Cleopatra Movie Historical Accuracy Essay

What do the representations of Cleopatra in film and on television (as shown on the DVD video ‘Cleopatra’) tell us about how her reputation changed over time? Discuss with reference to two or three representations.

How did Cleopatra rise to and maintain her power? Not much is known about her life since she lived so long ago, but what is known is enough to piece together some of her life story. Cleopatra was a strong and intelligent woman who made it through all the struggle and strife of the ancient world until it became too much for her. Cleopatra’s reign began and ended with tragedy, but was maintained by exploited love connections.

Cleopatra was a noteworthy Egyptian Pharaoh whose legacy and role was shaped by her experiences and achievements in ancient Egypt. It can be argued Cleopatra was a significant figure and her role and legacy was formed by her experiences, achievements because she stood for a symbol of power and strength in a time where society was male dominated. Cleopatra’s personality and early life impacted the beginning of her rise to power and in 51 BC she became sole leader of the Egypt. The key events in Cleopatra’s reign and the role she played during the alliance between herself and Caesar impacted on her reign. External factors informed her motives, which pushed her to make decisions during her rule, as it significantly impacted her relationship with Mark Antony. Cleopatra’s legacy had short and long-term effects; the consequences of her decisions pushed her to commit suicide, the events and choices she made during her life portrayed her significance.

There have been many rulers in history who have been betrayed by those they trust, but The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare,1959) still holds a special place in Western literature as one of the most enigmatic human beings to ever exist. Powerful men like Julius Caesar shaped the life and times of the late Roman Republic, just before Rome would officially become the Roman Empire on the crowning of Augustus as the first Roman emperor. Julius Caesar was a powerful general who expanded Rome's power and who was beloved by the people for his generous charity after his successful conquests. Despite knowing the story of Julius Caesar to some extent, most 16th/17th century English would not have ever visited Rome, nor would know what the Roman Republic was like, which presented a unique opportunity to William Shakespeare to create a play unlike any other he had created before. (Shakespeare Julius Caesar, 1599) Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is a reimagining of Rome from a Elizabethan point of view, and despite some inaccuracies, the play depicts an enlightening view on Roman life, and the life of the Roman general, Julius Caesar.

When we compare Octavian’s passage, his thoughts are quite different. He believes Anthony was a man bewitched. He argues that no man in his right mind would behave in such a scandalous way .without thought or caring for his fellow noblemen. He say she is either blind or accursed and so being enslaved by her he plunges into war with all its attendant dangers which he has accepted for her sake against his country and fellow noblemen.

Cleopatra is one of history’s most memorably powerful women the world has ever known, but her stature is also flawed with a distortion that has formed her into an object of sexualized recognition. From co-ruler to full on Queen of Egypt, she worked her way to the top using “her character that accompanied every interchange, [which] was stimulating” (Jarus 2). This ancient political leading woman is more than just the stereotypical ruler who came into power primarily by means of seduction. II. From the moment Cleopatra entered this world she began climbing the staircase of power.

Arrow come here girl, uh where is that darn cat, oh sorry I didn’t see you there, my guards never informed me I that I would have guest here today, I was just looking for my pet leopard arrow. That cat always sneaking off. But how rude of me to not introduce to myself, I am Queen Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile.

2. Octavian is the grandnephew of Julius Caesar. After Julius Caesar’s assassination there was a competition for power between Mark Anthony, Caesar’s first lieutenant, and Octavian. Mark Anthony and Queen Cleopatra joined forces against Octavian. The issue on power was then resolved at Actium in 31 B.C.E. At this time Octavian’s navy routed Mark Antony and Queen Cleopatra. In 43 B.C.E, Octavian used force to gain approval by the government to rule for life. Octavian was given the title of Augustus, the Revered One. Octavian’s goal was to repair Rome and improve the living environment. His reign took place during an era known as Pax Romana, which was a time of peace and stability. During his reign he terminated civil wars. There was commercial

Octavius Caesar is deserving of commendation for his ability to strictly operate upon a political agenda while producing significant results. However, he is not a man as he forgoes humanness for his political strife and even less of a ruler as he is dishonourable and hypocritical in his actions and beliefs. Caesar is a disciplined man and acts logically, in accordance with the values of the Roman Soldier. Thus, Antony who self-gratifies is condemned by Caesar for neglecting his duty as a Roman soldier. Although, Caesar’s questioning of Antony’s loyalty to Rome is valid; it only emphasizes the two traits he lacks the most, honour and loyalty.

