Analysis of Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra Essay -- William Shakes

Analysis of Shakespeares Antony and CleopatraThe most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a successful middle-class glove shaper in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare attended grammar school, only when his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582 he married an older woman, Anne Hathaway, and had three children with her. Around 1590 he left his family base and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical acclaim quickly followed, and Shakespeare eventually became the most popular playwright in England and part-owner of the ground Theater. His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 15581603) and James I (ruled 16031625), and he was a favorite of both monarchs. Indeed, James granted Shakespeares company the greatest possible encomium by bestowing upon its members the title of Kings Men. Wealthy and renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and died in 1616 at the age of fifty-t wo. At the time of Shakespeares death, literary luminaries such as Ben Jonson hailed his workings as timeless.Shakespeares works were collected and printed in various editions in the century following his death, and by the early eighteenth century his reputation as the greatest poet ever to write in English was well established. The unprecedented admiration garnered by his works led to a fierce curiosity nigh Shakespeares life, but the dearth of biographical information has left many details of Shakespeares personal history shrouded in mystery. Some people seduce concluded from this fact and from Shakespeares modest education that Shakespeares plays were actually written by someone elseFrancis Bacon and the Earl of Oxford are the two most popular -candidatesbut the support for this claim is overwhelmingly circumstantial, and the theory is not taken seriously by many scholars.In the absence of credible evidence to the contrary, Shakespeare must be viewed as the author of the thirt y-seven plays and 154 sonnets that bear his name. The legacy of this body of work is immense. A number of Shakespeares plays seem to have transcended even the category of brilliance, enough so influential as to affect profoundly the course of Western literature and culture ever after.Scholars believe that Shakespeare wrote Antony and Cleopatra in 1606, immediately after Macbeth, and it is o... ... of love, makes it surd for him to hold this visible shape (IV.xv.14).Cleopatras Fleeing Ships The image of Cleopatras fleeing ships is presented twice in the play. Antony twice does battle with Caesar at sea, and both times his navy is betrayed by the queens retreat. The ships remind us of Cleopatras inconstancy and of the inconstancy of human character in the play. One cannot be sure of Cleopatras allegiance it is uncertain whether she flees out of fear or because she realizes it would be politically savvy to align herself with Caesar. Her fleeing ships are an effective symbol of her w avering and changeability.The Asps One of the most memorable symbols in the play comes in its final moments, as Cleopatra applies deadly snakes to her skin. The asps are a prop in the queens final and most kinglike performance. As she lifts one snake, then another to her breast, they become her children and she a common wet bind Dost thou not see my baby at my breast, / That sucks the nurse asleep? (V.ii.300301). The domestic nature of the image contributes to Cleopatras final metamorphosis, in death, into Antonys wife. She assures him, Husband, I come (V.ii.278).