavilion of cloth of gold of tissue, appareled and
attired like the goddess Venus commonly drawn in picture…and there
went a rumor in the people’s mouths that the goddess Venus was come to
play with the god Bacchus for the general good of all Asia. (2)

Enobarbus’s description of Cleopatra to Agrippa in Act II, Scene ii suggests

Shakespeare’s knowledge of this passage:

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;…For her own person…she did lie in her
pavilion, cloth-of-gold of tissue…that Venus where we see the fancy
outwork nature…(197…207)

Also in this source is a description of Cleopatra in her monument after the death

of Antony which pictures her closely resembling a priestess of Isis:

When she saw Caesar come into her chamber she suddenly rose up naked
in her smock, and fell down at his feet marvelously disfigured, both for
that she had plucked her hair from her head, as also for that she had
martyred all her face with her nails. (3)

Although in this scene Shakespeare does not portray Cleopatra with as much

physical disfigurement as Plutarch suggests, she does kneel before Caesar, thereby

appearing to disgrace her station (although her apparent disgrace is deceptive):

 34

Dolabella. It is the Emperor, madam.

Cleopatra kneels.

Caesar. Arise! You shall not kneel:

I pray you rise; rise, Egypt.

Cleopatra. Sir, the gods will have it thus. My master and my lord
I must obey. (4)

Caesar would think that Cleopatra’s kneeling is due to her deep sorrow for the loss of

Antony, inspiring humility before Caesar. Sharon Kelly Heyob explains women’s

ceremonial rites called “Isia” prevalent at the time of Cleopatra’s reign wherein women

in mourning lamented over the dead bodies of departed loved ones. Short of hair and

dressed in white, women would process through the city streets with loud lamentations,

calling upon Isis’ name entreating her to bestow life upon the dead. (5) In the

performance of Antony and Cleopatra, by the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford

(viewed ala video), the actress playing Cleopatra wore a simple white gown during Act

V, and had her hair strewn about her shoulders.

The second source available to Shakespeare was another writing of Plutarch

entitled Moralia. (6) The last part of the book, “On Isis and Osiris,” consists of eighty

chapters devoted to the Osiris/Isis myth. Plutarch writes to a woman named “Clea”

believed to have been a priestess of the cult of Isis, to whom the book is dedicated. (7)

Plutarch portrays the goddess Isis as being subservient to Osiris (when recounting the

Egyptian myth), yet he attributes to Isis a large dimension, believing her to be the same

goddess spoken of in other beliefs and religions, having different titles conferred upon

her. Plutarch writes:

 35

Isis and the gods related to her belong to all men and are known to them;
even though they have not long since learned to call some of them by their
Egyptian names, they have understood and honored the power of each god
from the beginning. (8)

Griffiths points out that to the Greeks of the Hellenistic era (which directly preceded

Plutarch’s life), Isis was known as a Queen Mother, identified with most of the forces of

nature, and equated at the same time with the “she of the many names,” from other

various places and countries. (9)

Griffiths comments on Plutarch’s understanding of Isis and her cult existent

during Plutarch’s lifetime:

[His understanding] included a pursuit of both of the intellectual aspect of

truth culminating in a knowledge of God, and of the special gnosis of the
supreme being attained through initiation [into the rites of the cult of Isis].
(10)

To Plutarch, the Osirian mysteries were a means of achieving philosophical truth, and Isis

is the repository of wisdom which makes this possible:

Often it [Isis’ wisdom] has a magical, rather than a philosophical

flavor….Isis leads the initiate to gnosis (wisdom) of the Supreme
Being…Blessings resulting from the knowledge are eternal life and
immortality. (11)

Besides her magical power, Plutarch points out that Isis’ power was of such

magnitude that people and the natural elements could not help but follow after her will.

Recounting a section of the Osiris/Isis myth wherein Isis finds the coffin containing the

dead body of Osiris, Plutarch states of Isis:

The goddess then fell upon the coffin and gave such a loud wail that the
younger of the King’s sons died…When the river Phaedrus produced a
somewhat rough wind towards dawn, in a fit of anger she dried up the
stream. (12)
 36

Shakespeare closely follows Plutarch’s description of Isis’ volatile personality in his

portrayal of Cleopatra from the first scene of the play to the last. He surrounds Cleopatra

with characters that continually comment on her magical ability to transform people’s

wills to suit her own. Commenting on Antony’s dotage over Cleopatra, Enobarbus states

in Act I, Scene I, that Antony has been bewitched:

Enobarbus. His captain’s heart,

which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst
The buckles on his breast, reneges all temper
And has become the bellows and the fan
To cool a gypsy’s lust. (lines 5-9)

The word “gypsy,” short for “gyptians,” signifies the Renaissance belief that the

Egyptians held magical power, and were sorcerers, tricksters and lechers. (13) The scene

which follows reveals that Antony, the “triple pillar of the world,” has been

“transformed/Into a strumpet’s fool,” (line 13) shirking his duties as solider and captain

of the Roman army; “Stirred by Cleopatra” he now seeks pleasure and sport in her court.

In this scene, Antony comments on how everyone and everything “becomes” Cleopatra:

Antony. Fie wrangling queen!

Whom everything becomes—to chide, to laugh,
To weep; whose every passion fully [absolutely]
strives
To make itself. In thee, fair and admired.
(Act I, Scene I, 48-51)

In Act I, Scene iii, we see one way Cleopatra commands others—through

manipulation of events, and how she manages to maneuver her way into Antony’s life

without his knowing her true motivation. She commands Alexas to

Cleopatra. See where he is, who’s with him, what he

does:
I did not send you. If you find him sad,
Say I am dancing; if in mirth, report
That I am sudden sick. Quick, and return. (3-6)
 37

Another character who comments on Cleopatra’s magical power is Pompey, who

states in Act II, Scene i, “Let witchcraft join with beauty, lust with both.” (22) And in the

next scene, Enobarbus speaks the famous passage which best describes her charismatic

personality, something from which Antony cannot separate:

Enobarbus.
Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety: other women cloy
The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry
Where most she satisfies; for vilest things
Become themselves in her, that the holy priests
Bless her when she is riggish [wanton]. (241-246)

This second reference to how things and people “become” her is a pertinent point; the

word occurs eleven times in the play, and strengthens the idea of the transforming power

present in Cleopatra through poetic effect. Barbara Everett notes how Shakespeare’s use

of poetic imagery transforms Plutarch’s description of Cleopatra into a Cleopatra based

on the Isis archetype:

…by small additions and alternations—the extraordinary power of

Cleopatra…draws the people, the winds, and the water
longingly after her. (14)

Plutarch notes in “On Isis and Osiris” a pertinent reference to Isis being ruler over

the waters of the earth. (Her picture on coins and pictures from that era also depicts her

steadying a wind—swollen sail.) Plutarch speaks for Isis:

I am mistress of rivers and winds and sea, I calm

And swell the sea, I am mistress of shipping, I make
The navigable un-navigable whenever I decide…. (15)

As well, Shakespeare makes several references in the text to Cleopatra’s relationship to

the Nile River and Nile Delta region, endowing these with her dual good/evil—

goddess/earthly personality. Antony’s speech in Act I, scene ii, contains several

 38

references to the nature of the Nile Delta as characteristic of Cleopatra’s dual nature, such

as “Our slipper people,” (187), and

Antony. Much is breeding,

Which, like the courser’s hair, hath yet but life
And not a serpent’s poison. (16) (194-196)

Also, Antony says in Act I, Scene iii, “By the fire/That quickens Nilus’ slime…” (69).

Perhaps the most clear reference can be seen through Caesar’s words in Act I, Scene iv,

wherein he attributes a poetic image of instability to the shifting affairs of State, because

Antony cannot break away from Cleopatra’s hold:

Caesar. This common body,

Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream,
Goes to and back, lackeying the varying tide,
To rot itself with motion.