Cleopatra Cleopatra was a young queen in the Egyptian age of history and was the last Ptolemie to rule Egypt. She dethroned her brother to become queen and allied with Caesar, she also reigned from 51-30 B.C. Cleopatra helped end the Egyptian Empire and helped Egypt become a Roman ally. If Egypt hadn't fallen and Cleopatra would have conquered Rome everything would have went to her and she would have ruled most of the world, discovered at that time. Cleopatra's goal was to keep Egypt's independence from expanding Rome. Personally I think the movie can be used to portray history.

Cleopatra VII was the last Pharaoh of Egypt. Cleopatra reigned over Egypt in 51BC after the death of her father Ptolemy XII Auletes. Cleopatra’s mother was Cleopatra VI and she came to power at the age of 17. Cleopatra ruled over Egypt with her two brothers Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy VIX and her son Ptolemy XV Caesar. She was born in 69 BC in Alexandria and ruled from 51 BC to 30 BC. Cleopatra was Macedonian, but even though her ancestry was Macedonian, she was still an Egyptian queen and worshipped as a god. She was remembered for in history as the last Queen of Egypt and her relationships to Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.

After watching the movie Cleopatra from 1963 played by Elizabeth Taylor and doing a lot of research, it seemed to me that in the movie they took the best of both sides. They showed us this incredibly beautiful women, ambitious but realistic and logical, strong but emotional, smart but passionate, evil but for the sake of good and lastly, very confident and full of herself. She even represented herself as the reincarnation of the Egyptian God Isis (Middleton 8) which, I personally think was the key to her success and failure at the same time. I can say that in the movie “Cleopatra” Hollywood has been very fair to Cleopatra. In fact, more than fair, they even pictured her as more mesmerizing than she already is. The reason why I say that is based on these two scenes that pictured really the summary of how

Inside Cleopatra has mixed feelings; she feels sad for Antony, yet she is angry because she wants all the attention and now Fulvia is having attention. She feels bad for feeling this way, but she has never had to deal with a situation like this one before, therefore she is unsure how to respond. She feels as though she should let him morn her death, yet she wants him to love her more. Cleopatra still feels as though she has to be on top of her game around Anthony though. She loves him but still feels as though she is put on the back burner compared to Fulvia, and Caesar. This makes her feel less important and that she has to keep him wanting more. This also makes her angry that she feels this way because she is not use to feeling insecure because she is the queen of Egypt, she has never taken orders from anyone, let alone felt replicable to someone. She did not like that she was always second guessing how Anthony felt about her. This leads Cleopatra to constantly ask Anthony how much he loves her. When it came to Antony coming back married to Octavia, Cleopatra seemed angry on the outside, however, she was dying on the inside. She felt as though a chariot had just hit

Even though Antony loves Cleopatra his rational side takes over when he decides to marry Octavia in order to show his loyalty to Rome. He knows that his duty is to Rome and it is where he is supposed to be and the people of Rome are not happy about all of the time he has been spending in Egypt. To fix this and mend their bond Antony agrees to marry Caesar's sister Octavia. This mend is shown when Caesar says that the

Knowing that Antony is stronger on land Octavius challenges him by sea and out of pride Antony accepts the challenge, but then he makes a decision even more foolish, he allows Cleopatra to join the battle of Actium. Cleopatra now gets the masculine authority she has been seeking. Enobarbus knows how foolish this decision is, but Cleopatra insists on staying.