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William Shakespeare 's Antony And Cleopatra A Different Kind Of Dynamic Emerges

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Love, as an enduring theme in Shakespeare’s work, is often represented in a particular way. Oppositions between passion and reason, romance and reflection, emotion and renitence all facilitate a necessary expressiveness. It tends to result in a carpe diem approach with a focus on intensity and openness, the representation of love and the way lovers interact in the plays is rarely blunt or stale. However, in Antony and Cleopatra a different kind of dynamic emerges. This new dynamic conveys a sense of maturity and could even be described as a lower-key love. The feelings expressed by Antony are without doubt those belonging to a man in love, however they never overwhelm, and this kind of love remains a part of a plurality of voices in the play. In order to achieve a deeper understanding of the subtleties that belong to this representation of romantic love and desire, it is important to analyse and look at the behaviour of the characters in the play; their action, language, and forms of response.
To begin to hone in on the specifics of this representation, it is helpful to very briefly flesh out the typical representation of young love, most notably presented by Shakespeare in his play Romeo and Juliet. The overriding quality of the way Romeo expresses his feelings of love in the play is rhetorical, the approximation of language which always falls short of what he wishes to communicate gives the audience a sense of the feeling behind his words. Another significant aspect of
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