Insinuating that his country is “rotting” connotes that the evil side of nature is controlling

this situation, obviously pointing to Cleopatra, as she is the source of control over

Antony. Calling her “Serpent of the Nile,” (Act I, Scene V, line 25) Antony makes

reference to Cleopatra as source of the Nile’s destructive nature. And a final reference

can be seen in Cleopatra’s decision to fearfully turn back her sails to Alexandria,

commanding the fateful ruin of Antony in their wake. This critical maneuver heightens

the effect of the simultaneously ascending / descending motion of the play, for after this

point the mortal relationship of these two characters spirals downward, even as their

deaths bring eternal recognition and immortality.

Another characteristic trait found in both Isis and Shakespeare’s Cleopatra is the

ability to shape events and people’s will through the power of speech and voice. Plutarch

writes in Moralia:
 39

Isis called out, and (sent) her voice to heaven, that the souls of the
Gods in the firmament might hear it….Isis uttered a great shriek and the
world was disturbed. (17)

Lucie Simpson quotes Plutarch as saying that her voice “was like an instrument of many

strings,” making her will irresistible. (18) Examples to illustrate Shakespeare’s

understanding of this passage are numerous in the text, including the following (19):

In Act I, Scene iii, her desire is to make Antony stay, or if he is not to stay, make

his life as miserable as her own at the thought of him leaving. She uses the news of

Fulvia’s death to advantage:

Cleopatra. O most false love!

Where be the sacred vials thou [should] shouldst fill
With sorrowful water? Now I see, I see,
In Fulvia’s death, how mine received shall be. (62-65)

Cut my lace, Charmian come—

But let it be: I am quickly ill, and well,
So Antony loves. (72-74)

I prithee turn aside and weep for her;

Then bid adieu to me, and say the tears
Belong to Egypt. [etc.] (76-78)

Here, Cleopatra’s melodramatic attempts at making Antony stay are to no avail, and only

when he tells her he is leaving does she express genuine sorrow.

Cleopatra’s power of anger comes through her voice in Act II, Scene v, when the

messenger comes to inform her of Antony’s marriage to Octavia, Caesar’s sister.

Striking down the messenger at the news she exclaims

Cleopatra. The most infectious pestilence upon thee!

Strikes him down.

Messenger. Good madam, patience.

Cleopatra. What say you?

Strikes him.
 40

Hence,
Horrible villain! Or I’ll spurn [kick] thine eyes
Like balls before me: I’ll unhair thy head,
She hails him up and down.

Thou shalt be whipped with wire and stewed in

brine,
Starting in ling’ring pickle. (61-66)

Here, Cleopatra expresses pure anger, not needing to change her tone to trick anyone.

Demonstrating yet another facet to her vocal power, in Act V, Scene ii, Cleopatra

meets Dolabella, Caesar’s friend, and by speaking of the dead Antony with such

sorrowful voice, she is able to evoke pity and personal feelings of loss from this Roman

soldier. (20) Describing Antony as an Emperor of the heaven, and not of the earth as he

once was, she catches Dolabella’s attention by moving him at an emotional level.

Though he tries to interrupt her three times, and denies her twice throughout the course of

her speech, in the end he knows she has won:

Dolabella. Hear me, good madam.

Your loss is as yourself, great; and you bear it
As answering to the weight. Would I might never
O’ertake pursued success, but I do feel,
By the rebound of yours, a grief that smites
My very heart at root. (100-106)

Having turned his heart, Dolabella is easily convinced to tell Cleopatra of Caesar’s

humiliating plans for her.

Later in the scene Cleopatra meets Caesar face to face, and while she appears to

him as his captive slave, she is really only interested in procuring rights of title and

leadership for her children after she is gone, for she has no intention of becoming his

Roman conquest. Cleopatra’s voice in this scene should be permeated with “dripping”

false humility which to Caesar should appear genuine, but to the rest of us, should appear
 41

cunningly convincing. Cleopatra stays true to herself, which, in this instance means

staying true to her ability to appear falsely before another:

Caesar. I’ll take my leave.

Cleopatra. And may, through all the world: ‘tis

Yours, and we,
Your scutcheons and your signs of conquest, shall
Hang in what place you please. (133-136)

Commanding her to “feed and sleep,” (like an animal being readied for slaughter), Caesar

leaves, believing he has won; however, Cleopatra’s next lines reveal her true loathing for

the youthful Caesar:

Cleopatra. He words me, girls, he words me, that I

Should not
Be noble to myself! (191-192)

The third and final source available to Shakespeare at the time of his writing

Antony and Cleopatra was the Golden Ass, Being the Metamorphoses of Lucius

Apuleius, believed to have been written in A.D. 170 (fifty years following Plutarch).

This book, believed to be an autobiographical account of the life of Apuleius, tells the

story of a man who meets the goddess Isis both in dream and reality, and gives many

references to the Cult of Isis prevalent at the time. When Isis first appears to Lucius she

says:

(I) am the mother of the universe, the mistress of

all the elements, the first offspring of time, the
highest of deities, the queen of the dead…I who
order by my will the stormy heights of heaven, the
health-giving breezes of the sea, and the awful
silences of those in the underworld…the
Egyptians…give me my true name of Queen Isis. (21)
 42

This passage gives distinct reference to Egyptian mythology and the Isis’ archetypal

mysteries of birth and immortality. In the following passage from the same source, the

archetypal mystery of rebirth is recognized:

Considering that it was in her power both to damn

And to save all persons…it was in her power by
Divine providence to make them as it were newborn. (22)

In the Isis / Osiris myth rebirth is represented through life-after-death, and only through

mourning and lamentation (again, the power of her speech and voice), can the dead be

brought again to life. Heyob explains Isis’ role as mourner:

In the Pyramid Texts, the first role Isis plays is

Mourner for her brother-husband Osiris, together
With her sister Nephtys….Her chief duty was to
Lament his death and seek to revive him by
Meticulous care for his body…she relates her
yearning for him, tells how she has sought him out
on a long journey, and pleads for his return to
her. (23)

In most hieroglyphic representations of the Osiris/Isis myth, we see both the goddesses

Isis and Nephthys’ hands outstretched over the dead body of Osiris, as she evokes the

eternal power to bring back to life the dead body of Osiris. Shakespeare portrays Isis’

regenerative power through Cleopatra in Act IV. Scene xv, when the slain body of

Antony is drawn upward towards Cleopatra with the following text:

Cleopatra. But come come, Antony—

Help me, my women—we must draw thee up:
Assist good friends. (29-31)

Cleopatra. Had I great Juno’s power,

The strong-winged Mercury should fetch thee up
And set thee by Jove’s side. Yet come a little,
Wishers we ever fools. O, come, come, come.
They heave Antony aloft to Cleopatra
 43

And welcome, welcome! Die when thou hast lived,

Quicken [come to life] with kissing. Had my lips
that power,
Thus would I wear them out. (34-39)

Note Shakespeare’s use of the word “quicken,” and his poetic image of her bringing

Antony back to life through her kissing. Cleopatra’s archetypal renewable power

heightens the effect that her dual good/evil nature has upon the storyline.

