A Comparative Study on Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra and the Musical, Kleopatra(2008)

Abstract

In this paper, I compare the portrayal of Cleopatra in the musical, Kleopatra(2008) with that in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. The Egyptian queen has fascinated artists and writers as an attractive subject. While descriptions of Cleopatra in their works have shown extreme divergences, the image as which she has been understood up to now is the most celebrated stereotype of the 'goddess' and 'whore', Cleopatra has been not only a powerful strategic political leader but also a seductive femme fatal who led to historic heroes' tragic destructions, I assume that the ambivalence of the 'goddess' and 'whore' that is observed in the figure of Cleopatra originates from Shakespeare's representation of her in his play, Antony and Cleopatra. Although many artists and writers after Shakespeare have created a variety of Cleopatras, interestingly, they can be categorized into either the goddess or the whore from Shakespeare's ambivalent representation. In this paper, holding Shakespeare's ambivalence as a hinge, I interpret Kleopatra as a text to expand and reinforce the goddessness, contrasting it with Dryden's All for Love, Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra and Mankiewicz's Cleopatra which I regard as texts which build up the whoreness. Through texts which curtail and remove the queen's power, the Western imperialists have formed discourses, which develop into the myth to contain Cleopatra in the name of 'whore'. However, the musical born in Eastern Europe with the advent of the new millennium presents certain possibilities to become a counter-discourse to subvert the Western myth. I demonstrate that the plot of the musical highlights Cleopatra's ambition, suffering and struggle as a queen, which ultimately strengthens her 'goddess' image. In addition, the musical represents other female characters anew who were marginalized in the history and it also includes strong denunciation on the Western imperialists by creating efficient stage devices. The findings from the comparative study suggest that the musical Kleopatra releases Cleopatra from the dishonorable title of a 'whore' and reinstates Cleopatra to her throne as it becomes a counter-discourse which frustrates the Western imperialist desire.