Cleopatra Similarities Between Romeo And Juliet

1054 Words5 Pages
When Romeo slew himself over Juliet thinking he could defy fate and prove he has power over death, it resembled a similar situation that happened to another well-known character: Cleopatra. She basically committed the same actions over her lover Mark Antony. Sure, they took place in different countries, but they share a similar trait; both Romeo and Juliet and Mark Antony and Cleopatra were created by the same mastermind of literary language and word choice. That man is the notoriously respected William Shakespeare. His stories brought wonder to the public in the Elizabethan Era, teaching, entertaining, storytelling, and giving drama. Even though that happened four hundred plus years ago, his stories still impact society today. Except, funny…show more content…
Death is something that is present in both plays. The rapier was a classic weapon in Romeo and Juliet which symbolizes death and impending doom. “What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word, like I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.” Tybalt states as he pulls out his sword to fight Benvolio in Act 1 Scene 1. When someone pulls this out you know immediately someone’s life will end that moment. In Mark and Cleopatra’s story, this comes in the shape of clouds, shape-shifting ones to be exact. These clouds came to Mark, and he interprets them into his own doom later in the story. Conflict and its deadliness was also shown. Romeo shows conflict through the poison he drinks when he sees Juliet is “dead”. He decides to join his wife and drinks the poison, which kills him quickly. This represents the feud between the families. Snakes represent conflict for Cleopatra and when she sees that Mark has killed himself over her fake death, she weeps in sorrow then decides to kill herself with snakes, which symbolizes the conflict between loving Mark and hating Octavian. This eventually overwhelms her, which is represented by the snakes seeping poison into her breast. Do you see the…show more content…
In Romeo and Juliet an age old feud arises, allowing love to sprout from hate. “My only love sprung from my only hate!” Juliet says in Act 1 Scene 5, referencing that she loves someone that she is in a feud with. Romeo and Juliet try to make love out of a hatred and have a secret wedding. But Romeo was exiled for because he gave Tybalt retribution for killing Romeo’s friend Mercutio. Juliet decides to drink a potion given to her by the friar to make her sleep for 42 hours. This would give the impression that she is dead. The friar sends a messenger to Romeo to tell of the plan, but it was halted by disease control. Romeo, hearing this, goes to Juliet’s tomb and drinks a poison to join his lover. Juliet wakes up, and seeing her lover dead, stabs herself and dies. Then in Cleopatra and Mark Antony, there is a war between Egypt and Rome, and Cleopatra has an affair with one of Rome’s generals, Mark Antony. Mark is captivated by Cleopatra and they share a secret love. Then there is an arising conflict, in which Octavian (the Roman Emperor) blames Mark for betraying him and sends a fleet to attack him and Cleopatra. Cleopatra sends a fleet of ships to attack the attack, but like the message in Romeo and Juliet, the attack failed and the fleet fled in fear. Mark was infuriated, and he left Cleopatra. She decides to commit suicide to convince him to return. When he’s there, Cleopatra will wake and they will escape together, but, of course, Mark
Show More
Related

  • Friedrich Nietzsche: Wom God's Second Mistake?

    10705 Words  | 43 Pages

    Woman: God’s second mistake? Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher, who regarded ‘thirst for power’ as the sole driving force of all human actions, has many a one-liners to his credit. ‘Woman was God’s second mistake’, he declared. Unmindful of the reactionary scathing criticism and shrill abuses he invited for himself, especially from the ever-irritable feminist brigade. The fact and belief that God never ever commits a mistake, brings Nietzsche’s proclamation dashingly down into the dust bin

    Read More

More about Cleopatra Similarities Between Romeo And Juliet

Open Document