Tuesday, September 14, 2010

For ABC WEDNESDAY

“I” is for “Infatuation.”

Here’s the situation. In the play “Antony and Cleopatra,” Mark Antony, commanding general and high political figure, is the most important man in Rome. And the Roman empire covers just about the entire known world.

Antony knows he has to travel down to confront the Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, to make sure she accepts Rome’s supremacy.
Cleopatra is aware that she must go to meet Mark Antony; he’s the one in the position of power and he won’t come to her. So she decides to make a huge production out of this meeting. What she has in mind is something spectacular.

Well aware of her beauty, she is confident that once the Roman general gets a good look at her she’ll be able to manipulate him and get what she wants. She has successfully done this before, and with a number of men.

So she sails up on the river in her royal barge – a barge like no other, past or present.
“The barge she sat in, like a burnish’d throne,
Burnt on the water. The hull was beaten gold,
Purple the sails, and so perfumed
That the winds were love-sick with them.
The oars were silver,
Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke,
And made the water which they beat to follow faster,
As amorous of their strokes.”
Now let’s examine this passage carefully. Gold hull, purple sails, silver oars – routine stuff. I mean, who hasn’t had a barge like that?
But look what Shakespeare has added. The sails are so perfumed that the wind is in love with them. But that’s not all. The silver oars, hearing the flutes and keeping time with the beat, have caused the very water the barge is floating in to fall in love too: “As amorous of their strokes.”

This is sexual tension at its highest. When you’ve got the very wind and even the plain old river-water getting aroused, you realize that that must be a pretty attractive gal sitting there in that barge.

Anyway, as you may have guessed, Mark Antony – speaking of infatuation – falls head over heels for the Egyptian queen. But he has to get back to Rome; very important matters are waiting for him there. His career, his military standing, his high political position, all hang in the balance. He must get back.

But he can’t be bothered. He has found a more important interest.
Mark Antony: “Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch
Of the ranged empire fall! Here is my space.”
His space is next to Cleopatra. He can’t get enough of her. She’s like no woman he has ever seen, with her wit, her charm, her spirited personality.
“Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety.”
Then something interesting happens. What had been mere infatuation for Mark Antony turns to a deeper feeling. And this is true for the Egyptian Queen too. The man who had been just another guy she hoped to manipulate becomes her true love.
“Eternity was in our lips…”
Inevitably, Shakespeare’s play ends tragically. Mark Antony, ultimately having lost everything, commits suicide. Cleopatra decides to follow him. She says to her ladies-in-waiting:
“Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have
Immortal longings in me.”

She has the small poisonous snake known as an asp bite her breast. She dies.
The playwright sums her up with this:
“Now boast thee, death, in thy possession lies
A lass unparalleled.”
A lass unparalleled, that was Cleopatra.

24 comments:

??? said...

Good choice for I :) I'm always fascinated by how much Cleopatra changes through the ages according to what people find beautiful. My favourite would be Goscinny's and Uderzo's Cleopatra (What a nose!)

Everyday Goddess said...

Definitely one of my favorite females. "Eternity was in our lips", that's not an understatement, we've been in awe of them for ages.

Sylvia K said...

Great post for the I Day! Interesting to see all the different versions of Cleopatra! Enjoy your week!

Sylvia

Nanka said...

Lovely pictures and interesting write for I. Have a great week.

photowannabe said...

Fascinating. Thank you for the words and pictures. Very cool.

Berowne said...

photowannabe: "Very cool."
Nothing like cool text on a hot day -- thanks.
:-)

Berowne said...

Sylvia K: "Great post for the I Day!"
What an enthusiastic comment; thanks.

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

thoughtful I post.

Paula Scott Molokai Girl Studio said...

What an interesting and inventive post! Inventive as to what you did with the word, infatuation! Briliiant.

Berowne said...

"Interesting," "inventive," "brilliant." What a fine comment, Paula, thanks.

Kristen Haskell said...

Berowne I really love your blog. You are a gifted writer. I learn something new everytime I visit. Thanks

Unknown said...

Only you can take a word like 'Infatuation' and connect it to world history, Shakespeare and illustrate it with movie stills...

My little post feels very mundane next to yours. But I can't win every week. You will perhaps understand what I mean when you visit my post.
Thanks for sharing your inspiring post!
Best wishes,
Anna
Anna's abcWed rnd 7 post-'I'

Amy said...

I agree with Paula! The images are fantastic too - thank you!

Verns said...

I'm always awed by the intensity of this Classic... interesting connection you've made...

ABC Wednesday here

Leslie: said...

Even though the story is well known, I was hanging by a thread reading your synopsis. Well done! Great post for the simple letter I!!! :D

Kay L. Davies said...

TOO too funny.
"Gold hull, purple sails, silver oars – routine stuff."
Laughing so hard the dog is looking at me out of the corner of her eye. My husband, no Marc Antony to my no-Cleopatra, is going deaf and doesn't hear me laughing. Routine stuff.

Kay
Alberta, Canada

Berowne said...

Kristen Haskell: "Berowne, I really love your blog."
Thanks so much, Kristen.
I don't feel dull, I don't feel hollow.
I found myself on your "Blogs I Follow." :-)

Berowne said...

Kay L Davies: "TOO too funny."
Glad you enjoyed it, Kay. Thanks.

Berowne said...

My thanks to Jingle, Anna, Amy, Leslie and Vernz for their friendly comments.

Jane Doe said...

Cleopatra has always fascinated me. She's just such a compelling figure. I greatly enjoyed this post, thanks for sharing.

Berowne said...

Jane Doe: "I greatly enjoyed this post, thanks for sharing."
And I greatly enjoyed your comment. My thanks to you.

ds said...

Oh, my. That barge. Your analysis, so well presented & accurate. The stills: Burton & Taylor, especially. Didn't Burton write that Liz was 'beautiful beyond the dreams of pornography'? Lines worthy of the Bard, for sure. Thank you for this most Iluminating post!

ds said...

That's Illuminating--sorry :S

Elizabeth said...

It's enough to make a girl call for the mandragora juice ... x

 
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