Cleopatra’s next lines, expressing her intent to follow Antony in death, may be

honorable in Roman eyes:

Cleopatra. We’ll bury him; and then, what’s brave,

what’s noble,
Let’s do’t after the high Roman fashion,
And make death proud to take us. (85-88)

But her words also suggest the Egyptian custom of “Sati,” or “suttee,” in which wives,

attendants and sometimes whole families would die with the deceased. Family members

sometimes cast themselves upon the funeral pyre or in the grave of the deceased being

mourned. “Sati” means “to be,” and connotes the female who is true to herself, true to

the part she plays. (24)

Besides being true to herself by portraying Isis’ archetypal nature, another part of

Cleopatra’s role was to depict the goddess Isis to her public, thereby increasing her

popularity among her citizens. Heyob describes one occasion then the historical figures

of Antony and Cleopatra appeared in public as their cultural images suggest:

In 34 B.C. at the triumph staged in Alexandria of

Antony’s victory over the Armenians, Antony gave his
spoils to Cleopatra rather than to Jupiter, as was
the custom. Cleopatra sat on her throne wearing the
garb of Isis. Antony and Cleopatra posed for
paintings and statues, he representing Osiris or
Dionysus and she Isis or Selene. (25)
 44

Depicting his understanding of Isis’ popularity at the time of Cleopatra’s reign,

Shakespeare makes six references to Isis in the script, and four to “the Gods.” The best

passage reads from Act I, Scene ii:

Charmian. O, let him

marry a woman that cannot go, sweet Isis, I
beseech thee, and let her die too, and give him
a worse, and let worse follow worse till the worst
of all follow him laughing to his grave, fifty fold
a cuckhold! Good Isis, hear me this prayer,
though thou deny me a matter of more weight: good
Isis, I beseech thee! (63-70)

Heyob explains the archetypal nature of the goddess Isis and her popularity among

women during the Graeco-Roman era:

Isis was for the Egyptian world goddess of all life.

…Annually, according to the myth, she restored
the life of Osiris, her brother-husband, god of the
Nile, who in turn, inundated the land, rejuvenating
its fertility and providing sustenance for its
inhabitants….The ordinary Egyptian could turn
to her in an infinite number of troubles. (26)

Because the goddess Isis contains the archetypal mysteries of birth and rebirth, she was

thought to be the protector of fertility and birth. And women evoked her help for any of

these functions, as depicted by the above passage which Charmian speaks. Believing the

Isis Cult to be the first evidence of western feminist movement, Heyob explains that “in

Isis, women found a goddess who was essentially their own.” (27)

As well, Heyob notes that “In the Graeco-Roman world, the tale of Isis and Osiris

represented a pattern of family bonds of affection,” and can be seen in the hardships

experienced in the earthly realm, which, when overcome, united the family in heaven,

their eternal dwelling place. (28) Shakespeare’s understanding of this devotion to family
 45

can be seen in the way Cleopatra’s women constantly surround her, and also in their

unswerving devotion to serve her, even in death.

Shakespeare’s Cleopatra believes that her death will bring earthly honor to

herself, her family, and Mark Antony, as well as allow her to be present with Antony in

heaven. Her crossing over to the spiritual plain becomes the faithful “wife” she has

claimed herself to be, and brings to focus her power of transformation at work in the

storyline. Antony and Cleopatra is constructively written with word images, symbols,

and actions that carry forward this quality of transformation. Michael Goldman observes

Antony and Cleopatra’s power as a:

Transforming force, changing lives, shaping the

course of history, making things happen in the
theatre…they act on and act out their
becomingness, striving even in death to become
themselves. (29)

Goldman describes Cleopatra’s transformative nature as eternity itself. She is a “self-

renewing fertility,” which is an Isis archetypal mystery. (30) He suggests that Cleopatra

controls the powers of appetite, “making hungry where one would already be satiated.”

(31) The text contains numerous references to food and sex which are renewable aspects

of life, and assists in the ascending poetic effect.

In his book, The Imperial Theme, G. Wilson Knight comments on Shakespeare’s

dual ascending/descending pattern of action, culminating in Cleopatra’s death as

stemming from her own person:

(There is an ascending scale.) The style, the

poetic vision of the whole, endorses this movement:
it views the world as one rising from matter to
spirit. (32)
 46

Being able to give both life and death commands, Cleopatra’s character serves to move

the action of the play to her will, which ultimately is with Antony in heaven.

Knight compares Cleopatra to other Shakespearian and literary characters that

embody either good or evil aspects within themselves:

Cleopatra is the divinity of this play in the sense

That Desdemona is the divinity of Othello….All
women of legend or literature combine to make our
Cleopatra…Eve, Jezebel, Helen of Troy, Amazons,
St. Joan, Dido, Delilah, Andeomache, Dante’s
Beatrice, Medusa and Madonna. (33)

Though Knight sees Cleopatra as representing most other women in literature, I see that

she is the only leading female character in the whole scope of Shakespeare’s canon who

conveys the unity of good and evil to such a powerful extent. Cressida, Goneril, Regan

and Lady Macbeth are a few who seem to contain purely evil traits; Imogen, Hermione

and Desdemona contain purely good traits. Knight shares this view, observing that her

evil is only a part of her overall transcendent nature:

Since Cleopatra is so comprehensively conceived, it

will be clear that the streak of serpentine evil in
her is part of her complex fascination….From a
limited view, her treachery is nauseating; but, from
the view of eternity, the whole and all its parts
observed, the ‘evil’ is seen otherwise, as part of a
wider pattern. (34)

A larger, universal power is also represented in the play, with the asp that

Cleopatra uses to kill herself. According to Egyptian mythology, the serpent, or asp,

represents the point of entry of the spiritual powers of the universe into the world. (35)

When Cleopatra nurses the asp, she represents Terra, the Earth Mother, as she lets

heavenly powers flow into her veins. As she sees herself representing Isis in her

climactic ritualistic act of suicide, she mingles her own divine powers with those of
 47

heaven through the asp’s bite, transforming the entire nature of heaven, in preparation for

her presence there.

Thus, even in death, Shakespeare conveys a sense to his audience that life goes

on, that she “looks like sleep,” heightening the poetic effect of continual movement in the

earthly realm, as well as the spiritual. (36) With Cleopatra’s entry into the universal

sphere, Shakespeare achieves the ultimate picture of transformation: she, who has

consistently used the power of transformation to shape events to her will, now transforms

herself to her higher, immortal will. Unrivaled by any other female dramatic character,

Cleopatra lets her inherent power of transformation move herself, her lover, and her story

into the status of immortality, at last, becoming herself.

 48

NOTES CHAPTER 4

1) Bridge, E.A. Willis, The Gods of the Egyptians, vol. 2, (New York: Dover
Publications, Inc., 1969), p. 227.
2) William Shakespeare, p. 195.
3) Ibid., p. 213.
4) She rises here, as the words suggest. You will note that Caesar entreats
Cleopatra to rise three times. As these words suggest, her continued kneeling
should have embarrassing effect upon Caesar, as is Cleopatra’s intention.
5) Sharon Kelly Heyob, The Cult of Isis Among Women in the Graeco-Roman
World, (Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1975), p. 48.
6) J. Gwyn Griffiths cites seven translations between the years 1296 and 1455.
Plutarch, De Iside Et Osiride, ed. J. Gwyn Griffiths, (Great Britain: University
of Wales Press, 1970), p. 6.
7) Ibid., p. 16.
8) Ibid., p. 22.
9) Ibid., p. 42.
10) Ibid., p. 256.
11) Ibid., p. 71.
12) Ibid.
13) see footnote, Shakespeare, p. 41.
14) Griffiths, J. Gwyn, ed. The Isis Book (Metamorphoses Book XI), (Leiden:
E.J. Brill, 1975), p. 144.
15) “Courser’s hair refers to the superstitious belief that a horse’s hair, when
placed in water was thought to turn into a serpent.” See footnote in
Shakespeare, p. 52.
16) Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride, p. 330.
17) Lucie Simpson, p. 2.
18) It is important to emphasize here that the actress playing Cleopatra needs to
demonstrate an enormous capacity of power and control over her vocal and
emotional mechanisms because in the character of Cleopatra, the two are
closely intertwined; Cleopatra uses her emotions through her power of
expression (be it vocal or in physical gesture) to manipulate people and
events. If the actress lacks the ability to express her emotions through her
vocal and speech mechanisms, my points here will not make sense.
19) Please see Chapter V for a more detailed delineation of this conversation
between Cleopatra and Dolabella.
20) Griffiths, The Isis Book, p. 75.
21) Ibid., p. 575.
22) Heyob, p. 40.
23) Campbell, Masks of God, Oriental Philosophy, vol. 2, p. 65.
24) Heyob, p. 21.
25) Heyob, p. 1.
26) Ibid., p. 48.
27) Ibid., p. 44.
 49

