Photo credit: freeparking 😐 via Foter.com / CC BY
Book Riot challenged me to read a play this year and I don’t think I had read any Shakespeare since college so I decided it was time to get back into that. Antony and Cleopatra is a pretty well-known classic I had never read or seen before, which is why I opted for this one.
Now I remember why I haven’t read Shakespeare in a while. I was deeply disappointed in the portrayal of Cleopatra. Then, just a couple days after I read this play, I came across Sharanya Sharma’s post on Book Riot talking about why reading Shakespeare’s female characters tend to leave her feeling so unsatisfied.
There’s no doubt Shakespeare was a great writer, and I expect sexism and racism from a white dude writing at the turn of the seventeenth century, but all Cleopatra does is scheme to keep Antony interested in her and whine and moan when he doesn’t do what she wants. Seriously?
I was OK with this up to a point. After all they were lovers and had children together and the time period the play portrays was rocky, to say the least. It’s fine to show Cleopatra grieving the end of a love affair, but can we also see her, oh I don’t know, ruling her kingdom?
Antony is literally fighting for his seat on the Roman triumvirate and we get to see plenty of scenes where he’s scheming to keep that seat, gain power, keep from losing power, solidifying allies, etc. The most we ever get from Cleopatra is volunteering some ships in one of Antony’s ill-advised battles. Then we hear about her turning tail in the heat of the battle and Antony following her. She gets all the blame for this because apparently Antony is not a seasoned warrior capable of making his own decisions?
Why don’t we get to see Cleopatra fighting to keep her throne while Antony is away? Is she worried about what will happen to her and Egypt if Antony loses his position? Is she doing anything to try to counteract that possibility? Or is she trying to help Antony maintain his position so she can stay safe on her throne? Anything? Come on!
She was a ruler in her own right, and as the subject of another famous queen who ruled alone, you’d think Shakespeare would have had some respect for Cleopatra as something more than just a sex object, but apparently not.
In Shakespeare’s defense, I don’t think he’s entirely to blame for this portrayal of one of Egypt’s most famous pharaohs. Under “Character and cultural depictions”, Wikipedia spends three paragraphs talking about Cleopatra’s beauty and charm and exactly two sentences on how smart she was. Bitch spoke nine languages fluently and still can’t get any credit. Shit.
What did you guys read this week? Any other classics that didn’t live up to snuff? I want to hear all about it!