Antony and Cleopatra is a game of contrasting values ​​and paradoxical ideologies. Its central dynamic is the Roman/Egyptian dichotomy, with each pole representing a network of associated values ​​and attributes. Egypt is variously associated with the "passions", fertility, flow and change, while Rome represents reason, heroism, resistance and the political sphere. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Shakespeare's unique presentation of Roman history in Antony and Cleopatra is informed by his knowledge of Roman and Greek philosophy and is influenced by the Renaissance revival of such material. Stoicism is one such strand of ancient philosophy that sparked renewed interest during the Renaissance and clearly influenced Shakespeare's conception of Roman civilization. Among the main supporters of Stoicism were Zeno, Seneca, Cicero and Epictetus. It was a philosophy that defended virtuous moral conduct, detachment from passions and indifference to the fickleness of fortune. As Geoffrey Miles proposes in his book Shakespeare and the Constant Romans, the concept of constancy was an integral aspect of Stoic philosophy. Constancy had two main definitions according to the Stoics: consistency, especially towards one's true nature, and steadfastness. The following study will investigate the treatment of this philosophical concept in Antony and Cleopatra. It will deal primarily with the contrast between the Ciceronian and Senecan varieties of Stoicism, as well as with Montaigne's assertion of the inconstancy of humanity and nature. The Roman philosopher and orator Cicero was somewhat of an ambivalent Stoic, as he doubted his most extreme ideas. However, his ideas contributed much to the canonized tradition of Stoicism. Cicero's Stoicism developed from Roman morality and the Greek Stoic tradition and proposed moderation, civic virtue, temperance, and courage in the name of Rome. His emphasis on the public sphere as the appropriate place to exercise such morality was not intended to encourage his followers to ostentatious gestures of virtue for the sake of public approval or glory. However, he admits that glory can be a pleasant consequence of virtue, even if virtue should be its own reward. One of Cicero's main concerns was the notion of constancy. His main interest was constancy as denoting self-consistency or decorum. This is the virtue of acting only in ways appropriate to one's true nature, both in a general sense as a human being, and as an individual with a specific role and set of duties within society. Cicero's insistence on being true above all to himself could be seen as encouraging a kind of moral relativism or selfish individualism since one's nature may not necessarily be intrinsically virtuous. However, he continually states that one's actions should always be directed towards the good of society as a whole and that firmness is the most appropriate virtue. The Ciceronian theme of constancy as self-consistency or decorum is prominent in Antony and Cleopatra, although these precise terms are little used in the play. In fact, in the opening scene Shakespeare uses a framing device that highlights the Roman interest in this virtue. The first scene opens and closes with a conversation between two minor characters, Philo and Demetrius, who articulate the Roman attitude towards Antony's neglect of duty and infatuation with Cleopatra. The implication is that his behavior is erratic and unseemly because he is so far removed from his former glory as a Roman warrior.The inconsistency in his behavior is dramatized by the hyperbolic comparison between the soldier Antony and "Plated Mars" which imbues him with divine qualities of superhuman courage and honor. This is juxtaposed with his current subservience to Cleopatra and vulnerability to the passions evoked by Antony's image as "...the bellows and fan/ To cool a gypsy's lust." The violence of the contrast between what he once was and the humility of his current state results from Antonio's comparison first to the superhuman Mars and then to the inanimate and subhuman objects "the bellows and the fan". The inconsistency of his character is expressed by the verbs "bend" and "turn" while the indulgence in passions is shown by a lexicon associated with uncontrollable excesses, for example "[o]'erflows" and "burst". Such passionate excesses are clearly in opposition to the Stoic ideal of moderation summarized by the term "measure", and distract him from his true "...office and devotion...", which Rome should be. In the very first passage of the opera Antonio therefore shows himself to be unseemly in his inconstancy in his role as a Roman soldier and "triple pillar of the world" and even in his dignity as a man, becoming a "crazy whore". In the following passage Antony at least seems to show consistency and sincerity in his devotion to Cleopatra if not to Rome. This suggests that he could display Ciceronian decorum by remaining true to his own nature, even if it means neglecting his public role and not benefiting society as a whole. Antony hyperbolically states that to contain his love, Cleopatra must seek a "...new heaven, new earth" which echoes the Book of Revelation. Furthermore, it refutes his devotion to the Roman Empire:Anthony: Let Rome in the Tiber melt, and the broad span Of the arrayed empire fall! Here's my space. The kingdoms are clay; our muddy earth nourishes both beast and man. The nobility of life is to do so... With his use of apocalyptic imagery, Antonio shows the transformative