28) Michael Goldman, Acting and Action in Shakespearian Tragedy, (Princeton:

Princeton UP, 1985), p. 126.
29) Ibid., p. 116.
30) Ibid., p. 115.
31) G. Wilson Knight, The Imperial Theme, (Great Britain: Methuen and
Company, Ltd., 1951), p. 204.
32) Ibid., p. 308.
33) Ibid., p. 310.
34) Joseph Campbell, Masks of God, Primitive Mythology, (London: Secker and
Warberg, 1960), p. 58.
35) Shakespeare, Act V, Scene ii, line 345.
 50

CHAPTER 5

SCRIPT ANALYSIS: ACT V, SCENE ii

“Think you there was or might be

such a man as this I dreamt of?”
(lines 94-95)

Characters: Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt

Dolabella, Friend to Caesar
Charmian, Attendant on Cleopatra
Iras, Attendant on Cleopatra

Act V, Scene ii is devoted entirely to Cleopatra, and gives evidence to suggest

that her nature has changed to a more stable one, being steeled in grief over the loss of

Antony, and having a solidified purpose of suicide set in her mind. The first four acts

developed according to the expression of her positive archetypal mysteries of birth,

rebirth and fruition (coupled with her negative mysteries), and as such, her power of

transformation played a key role in her being able to change events to suit her will. We

now see her archetypal immortal power come into more prominent view, as Cleopatra

readies herself for suicide. As well, Act V takes place in one location, her monument,

and supports a more unified and stable theme to the rest of the play: she has already

confessed her intention to commit suicide at the end of Act IV, in “high Roman fashion,”

thereby preparing us for this event. (1)

This scene is a good example of the analytical process an actress needs to move

through, in order to choose the right moment-to-moment motivations to make this scene

work. Without textual analysis (choosing a clear motivation for each successive moment

of stage life), the actress will just be spouting lines without giving any internal

connection to the thought and feeling process which gave them creation. Please refer to
 51

footnote information, as I have used them substantially in this chapter to supplement my

understanding and analysis of this scene.

Preparing this scene, an actress should first ask herself, “what has just occurred?

Her present actions would naturally emerge from what had just taken place. She has just

been visited and humiliated by Proculeius and his soldiers, when Dolabella appears,

commanding Proculeius to release the captive Cleopatra and return to Caesar. (2) Her

attendants, Iras and Charmian, are silent and dutiful partners. Though they do not speak

during this scene, the actress may refer to their presence in various ways, particularly for

emotional support. It is important to remember that although Cleopatra’s nature has

solidified, she nevertheless requires those closest to her to still serve her; the trilogy of

their deaths strengthens the ascending action of the play.

After understanding the preceding moments, the next step of scene analysis

consists of preparing a moment-to-moment motivational subtext. Finding herself present

with Dolabella, she obviously feels mistrust, because she was just tricked by one Roman

soldier. She is also aware that Dolabella has just seen her in a humiliating posture.

Cleopatra would surely wish to cover up her embarrassment and try to regain a more

dignified stance without losing face. Therefore, a clear motivation for Cleopatra’s

beginning lines in this scene would be to regain her dignity (which implies that the

actress begins the scene with a feeling of humiliation. Beginning with humiliation, the

actress has something to work through, an action). There needs to be a moment’s pause

before Dolabella’s first line, as the two players exchange glances, taking stock of each

other: (3)
 52

Dolabella. Most noble Empress, you have heard of me.

Cleopatra. I cannot tell.

Dolabella. Assuredly you know me.

Cleopatra. No matter sir, what I have heard or known. (70-74)

These lines may seem insignificant, but they are not; looked at with deep intent,

the words will unlock the doors of reality for the actress. (Particularly true of

Shakespeare, all motivational objectives may be found within the text itself, regardless of

additional comments given by the author or director). Dolabella is humble and generous,

“Most noble Empress,” and entreats her twice, yet Cleopatra remains tight-lipped. Why?

Cleopatra is obviously feeling many emotions: humiliation, grief, worry, fear and dread

of the unknown, guardianship for her children, and mistrust of this new soldier’s

presence. All of these feelings, if expressed, would indicate an inferior stance to

someone in control. So, choosing to cover up her feelings by assuming an arrogant

stance of defiance to this other Roman soldier would be a good active choice. This

attitude of defiance should carry through the actress’s tone of voice; carrying a tone of

defiance and arrogance would help her in regaining her dignity.

However, Cleopatra sees that this man seems to be different from her previous

adversary. Dolabella seems to be gentle. He has rescued her from humiliation, and

instead of gaining that recognition for himself, he sent away Proculeius. He has also

addressed her properly and with respect. While she speaks her last lines, Cleopatra

should quickly assess him to be a potential confidant, which naturally brings to focus her

next motivation of objective, that of winning from Dolabella information about Caesar’s

intentions for her. (4)

 53

Cleopatra knows from previous experience that the quickest way to win over a

Roman soldier is to make him express his feelings. If he expresses his feelings, he will

have dishonored his military pride by having expressed weakness. In order to win him

over, Cleopatra will use the power of her speech, and the power of her emotional capacity

to sway his feelings. If she can make Dolabella confess to his feelings of grief over the

loss of Antony, which, no doubt, all of Rome feels, she knows that he will then tell her

what she desires. Although Dolabella tries to interrupt her four times throughout her

speech, his interruptions serve only to propel Cleopatra further on in her narrative.

Cleopatra says:

You laugh when boys or women tell their dreams;

Is’t not your trick? (73-74)

These lines carry superstitious connotations, the idea taken from Plutarch’s De Iside et

Osiride. When Isis was looking for the casket holding the body of her dead husband

Osiris, she met children and

asked them about the chest. Some of these had

happened to see it and they named the river-mouth
through which Typhon’s friends had pushed the box to
the sea. For this reason the Egyptians believe that
children have the power of divination, and they take
omens especially from children’s shouts as they play
near the temples and say whatever occurs to them. (5)

Besides this reference, Roman history cites the fact that Julius Caesar had disregarded the

significance of his wife’s dreams which led to Caesar’s death, with which Dolabella

would have been familiar. By beginning their conversation with a superstitious

reference, Cleopatra puts Dolabella at a disadvantage, for he is being faced with a

dilemma. He cannot verbally acknowledge his superstitious nature because this will

show him as having weakness. Yet Cleopatra is subtly letting Dolabella know that she
 54

believes in superstition, and the fact of his denial of the significance of superstition is

what makes him weak. By putting Dolabella at a disadvantage, Cleopatra asserts a

positive stance with him, delicately maneuvering herself into a more commanding

position.

Her next words are:

Cleopatra. I dreamt there was an Emperor Antony. (76)

Here, Cleopatra reminds Dolabella of the greatness Antony never achieved on earth, and

that only through his death has Antony achieved the significant positioning he knew as

potential. This line would prick any Roman’s feelings who was conscious of the loss of

greatness to city and state, and to the world. This line is really an invitation for Dolabella

to understand the nature of Antony and Cleopatra’s relationship as being a personification

of the macrocosmic world in microcosmic man, one of the larger themes of the play.

