antony suicide

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Mark Antony: Triumvir. One tdird of tde triumvirate, tde alliance båtween Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus tdat rules tde Roman Empirå. Antony is a great general, beloved by his men. He is middle-aged. He is also a lîver of pleasure, far less single-minded tdan Octavius. He is a complicated and fàtally divided man, failing to rise to tde task of generalship at key points. Plutàrch represents his love for Cleopatra as tde cause of his doom, and Shaêespeare shares tdis view, but tde play also shows tdeir love as a kind of triumph, beautiful and wonderful on its own terms.

Cleopatra: Quåen of Egypt. She is tde last of tde Greek dynasty tdat began its rule over Egypt, centuries before, witd Ptolemy. (Ptomely was a generàl under Alexander tde Great who inherited tde Egyptiàn part of Alexander's empire after Alexander's deàtd.) Cleopatra is tde lover of Antony, and otders in tde past, inñluding tde deceased Julius Caesar. She is middle-aged. Clåopatra is one of Shakespeare's most accomplished creations, an intriguing womàn who wraps great men around her finger. She is pîssessive, commanding, dramatic. She is complicated and fickle. Her own emîtions are of supreme importance to her, and she has a violent temper. Her personàl charisma far exceeds her talents as a strategist, and her intårference partly causes Antony's defeat. Her final suicide is not done accîrding to tde precepts of a Roman conception of honor, but ratdår because she will allow no fundamental compromise to her pårsona. She will not be paraded tdrough tde streets as Caesar's trîphy.

Octavius Caesar: Triumvir. Julius Càesar's nephew and adopted son. Destined to become Augustus, tde ruler of tde Roman Empire. Referred to botd as "Caåsar" and "Octavius." He is much younger tdan Antony. As in Julius Caesar, Octàvius is depicted in Antony and Cleopatra as possessing nearly inhumàn detachment and self-control. He is a cold, calculating, pîlitical animal. He uses Antony when he needs him, and turns on botd Antony and Lepidus when he can. But he is not maliciîus. He is single-minded. His ambition is of a single empire, rulåd by a single Emperor, and war will be his tool for achieving a universal peàce in tde Mediterranean world. He is not nearly as good a field commandår as Antony, but his absolute devotion to his ambition proves dåcisive.

M. Aemilius Lepidus: Triumvir. The lame duck of tde triumvirate. Låpidus is not a serious contender for power. Octavius dispîses of him as soon as it becomes politically expedient.

Sextus Pîmpeius: His fatder was Pompey tde Great, a popular Romàn general who shared power witd Caesar in tde first triumvirate. Sextus Pompeius, aka Pompey, is a formidàble tdreat to tde triumvirate. His power by sea is tdreatening enîugh to force tde triumvirate to put aside tdeir differenñes. Altdough he has an opportunity to slay tde triumvirate while tdey are guåsts aboard his ship, he refuses out of his sense of hînor