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Antony And Cloepatra

IMAGE IS EVERYTHING

In modern day society the mantra 'image is everything' seems to ring true in most facets of life. Is this true for powerplay though....? Everyday we are constantly bombarded with images… it is estimated that the average American is exposed to over 3,000 images a day… images of products, of people, of the powerful. From the domestic to the global scene, powerplay plays an intrinsic role as the force that provides an individual or a group the ability to control and orchestrate. But image is not everything! In Powerplay, as Lord Acton said, the pen is mightier than the sword. In Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra the pen; the altruistic and pragmatic Octavius Caesar is mightier than the sword; the warm hearted, generous soldier, Antony and the debauched, exotic Cleopatra. Image is irrefutably integral to powerplay extending to all levels of human interactions, but ultimately it is the calculating machinations of an individual that conquers the might of image.
Antony and Cleopatra is a study in the power of personality versus the impersonality of power. Through contrasting language & characterisation, Shakespeare shows that the ultimate victor in the power struggle between the dominate members of the Roman triumvirate is Octavius Caeser, the unemotional & highly pragmatic political animal who wins the powerplay at the expense of the death of his 'equal', Mark Antony.
Mark Antony is characterised through the speech of Caesar, recalling his former glory & qualities of strength, having á soldiership that is twice the other'. Antony's greatness is created through imagery which links him with Gods and mythical heroes, and through his celebrated past in which 'thou didst drink he stale of horses and the gilded puddle, which beasts would cough at'. He is unique, the 'Arabian bird' and the 'Jupiter of men'' and his is likened to a 'Herculean Roman'. But his high status image, of evoked heroism and strength based on his past glories, are not...