Theodore Spencer states that the world setting for these lovers depicts the size of their

characters:

Their love is as large as the political worlds they

led. Their size of love, and their stature of themselves
matches in size the empires they reject. The word “world”
occurs 42 times in this play. (6)

Northrop Frye suggests:

Antony and Cleopatra’s love goes beyond normal human

condition….If the wills of Antony and Cleopatra
had been equal to the passions they express in their
language, there wouldn’t have been much left of the
cosmos. (7)

Calling Antony an Emperor, and at the same time recalling a dream brings to focus one

of the most important paradoxes in the play, that man must lost himself in order to find

himself; Cleopatra loses her sense of reality in order to find Antony in another realm.
 55

She describes the dead Antony in universal terms, indicating that through his

transformation from life to death, he has achieved the same immortal recognition which

he achieved on earth.

Her next lines continue this transition:

O, such another sleep, that I might see

But such another man. (77-78)

Her “O,” is a sign of grief. “Such another sleep” represents his sleep of death, to which

there is no awakening on earth again. Her attention is turned now to heaven, eyes cast

upward, as if beginning to see him painted in the stars. (8) “That I might see” indicates

her intense desire to be with him in heaven. “Such another man” indicates her

understanding that he has changed form. These two lines reveal Cleopatra’s thought

processes changing from real to imaginary realms; Shakespeare has craftily given us a

bridge from real to imaginary realms.

The monologue which follows challenges the actress’s command over her

imagination, for it is entirely imaginary in nature. The audience must see clearly that

Cleopatra is seeing in her mind’s eye for the scene to work properly. Even if they have

never seen her Antony, he must appear real to them as he is to her. If this is not possible

for the actress to achieve, the monologue must at least be interesting to watch. Michael

Goldman says, “It is Cleopatra’s portrait of Antony that converts her audience.” (9)

Without interruptions, the main body of the monologue reads as follows [I performed this

monologue as part of my thesis oral that was presented to my thesis committee members

that secured my degree]:

 56

Cleopatra. His face was as the heav’ns, and therein stuck

A sun and moon, which kept their course and
lighted
The little O, the’ earth.
His legs bestrid the ocean: his reared arm
Crested the world: his voice was propertied
As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends;
But when he meant to quail and shake the orb,
He was as rattling thunder. For his bounty,
There was no winter in’t: an autumn ‘twas
That grew the more by reaping. His delights
Were dolphinlike, they showed his back above
The element they lived in. In his livery
Walked crowns and crownets: realms and islands
were
As plates dropped from his pocket. (78-92)

One source for this monologue can be taken from Antony’s previous reference to

their universal stations, stated earlier in Act I, Scene I, “Then must thou needs find out

new heaven, / and new earth,” (16) and is “designed to express the grandeur or the theme

of transformation,” as Kenneth Muir suggests. (10) Muir states that one source which

closely follows Shakespeare’s use of universal images can be found in John’s beloved

book of Revelation contained in the New Testament. Chapter 10, verses 1-5 read as

follows:

And I saw another mighty angel come down from

heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon
his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and
his feet as pillars of fire:
And he had in his hand a little book open: and he
set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth.
And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion
roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders
uttered their voices.
And when the seven thunders had uttered their
voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice
from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things
which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and
upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven…(11)
 57

Further on in that same chapter of Revelation, one may see similarity to a command

Osiris might have given to Isis, bestowing upon her the power to rejuvenate life:

And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto

me again, and said, Go and take the little book
which is open in the hand of the angel which
standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give
me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it,
and eat it up, and it shall make thy belly bitter,
but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
And I took the little book out of the angel’s
hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as
honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was
bitter.
And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again
Before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and
kings. (12)

All of the known earth is represented in these passages from Revelation, just as in the

play.

A last important reference to this text can be seen in The Apocryphal Gospel of

Eve, as quoted by Joseph Campbell [please pardon the inerasable typos that come with

the software]:

I stood on a lofty mountain and saw a gigantic man.

..And I heard as it were a voice of thunder, and
drew nigh for to hear, and He spake unto me and
said: I am thou, and thou art I; and wheresoever
thou mayest be I am there. In all am I scattered,
and whensoever thou willest, thou gatherest Me; and
gathering Me, thou gatherest Thyself. (13)

Besides noting possible source references, which are useful for the actress to

understand in her performance, it is also important to understand the poetic meaning

contained in this portion of the dramatic text. Shakespeare uses certain key words which

create a poetic effect of royalty as seen from an earthly advantage. Words such as
 58

crested, quail, bounty, autumn, reaping, livery, realms, islands, and plates help to create

this worldly effect.

Another poetic vantage represents Cleopatra as the earth, while Antony represents

heavenly rule over her. The “sun and moon” keeping their course are Antony’s eyes,

lighting upon her, the earth. “His legs bestrid the ocean” reveals a sexual connotation,

referring the ocean to her procreative abilities. He holds her “Crested” in his arms. He

shakes her with his “rattling” thunderous anger. E.M.W. Tillyard notes that to the

Elizabethan consciousness, “dolphinlike” delights refer to Antony’s royal prowess:

Antony stood out in regal fashion above the revels

he delighted in like the dolphin, king of the
fishes, showing his back above the waves. (14)

Antony walked with “crowns and crownets,” kings and queens of other earthly empires.

“Realms and islands” dropping as plates, or silver coins, reveals a generous nature in

Antony, bestowing monetary wealth to those he commanded, as with Antony’s return to

Enobarbus in Act IV of all his earthly treasures.

After describing Antony in this way, inciting Dolabella’s emotional attachment,

Cleopatra then confronts him with a question:

Cleopatra. Think you there was or might be such a man

As this I dreamt of? (90)

Dolabella’s answer, “Gentle madam, no,” (91) firmly suggests to Cleopatra that

Dolabella is not a man to be rocked from his Roman guard. Cleopatra then returns with

anger, “You lie, up to the hearing of the gods.” (92) (15) Obviously, Cleopatra has

returned to the realm of reality at this point. Her question to Dolabella serves as a

guidepost to this transition.

The next five lines are quite complex to understand:

 59

But if there be nor ever were one such,

It’s past the size of dreaming; nature wants stuff
To vie strange forms with fancy, yet t’ imagine
An Antony were nature’s piece ‘gainst fancy
Condemning shadows quite. (93-97) (16)

The key to understanding this passage can be found in the actress’s right choice of

objectives. Cleopatra is speaking here of the difference to be found between imagination

and reality. Clearly, she knows that she has been dreaming. Perhaps dreaming is her

way of coping with the loss of Antony. She is saying here that the real person Antony is

far surpassed any dream she may have of him now that he is gone. “Nature’s piece,”

being the earthly form of Antony, condemns the shadows of imagination to a less-than-

acceptable status for her, leaving her to dream of him, and plan for their reunion in

heaven.

Dolabella is caught. His next lines reveal his “grief that smites / (His) very heart

at root,” (104). She asks him point blank what Caesar means to do with her, and he

hesitates for a moment, leaving Cleopatra to guess what she already senses to be true,

“He’ll lead me, then, in triumph?” (109). Dolabella returns his answer with certainty,

“Madam, he will. I know’t.” (110).

With Dolabella’s final words of this scene, Cleopatra knows she has triumphed.

She has succeeded in obtaining the information she required, at the emotional expense of

a personal confidant. Her lack of moral conscience reveals a politically conscious

personality intent on keeping control over her domain, and used to turning other people’s

wills to her own.

Thus, we may see through this scene that Cleopatra transforms Dolabella through

the power of her speech, using her emotions through her speech in order to change
 60

Dolabella’s mind to her own. The actress’s responsibility is to faithfully follow each

word and phrase with carefully determined motivational analysis, thereby revealing the

truth of Cleopatra’s unique and powerful ability to transform and shape the events of her

life to her will. Seeing this and all other portions of the text in this light, the actress will

achieve union with the inherent power of the text, transforming her moment-to-moment

living to be that of the character she is playing. By following this procedure, as well as

demonstrating her own archetypal nature through the text, the actress may thereby

enliven the dramatic action of the play with effective power, creatively empowering the

entire theatrical experience.

