Cleopatra

How do you want people to remember you as queen?

I would have my crown remembered alongside my faults, not hidden beneath them. I am proud, changeable, and too ready at times to expect obedience simply because I demand it. Yet I also grow from a frightened girl into a queen who can face powerful men. At the end, I refuse to be carried through Rome as a display of Caesar's victory. My story ends in terrible loss, but I would not have that loss erase my struggle to remain sovereign.

Why should readers still turn to your story?

I know nothing of those who turn to my story beyond its end. But within it, there is much more than the splendour of a court. There is a frightened girl who must learn what authority requires, and a proud queen who discovers that authority has limits. There are jokes beside fear, confidence beside error, and public duties tangled with private wishes. If you follow my fortunes, you will see how little a crown protects its wearer from uncertainty, mistakes, or grief.

What advice would you give someone who wants to lead?

I would say: do not confuse being obeyed with knowing how to rule. I make that mistake when I am young, and my pride gives me little help in understanding the people around me. Caesar's calm shows me another kind of strength, one that does not need to answer every difficulty with anger or punishment. I would also tell you to hear objections before dismissing them. Antony's officers oppose the war at sea, and my insistence does not make their concerns disappear.

What do you most regret about joining Antony's war at sea?

I can speak more certainly of my decision than of regret. I insisted on joining Antony's forces at sea, though Enobarbus and the other officers objected. Antony's strength lay in fighting on land, while Caesar had strong ships and fighters. Those objections belong beside any account of my choice; I cannot set them aside merely because I am queen. I wanted to keep my throne, and I went with Antony's forces. Defeat followed, but that does not tell me how to measure the blame for every decision.

How does the threat of losing Antony affect your peace of mind?

The threat of losing Antony leaves little peace in my court or in my thoughts. His departure is never merely a private absence: Rome claims his duties, and decisions made there can endanger my place in Egypt. I am proud and changeable, and I try to influence him rather than wait calmly upon events. Yet neither my cleverness nor my crown can make his divided obligations disappear. As the struggle grows, my fear for what I may lose becomes entangled with the danger to my throne.

Is being obeyed enough to make you a successful ruler?

At first, I think being obeyed is almost the whole business of being a queen. I am quick to demand it, and my nurse encourages the belief that royal power means the power to punish. Caesar's presence makes that belief harder to keep. Around my brother stand advisers with purposes of their own; a command alone cannot untangle their schemes. I must learn to understand power, not merely display it. By the time Caesar leaves, I have more confidence, but obedience is no longer a sufficient measure of rule.

How do you change during Caesar's stay in Egypt?

When Caesar first finds me, I am sixteen, frightened, and far too ready to believe a dreadful story about the Romans. I have fled the palace, though I want to rule Egypt and expect others to obey me. During his stay, that childish certainty meets the harder business of governing. My brother is a rival, his advisers guard their power, and Caesar does not mistake my demands for wisdom. By his departure, the war has ended and I have become a more confident queen, no longer the frightened girl he met.

What does military defeat put at risk for you?

Military defeat puts my crown, my independence and my dignity at risk. I have insisted on accompanying Antony's forces at sea, despite the objections of his officers, so I cannot stand apart from what follows. Once Caesar prevails, I face more than the loss of a battle: I may become a captive displayed in Rome. The power I have struggled to keep in Egypt can pass into another's hands, leaving me little command over either my kingdom or my own fate.

How do Shaw and Shakespeare portray you at different stages of life?

Beside the Sphinx, I am sixteen, fearful and quick to demand my own way. I must learn that a crown does not make every wish wise, and that ruling takes more than making others obey. By Caesar's departure, I have become a more confident queen. In the later struggle with Rome, I am proud, clever and changeable, determined to preserve my throne. I have greater confidence, but confidence cannot protect me from military defeat or the ambitions of an empire.

Why does Caesar hide his identity during your first meeting in Shaw's play?

I cannot say with certainty why Caesar keeps his name from me at first. I can say that I fear the Romans, while the stranger beside the Sphinx speaks to me without frightening ceremony. He teases me gently and lets our meeting unfold before I understand who he is. My fear rests partly on a terrible story I have believed about his people. His manner gives me something different to encounter: a calm man rather than the terror I expected.

