"The violent struggle between the two suns has spread chaos and confusion and ends in bloodshed. Nevertheless, Caesar rejects this world peopled with mutilated bodies and wishes to build his new empire on solid stony funerary monuments." (Sabatier 185) Not only have several people died because of Caesar's run for supremacy, but they have also sacrificed. Opposed ideologies or views are often met in these kinds of plays with loss and death. After the rivalry with Pompey ceased, a new conflict emerged from the loss of, what Romans perceived within the play, freedom. To further add to the Roman theme and Caesar, Caesar becomes an antagonist in Antony and Cleopatra. Along with Octavian and other characters, they provide the source of pain for the protagonists and supporting characters within the play.
What are Jacobean plays? Where does this term stem from? The term Jacobean comes from the Jacobean era. In this era, many of Shakespeare's plays were written. Plays like Macbeth spawned popularity and positive response from audiences. During the Jacobean era, especially toward its end, the Bubonic plague took place and an economic depression. Since Shakespeare was often funded by the royalty of the time, he did to some extent, have to cater to some of their interests and desires, that which included stories of grief and loss.
Grief and loss motivate not just the actions of Enobarbus but that of Cleopatra and Antony. Antony gravely wounds himself because he thinks Cleopatra committed suicide. Enobarbus guilt ridden by Antony's kindness dies from grief literally with the emotion itself being the only catalyst to his death. Cleopatra, although motivated by other things as well...
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