 61

NOTES CHAPTER 5

1) Act V, Scene xv, line 86.

2) An interesting note is that Proculeius is the man Antony named for Cleopatra
to trust among all of Caesar’s men, yet he turns out to be the very man who
humiliates Cleopatra. This adds another ironic twist of fate to this tragedy.
3) The actress should improvise this scene, perhaps imagining herself being held
hostage by a foreign country. Things like different clothing, accent, nature,
etc. would come into play that would add reality to the scene. Being held
hostage would also incite anger and dread, which are real emotions felt by
Cleopatra. The actress should never forget that these scenes, however
personal, are actually political in nature, and that the actors represent the
rulers of the world at that time, therefore carrying tremendous power and
influence over the course of history.
4) The actress must remember that however emotional Cleopatra appears to be,
she is the shrewdest politician alive, always getting what she wants. Political
strategy should always be in the forefront of the actress’s mind when choosing
motivational objectives. Cleopatra controls much of the world’s riches, and
now finds herself in a politically insecure position. Regaining her foothold
should be the dominant motivation for her, not only for her children’s sake,
but because she has never been bested by anyone, and isn’t about to start now,
as she sees her end at hand.
5) Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride, p. 140.
6) Theodore Spencer, Shakespeare and the Nature of Man, (New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1961), p. 162.
7) Ibid., p. 138.
8) Here, one other reference to Shakespeare’s use of celestial imagery can be
seen in Juliet’s monologue from Romeo and Juliet, Act III, Scene ii, :
And when he dies (or, “and when I die,” as taken
From the First Folio edition),
Take him and cut him out in little stars, and he
Will paint the face of heaven so fine that all the
World will be in love with night, and pay no worship
To the garish sun.
9) Michael Goldman, Acting and Action in Shakespearian Tragedy, (Princeton:
Princeton UP, 1985), p. 119.
10) Kenneth Muir, Shakespeare’s Sources, (London: Meth Vern and Company,
Ltd., 1957), p. 219.
11) Ibid., p. 21.
12) Holy Bible, King James Version, (Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1977).
13) Campbell, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, p. 39.
14) E.M.W. Tillyard, The Elizabethan World Picture, (New York: Random
House, no date cited), p. 35.
15) I wrote this thinking that this line should be delivered with such a passionate
cry as to either rock the ceiling from its hinges, or with a less loud sound, send
tingles up the spines of those in the audience. In either case, the delivery
 62

should visibly move Dolabella, so that the audience sees a reaction of

emotional depth.
16) William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, ed. Barbara
Everett, (New York: New American Library, 1964), p. 173-174.
 63

CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSION: THE POSITIVE FEMININE ARCHETYPE

AT WORK IN THE PERFORMING ARTS

Blessed Cecelia, appear in visions

to all musicians, appear and inspire.
Translated daughter, come down and startle
composing mortals with immortal fire.

--W. H. Auden

Besides providing a basis for acting identification technique, the function of the

feminine archetype carries with it a much larger significant potential within the body of

humanity. A play such as Antony and Cleopatra gives opportunity for people to

recognize specific archetypal mysteries and patterns at work, such as were discussed with

Cleopatra. As well, other dramatic roles within the classic repertoire contain easily

identifiable archetypal mysteries, at the individual and social levels, representing larger

archetypal patterning dynamically in motion. The artist within society who chooses to

work with positive archetypal images may release these and other new positive

archetypal patterns, inspiring and regenerating the larger social consciousness in which

she dwells (please see Appendix II).

Shakespeare’s character Cleopatra is a good choice to use, in briefly looking at

larger archetypal patterning. Though Cleopatra’s most prominent character traits

resemble Isis and her positive mysteries, she also portrays negative traits, which appear in

her as manipulation, overbearing and domination. As well, her visionary nature,

especially seen in Act V, and her inspirational and almost ecstatic sojourn into the

unknown realm of death mark positive transformative qualities of the Muse, Sophia and
 64

Mary type. (1) Clearly, all archetypal patterns are at play in Shakespeare’s Cleopatra,

which brings to focus a whole picture of the person, which the character represents.

From a larger standpoint as well, other female dramatic characters are also easily

identified by reason of the specific positive or negative archetypal personalities they

possess. For example, Joan of Arc, as portrayed by Anouihl in The Lark, or Shaw’s Saint

Joan, primarily embodies positive transformative mysteries characteristic of the virgin

Muse, as seen in her visionary and ecstatic expression which are necessary when leading

her self and others in triumph. Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth (as well as the

accompanying witches), embodies such negative mysteries as madness, ensnaring and

death. Medea exhibits negative mysteries of death, dismemberment and extinction.

Following the heroic archetypal pattern, most Shaw women, as well as certain

Shakespearian female characters, such as Viola, Imogen, Hermione and Miranda, are

easily identifiable.

An interesting picture to see from this analysis is that most of the classic

repertoire contains choice female roles which embody easily identifiable archetypes.

Yuri Kopuilov, Russian Artistic Director, comments that classic plays have a timeless

quality about them, and therefore “touch the universal problems of mankind.” (2) Classic

roles easily identify archetypes because the plays in which they reside personify larger

“universal” archetypal patterns in motion for society.

Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, with its larger worldly and universal

patterns, is a good example of the classic repertoire finding relevant place in

contemporary society: interpersonal relationships, societies and countries fall apart and

reunite; affairs of state shift due to the instability of leaders; people manipulate their
 65

surrounding events to suit personal will. Shakespeare’s dramatic depiction of Rome and

Egypt is still as pertinent to our social consciousness as ever.

In his essay “Art and Time,” from Art and the Creative Unconscious, Neumann

discusses the cultural archetypal canon which exists in collective consciousness, and the

timeless function of theatre and art within that context:

…in all cultures the archetypes of the canon are

the numinous points at which the collective
unconscious extends into the living reality of the
group. Whether this be a temple or a statue of the
godhead, a mask or a fetish, a ritual or sacral
music, it remains the function of art to represent
the archetypal and to manifest it symbolically as a
high point of existence. (3)

The illustration contained in Appendix I, page 3 taken from Neumann’s essay shows

archetypal reference points, residing within the collective consciousness, to be power

points for the release of creative energy within that society. Artistic endeavors which

bring to focus new archetypal patterns have powerful effect on the collective body when

brought into the forefront of consciousness.

Shakespeare was one such artist who was able to release new archetypal

patterning within his society by transcending the pre-existing lines of social order

surrounding him. His female dramatic characters referred to already, such as Hermione

(The Winter’s Tale), Imogen (Cymbeline), Catherine (Henry VIII), Viola (Twelfth Night),

and Cleopatra (Antony and Cleopatra), exhibit a universal heroic image of nobility,

courage and strength, when the social subservient norm for women at the time was in

question. These leading female characters face exile, unhappiness, uncertainty and death

with consistent valor and heroic spirit.

 66

Neumann says of great art and artists that they necessarily must stand in

opposition to the pre-existing consciousness and sense of values of the artist’s epoch.

Speaking of the nature of the artists who give form to new archetypal patterns, Neumann

says:

The creative artist, whose mission it is to

compensate [stand in opposition to] for
consciousness and the cultural canon, is usually an
isolated individual, a hero who must destroy the old
in order to make possible the dawn of the new.
When unconscious forces break through in the
artist, when the archetypes striving to be born into
the light of the world take form in him, he is as
far from the men around him as he is close to their
destiny. For he expresses and gives form to the
future of his epoch. (4)

Ultimately, the function of the artist is to transcend “the creative will of the

unconscious,” and attain a level of timelessness, “which is the inner life of the world.” (5)

Our society today finds itself in a rapidly shifting dynamic of archetypal

patterning. With the rise of radio, television and film and the technology to spread news

of the world instantaneously, our “world society” moves in a much quicker mode,

wanting information at a rapid rate. The role of today’s artist requires a much more

consciously open and available state of mind than has been found in past societies, in

order to fulfill the artist’s task of creating new archetypal patterning. His world society is

not the small town or hamlet of Shakespeare’s time, but the entire globe.