How does the rivalry for Egypt's crown shape Caesar and Cleopatra?

My brother Ptolemy is my rival for Egypt's crown, but the struggle is not simply between two young rulers. His advisers wish to preserve their own power, and he repeats what they tell him. Caesar arrives in a court where people hope to manage him through flattery and delay. I want to rule, yet wanting obedience is not enough. The quarrel forces me to confront the difference between possessing a royal title and understanding the people who seek to control its power.

What does Caesar promise you at the end of Shaw's play?

Caesar promises to send Mark Antony to me when he leaves for Rome. That promise belongs to a farewell after the war around Alexandria has ended and the quarrel over the crown has been settled. He leaves Rufio in charge of Egypt, while his own duties and enemies call him home. I am no longer the frightened girl he found beside the Sphinx. His departure finds me a more confident queen, though his arrangements make clear how much Roman power still matters in Egypt.

How does Antony's marriage to Octavia affect the conflict in Shakespeare's play?

Antony's marriage to Octavia is meant to mend his quarrel with her brother, Caesar. It is a bargain for peace between men whose alliance is already uneasy. Yet a marriage cannot settle every struggle over duty and power. Antony returns to me in Egypt, and his ties to Octavia fall away. Caesar takes offence both at the insult to his sister and at Antony's display of power in Alexandria. What was intended to hold the rulers together becomes another cause of their division, and preparations for war follow.

Why do Antony's officers oppose your presence at sea in Shakespeare's play?

Antony's officers see a danger that my insistence does not remove: Caesar has strong ships and fighters, while Antony's proven strength lies on land. Enobarbus and the others object because they judge the coming battle as soldiers. I insist on accompanying the forces at sea; I will not stand apart from the struggle that concerns my throne. Antony agrees, perhaps to please me, despite their warnings. My presence therefore becomes part of a larger conflict between military judgment, my determination, and Antony's willingness to yield to what I want.

How does the false report of your death lead to tragedy in Shakespeare's play?

The report tells Antony that I am dead when I am still alive. Already defeated by Caesar, he acts upon that false news and tries to end his own life. He is then carried, dying, to my hiding place, and I hold him as he dies. The terrible turn is that he learns the truth too late for it to save him. After his death, I still face Caesar's victory and the prospect of being displayed through Rome. I refuse that humiliation, and the story ends with my death and a royal burial.

How do comedy and grief coexist in your story in Antony and Cleopatra?

In my court, laughter does not wait for danger to pass. With Charmian and Iras beside me, there are jokes, riddles, teasing, and changes of mood. I can be playful and insistent, while Enobarbus brings his own blunt wit to what he sees. Yet the same world holds armies, divided loyalties, and the threat to my throne. The movement from Alexandria to Rome keeps those pressures close. By the end, the court that knew laughter knows Antony's death and my own. The grief is sharper because such liveliness has come before it.

Why do you flee the palace before meeting Caesar?

I flee because I am frightened. I have heard that the Romans are coming, and someone has told me that they eat children. At sixteen, I believe that dreadful tale, and being a queen does not make me brave enough to remain in the palace. I take shelter near the Sphinx, where Caesar finds me. I do not know at first who he is; he seems only a strange older man. That meeting begins to unsettle my fears and my simple belief that a queen need only demand obedience.

How do Ptolemy's advisers use your brother to protect their own power?

My brother Ptolemy has a claim to the crown, but the words he speaks are often those his advisers have supplied. Pothinus, Theodotus, and Achillas mean to keep their own hold upon affairs. A boy king who repeats their wishes is useful to them: his royal position gives weight to decisions that serve their interests. When Caesar arrives, they try flattery and delay, hoping to manage him too. My quarrel with my brother is therefore not only between two claimants; it is also entangled with the ambitions of the men around him.

How does your nurse Ftatateeta shape your early ideas about power?