power of his love, which is iconoclastic in its destruction of the concept of empire and redefinition of values ​​such as nobility. He redefines the term against the Roman model by arguing that it is noble to destroy empires rather than build them and equally that it is noble to choose love over political life. After the humiliation and subordination attributed to Antony in Philo's scathing critique, this speech seems to offer the audience an alternative value system in which Antony can once again be endowed with divine omnipotence. However, Cleopatra is wary of his grand proclamations of love and suspects that he is fickle by nature. He mocks Antony's role as "triumvir" by implying that he is Caesar's lackey:Cleopatra:...who knows/ If Caesar, with his scanty beard, has not sent you/ His powerful mandate: "Do this, or this/ Take in that kingdom and grant him the right to vote;/ Execute it or we will damn you' Cleopatra undermines Antony's high opinion of love by noting that he blushes at the mention of Caesar just as he imagines he would when his wife Fulvia reproaches him mention of Antony's wife Fulvia alerts the audience to his adultery as his affair with Cleopatra is therefore extramarital This inspires little confidence in his constancy towards Cleopatra as there is no reason why he should be constant with his mistress. more than he does with his wife. Furthermore, the fact that he blushes at the mention of Octavius ​​Caesar shows that his civic duties require his attention more than he recognizes, as his neglect of those duties clearly weighs on his conscience. Shakespeare problematizes the notion of decorum through Cleopatra's Apostrophe addressing Antony in the third person:Cleopatra: Excellent lie! Because he marriedFulvia and didn't he love her?/I'll ​​look like a fool, I'm not. Antonio/ He will be himself. It suggests that Antonio will behave in a way suited to his nature and therefore decorously because he will be himself. However, he also suggests that his very nature is fickle. His suspicions in this first scene prove well-founded as Antony oscillates between his devotion to her and the rival clutches of his political conscience each time he finds that "a Roman thought has struck him." The paradoxical concept of being constant in inconstancy is recurring throughout the work in relation to the lovers. In Shakespeare and the Constant Romans, Geoffrey Miles states: Antony and Cleopatra… explores an alternative concept of decorum in which self-truth is separated from coherence; Antony and Cleopatra, abandoning the principle according to which "stability...becomes above all", instead affirm that "everything becomes" theirs (1.1.51)Cleopatra herself embodies mutability and inconstancy while Enobarbus famously admires her "infinite variety " which, sexual connotations aside, reflects the synthesis of opposites that she embodies. However, in Shakespeare and the Uses of Antiquity, Charles and Michelle Martindale highly paradoxically suggest that Cleopatra is the only Stoic "worth the candle" in the play. It is certainly true that in the last part of the work he demonstrates consistency with his principles and contempt for luck. The strength of her inner resolve ultimately leads her to suicide, and it could be argued that her peculiar model of stoicism combines both Roman self-confidence and unshakable principles with Egyptian femininity, changeability, and the assertion of passions. The male reign of Rome, rationality, firmness and decorum seem to merge with its binary opposition, which is Egyptian fertility, variety and excess in Cleopatra's character. His Stoicism is therefore highly paradoxical and appears to redefine the Stoic ideal rather than emulate it, as we will see when we examine his suicide in more depth. Ahenobarbus states that “the vilest things/become themselves in [Cleopatra],” suggesting an almost supernatural metamorphosis. Geoffrey Miles expands on this notion of metamorphosis, arguing that in the work we find ourselves in a "... Daliesque or Ovidian world in which things undergo perpetual and grotesque transformations, culminating in Antonio's confrontation with himself and forms that form and dissolve into the clouds (4.15.1-14).”In Shakespeare's image of Antony and the Clouds, macrocosm and microcosm are united in chaos and mutation. The instability inherent in Shakespeare's worldview is similar to that of Stoicism. The Stoics believed in indifference to external chaos and good or bad fortune, through internal constancy, steadfastness and decorum. However, in Antony and Cleopatra none of Shakespeare's characters manage to combine all these elements to achieve stoic inner harmony. Octavian Caesar appears to have the most stoic moral outlook, but the superficiality of his virtues is exposed through comments such as "love. . . left unshown,/ Oft is unloved." In the same way that Caesar believes that virtue is only virtuous when seen, the steadfastness believed by the Stoic must be tested by adversity to be proven. In this sense Cleopatra is right to call him “Fortune's scoundrel” because it is Antony's disappearance that facilitates Caesar's triumph. Paradoxically, it is the inconstant lovers who, through suicide, come closest to achieving the Stoic ideal. Cleopatra realizes that it is "the thing that ends all other actions, / That chains accidents and speeds change...". It's the only thing they can do to maintain their dignity and decorum by refusing to put themselves at the mercy of Caesar or fortune. He's the only one.