Besides being open to sense larger emerging archetypal patterns, the artist also

faces the challenge of transcending the notion of instant or rapid success, and idea that

has proliferated with the rise of the entertainment industry. This phenomenon is recent;

becoming an “overnight sensation” was not possible one hundred years ago. As well, I
 67

notice unfortunately, that television, news broadcasts, film and documentary series of

today tend to produce more commercial forms of entertainment, focusing on the

destructive, disintegrating aspects of the world instead of positive, integrating events

(which are just as noteworthy). Obviously, our world society is presently moving

through a dynamic archetypal shift as archetypes disappear and re-emerge at a much

more rapid rate (please refer to Appendix I). Artistic representations may focus around

these shifts: the rise and fall of national leaderships; the dissolution of communistic rule

and what has been termed “the Cold War;” and the end of the South African Apartheid

dilemma and other social barriers, to name a few.

Thankfully (as Neumann suggests), the role of the artist within this culture has not

changed. Eternally constant in his urge to create, the artist may continue to provide a

positive, creative force within conscious and subconscious aspects of consciousness,

creating artistic forms which clothe a more positive archetypal patterning. The positive

feminine archetypal patterning which I have developed throughout this thesis contains far

more significant potential for creative influence than we presently allot them. I wish to

bring out this importance because this particular patterning contains creative essences

with which all artists may work to bring about a regeneration of life for themselves and

society.

In order to establish this positive archetypal patterning and its functional

components more clearly, I have delineated some of the symbols and processes

associated with each archetypal image. Below each image, I have written its associated

step in the creative cycle of life (water, air, earth and fire), which I find useful to

remember:
 68

Arch. Image Life Quality Symbol and Process

Birth: Source of Life Seed, first breath,

New born, untouched,
(Water) Perfect, hatched,
Conceived, released.

Rebirth Regeneration of Breathing:

Life Exhalation/Inhalation,
(Air) Giving/Receiving,
Yin/Yang, Positive/
Negative, Action/
Reaction.

Fruition Formation of Development of form,

Life Cycles, Seasons,
(Earth) Wholeness, Creative
Process: water, air,
earth, fire.

Immortality Eternity of Absolute, Alpha and

Life Omega, Beginning
(Fire) and End, Marriage,
Circle.

These images, symbols and processes may find contemporary usefulness within

newly created artistic endeavors by reminding those who are touched by them of the

creative process associated with them. Undoubtedly, our world society, which is facing

some of its most pressing and sensitive issues, may find resolution to some of these

problems with the positive influence that these images, symbols and processes may have.

Perhaps there will be the creation of artistic forms which will utilize these traits to assist

with the solution of such problems as world deforestation, pollution, AIDS, and

overpopulation. As an example, I am currently writing a cycle of songs for choir and

instrumentation, entitled Dawn Trilogy, which brings to focus the beauty of a dawning

new day and man’s responsibility in expressing that spirit. Other new works of art,
 69

theatrical and musical, may be conceived and written which will assist man in his process

of resolving his many problems.

Recently, I note many theatrical events promoted within society which carry

larger positive archetypal patterns. One was “Return to the Sacred,” which was a

summer solstice event held at the Dolores Winningstad Theatre, in Portland, Oregon, on

June 20, 1988. George Hanson’s new musical piece, “Home Among the Stars” made its

debut in Colorado in 1987. As well, Portland State University sponsored a public

symposium, The Theatre of Myth: The Neglected Drama of W.B. Yeats, in conjunction

with Storefront Theatre’s production of “The Cuchulain Cycle,” in 1989. One of the

seminars in this symposium focused on the influence Joseph Campbell has had on

society. Richard Heinberg, author of Memories and Visions of Paradise, Exploring the

Universal Myth of a Lost Golden Age (Quest Books, 1995), presented two Portland,

Oregon events, a workshop, and Public Lecture at the New Rose Theatre in May, 1989.

He is now on a world tour, promoting his new book and Paradise seminar. The

Association for Responsible Communication held an evening concert at the Sanders

Theater, Harvard University in June, 1989, which was entitled “A Celebration of

Integrity in the Performing Arts.” Featured world artists included Doah, Michael Jones,

Deborah Henson-Conant, Onye Onyemaechi and the Igbote Ethnic Ensemble from

Nigeria, and the Irkutsk Chorale from Russia. And as a final reference, in 1989, at the

Main Theater in New York City, Adrienne Weiss and Michale Almareyda presented their

work, “The Myth Project: A Festival of Competency,” which was a new play, inspired by

Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth.

 70

These, and other recent theatrical events give evidence to suggest that a new

archetypal patterning is occurring in our world society. The old, death-oriented

patterning is being replaced with a new life-oriented pattern. Neumann notes this

phenomenon as the dawn of a new epoch:

For despite all the despair and darkness which are

still more evident in us and our art than the secret
forces of the new birth and the new synthesis, we
must not forget that no epoch, amid the greatest
danger to its existence, has shown so much readiness
to burst the narrow limits of its horizon and open
itself to the great power which is striving to rise
out of the unknown…Menaced as we are by our
own atom bombs, every act of destruction will be
answered by a rebuilding, in which the unity of
everything human will be affirmed more strongly
than before. (6)

Neumann’s assurance that we are compelled to move in life’s direction is a fact that is

securely fastened to us by reason of our association with life’s creative process. Focusing

our attention on life oriented images we may assist in the recreation of the world along

lines of positive force inherent within it, and us. The symbols and processes

accompanying positive feminine archetypal images are the very ones needed to

accomplish this task. We may identify with the source, regeneration, formation and

eternity which life offers, welcoming the dawn of a new epoch for humanity.
 71

NOTES CHAPTER 6

1) Please refer to Appendix I, page 2, Neumann’s analysis of the feminine

archetype, for this portion of the text.
2) Ann Foorman, “Perestroika hits the Soviet Theater,” In Touch, International
Journal of the Association for Responsible Communication, December, 1989,
p. 6.
3) Erich Neumann, Art and the Creative Unconscious, Bollingen Series LXI,
(Princeton: Princeton UP, 1971), p. 92.
4) Ibid., p. 94.
5) Ibid., p. 103.
6) Ibid., p. 134.
 72

APPENDIX I
Page 1

Images for this Appendix are from Erich Neumann, The Great Mother. No page numbers

were cited. The Great Mother shows us the feminine archetypal images that are at work

in the English language [see next three pages.].

73

Reading
Neumann’s
words to this
picture is best
done by reading
his book, The
Great Mother.
Main words on
this image that
relate to
Cleopatra reveal:
womb,
procreation,
power and
hiding.

Interestingly
enough, my
understanding of
these powers
reveals my own
understanding of
them in me. This
is what
Cleopatra’s
presence has the
potential of
awakening in all
women.
 74

APPENDIX 1
Page 2 Unrecognizable
words on top, but
these images that
are part of the
positive feminine
archetype house
virgin and fertile
aspects.
 75

APPENDIX 1
Page 3
 76

APPENDIX II

The following images were produced on a Ventura Desk Top, word processor

system installed in the Honors College of the U of O in 1989. I originally intended to

draw these images free hand, however, this process turned out to be much easier when I

used a computer system, and the computer did a good job.