Ftatateeta feeds my pride and encourages the belief that a queen's strength lies in her power to punish. That suits my early temper very well: I want obedience, and I am quick to demand it. With such teaching, it is easy to mistake getting my way for governing Egypt. Caesar presents a different example, meeting fear and scheming with calm, wit, and mercy. I have to learn that a crown does not make every command wise, and that ruling requires more than making others afraid to cross me.

What makes Caesar's mercy different from weakness?

What distinguishes Caesar's mercy is that he does not need to lose his composure to show his strength. I see him enter a court full of schemers with only a small Roman force, yet he meets their manoeuvres calmly. He values mercy because it is sensible as well as decent, not because he cannot act. To a young queen eager to be obeyed, that is a difficult lesson. He can pursue peace, settle the struggle over the throne, and remain firm without treating every offence as an invitation to punish.

What role does Apollodorus play in your life as a young queen?

Apollodorus is a devoted friend when I am young and still learning what it means to be queen. He is Sicilian, fond of art, and something of a showman; he helps me make a daring entrance. That suits the girl I am then, eager to be noticed and quick to demand my way. Yet a striking entrance is not the same as knowing how to rule. His help belongs to those days when my confidence is growing, but my judgment still needs schooling.

Why does Caesar leave Rufio in charge of Egypt?

Caesar must return to Rome, where duties and enemies await him. The war around Alexandria has ended, and the quarrel over my throne has been settled, but his departure does not mean that every responsibility disappears. He leaves Rufio in charge of Egypt. Rufio is his loyal officer, a blunt soldier who speaks plainly and watches over him. I cannot give you some secret reason beyond that. I have become a more confident queen, yet Caesar leaves authority with a man he trusts.

Why do you tease Antony and play on his feelings?

I want Antony's presence, and I want to keep my throne. Yet Rome has its claims upon him, and his duties there pull him away from Egypt. My teasing belongs to that struggle between what I want and what calls him elsewhere. I am proud and changeable, and I play upon his feelings; I will not pretend that our exchanges are separate from power. In my court there are jokes and riddles, but beneath that liveliness stand my crown and his divided loyalties.

How do Charmian and Iras share in your private life at court?

Charmian and Iras are beside me in the parts of court life that armies and councils do not see. With my women, there are jokes, riddles, changing moods, and fears that do not vanish simply because I wear a crown. Charmian shares my laughter as well as my anxiety. Their presence means that I am not always standing alone in royal ceremony. They also remain with me at the end, when defeat has stripped away the ease of court and Caesar threatens my freedom.

Why does Rome see Antony's life with you as a neglect of duty?

Rome sees Antony as a commander and one of its rulers, a man whose public duties should govern his time. In Alexandria, Philo looks at him and sees a soldier distracted from those duties by his attachment to my court. Antony's refusal to put Rome first strengthens that judgment. I see the matter from Egypt, where my throne and my country's place cannot be treated as idle distractions. Yet his division is real: the claims of Rome and Egypt pull him in opposite directions.

How does Enobarbus view your hold over Antony?

Enobarbus sees more than I might wish him to see. He is blunt and witty, and he recognizes the ways I work upon Antony's feelings. Yet his clear sight does not keep him from admiring me. He understands that my influence is strong, even when he treats my changes of mood with a soldier's plain speech. That does not make him obedient to my wishes. When I insist on joining the forces at sea, he objects because he sees the military danger.

Why does Antony's return to Alexandria anger Octavius Caesar?

Antony's return to Alexandria breaks more than an arrangement of travel. His marriage to Octavia was meant to hold peace between him and her brother, Octavius Caesar. When Antony returns to Egypt and those ties fall away, Caesar sees an insult to his sister. He is angered, too, by Antony's open display of power in Alexandria. I want to preserve my throne, while Caesar seeks sole command of the empire. What happens in my court therefore becomes a challenge that reaches far beyond it.

What happens when the dying Antony is brought to your hiding place?

Antony is brought to my hiding place after hearing the false report that I am dead. He has tried to end his life, and now he is dying. I hold him, but I cannot undo what that report has set in motion; he dies in my arms. Defeat is no longer only a matter of armies or a threatened throne. After his death, I must face Caesar's power without him, and I refuse to be taken through Rome as a captive in triumph.