1. Antony and Cleopatra and its accessibility to an audience
... but e"en a woman." This is a play in which human figures are elevated in keeping with classical literary traditions and mythology. Yet Shakespeare is also addressing what it is to be female and a leader in a moral world. Parallels can be made to Elizabeth and Cleopatra, Cleopatra who excels in powerful resonance like Elizabeth 1st a female monarch, who ruled her golden era supreme. "Antony ... reign at a time when the first female monarch of England was herself courting suitors. Elizabeth herself never married, questioning the relationship between gender and power as Shakespeare does in...
- Word Count: 1463
- Approx Pages: 6
- Grade Level: Undergraduate