The images are intended to be viewed as a complete cycle—one image leads into

the next consecutively by reason of the power of transformation which moves through

each, creating the next. As well, each image portrays to me the essential moment in that

step of the creative cycle, whereby the particular essence reaches its most heightened,

finished form. The image would then naturally begin evolving into the next image. I

used a circular image as a basis for this cycle because the circle represents to me the

feminine essence (or vessel, as Neumann has emphasized, as shown in Appendix I).

The cycle has four steps. The first image, birth, portrays a new circle rising out of

its predecessor. The second image, rebirth, shows how the circle is undergoing a process

of transformation inside itself. The circle is now renewing itself by using a circular

element contained within itself. The third picture, fruition, shows the circle having

reached its ultimate maturity, containing a seed of its own blueprinted design within

itself, now has evolved out of the second step. The fourth image, immortality, pictures

how the seed within has developed to the point of union with its own parent, reaching an

eternal moment in time.

After seeing the entire process, we can now view that first image of birth as

simply the next step in the on-going cycle of circular creation. Each circle embodies an
 77

immortal dimension, inherited from its predecessor, and each circle is destined to leave

this immortal legacy with its heir.

 78

APPENDIX II
Page 1
 79

APPENDIX II
Page 2
 80

APPENDIX II
Page 3
 81

APPENDIX II
Page 4
 82

APPENDIX III

THE HISTORICAL CLEOPATRA

[Appendix III reveals how Queen Cleopatra positioned herself in her throne of

power in order to stave off the rivalries and killings that were common happenstance for

heads of state in her era. There were all kinds of political rivalries present between

Alexandria where Queen Cleopatra ruled, and Rome where Mark Antony ruled. Not only

this, but Cleopatra was a: young, beautiful, Queen of Egypt, who had no mate; a woman

who came from a crazed household that had a negative name attached to it; and who was

a smart and sassy girl who utilized her looks, voice and sex appeal to move her children

and country ahead in the world. Cleopatra had a very full plate of things to deal with and

although Shakespeare knew that she had a mixed hand of good and bad traits, he chose to

portray this queen in positive light by hiding the aces she held until she played them to

win the hand.

The world had no united front and whoever won had power. So, one needed to

first learn who was in power and then make the right power plays. Cleopatra knew that

she had to rule the world and hand this power over to her children. Therefore, power

became her trick card and she used this wisely. Reading through this play, you too can

see what Cleopatra was up against and particularly why Shakespeare knew that he had to

craft this history well, as he did.]

 83

I do not feel a Performance Thesis on acting is complete without a historical

understanding of the character presented. Therefore, I have outlined some of the major

points which occurred in the life of the historical Queen Cleopatra as additional reference

in the actress’s work. In 300 B.C., Alexander the Great founded the capitol port city of

Alexandria, utilizing its central location for his rule over eastern and western territories.

In order to travel into the city through rough waters, he built artificial embankments, a

sea port harbor, lighthouse, and then, large storehouses for trading goods. He set his

general, Ptolemy, as ruler over Egypt. Now in Greek hands, Alexandria became the

world’s largest trade center, famous for cultural and artistic splendor. The Ptolemy

lineage followed eleven generations, beginning in 323 B.C., and ending with the death of

the great Queen Cleopatra, in August, 30 B.C.

The Ptolemaic reign used sensuality as a basis for living. “Abominable and

terrible giants,” the Ptolemy empire followed the Persian custom of incestuous marriage.5

Ptolemy Physcon, great-grandfather to Cleopatra, married his sister Cleopatra (a name

given to all Egyptian princesses), then married his own daughter by this marriage, fled

Alexandria during a family war with a son from the second union, then had this son killed

and sent to his wife/daughter for her birthday in order to infuriate her.

Cruelty, corruption and vice characterized the Ptolemaic reign; however, the three

hundred year lineage was also considered to be the most enlightened, liberal and

prosperous of all governments of ancient times. By the time our Cleopatra was born,

Alexandria had risen to a stage of splendor and magnificence rivaled only by Rome, the

greatest military power in the civilized world at that time. In her prime, Cleopatra was

5
Jacob Abbott, History of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1872), p. 42.
 84

considered to be “a highly cultivated woman who spoke seven languages, and had been

given the best education her time afforded.”6

During political turmoil, Cleopatra’s father tried to sell Egypt to Rome in order to

raise money and a political alliance. He sought to establish himself in a more stable

positioning as heir, now that Egypt had grown to be a territory ripe for invasion. Upon

his return, he was thrown out of the country in revolt, as his daughter, Bernice,

(Cleopatra’s older sister), rose to power. Bernice married, and then strangled her

husband in order to marry another man who offered a more powerful positioning. It was

in this atmosphere that Cleopatra grew up.

At the age of thirty, Mark Antony marched across the Egyptian desert to the city

of Alexandria to help Ptolemy regain his crown from Bernice. A frank, intellectual,

military genius, Antony met Cleopatra (who was then fifteen) for the first time under

these circumstances. Antony returned to Rome after marching through Alexandria, and

beheading Bernice. Rome was then in the midst of civil war between Caesar and

Pompey.

With the death of Ptolemy (Cleopatra’s father), Alexandria was put into Rome’s

rule, under Pompey; however, Pompey was too busy to do anything about Egypt, and

subsequently Cleopatra’s family fell into jealous rivalry over who was going to rule

Egypt. Cleopatra married the eldest son in the family (she was eighteen, he was ten), and

a jealous eunuch in their court, Pothinus, who wished her brother to rule without her,

expelled Cleopatra to Syria. Pompey brought his civil war with Caesar to Alexandria,

and Pothinus had Pompey beheaded, thinking to please Caesar. All of Egypt was

astonished to be at the center of world politics. Caesar, now in Egypt, considered himself
6
Northrop Frye, Northrop Frye on Shakespeare, (New Hampshire: Yale UP, 1986), p. 123.
 85

the sole monarch of the world, and established himself as ruler over Egypt, excluding

Cleopatra.

In 48 B.C., Cleopatra (now twenty-one), presented herself to Caesar (age fifty-

two), rolled in a carpet. She was determined to regain her title as Queen of Egypt.

Caesar was the first person in Cleopatra’s life who helped her to promote her political

career, befriended and comforted her. She had been expelled from Egypt, deprived of her

inheritance, and had become enemy to her brother/husband. Pothinus, now prisoner to

Caesar, was beheaded. Caesar and Cleopatra had a child, Caesarian. Arisone,

Cleopatra’s younger sister, then arose against Cleopatra and Caesar, and was later

defeated and captured by Caesar. She was taken back to Rome with Caesar, and shown

off as his Egyptian trophy.

Upon Caesar’s return to Rome, he was acknowledged Master of the World. His

triumphal procession lasted four days; however, the tide of opinion soon turned against

him. Cleopatra visited him in Rome for his soon-to-be coronation as King, when he was

assassinated. (She therefore knew of the dreams of Caesar’s wife, and the surrounding

circumstances first-hand). Cleopatra fled Rome for Egypt, Arisone for Syria.

Octavius Caesar, Caesar’s nephew, Lepidus and Mark Antony formed a new

triumvirate. Seeking to maintain a strong Roman friendship, Cleopatra sent aid to

Antony. He then demanded that Cleopatra (now Twenty-eight) present herself before

him, and sent Delius to her. Abbot notes that during this visit there was a “certain

fascination in her voice and conversation, of which her ancient biographers often speak as

one of the most irresistible of her charms.”7 Cleopatra went to meet Antony at Tarsus, in

a barge such as Enobarbus describes in Act II, Scene ii. She was “dressed in costume in
7
Abbot, p. 237.
 86

which Venus, Goddess of Beauty was generally presented.8 Cleopatra’s first request to

Antony was for him to kill her sister. From here on, history parallels the story line

presented in Shakespeare’s account of their relationship.

8
Ibid., p. 239.
 87

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