Destructive Power Relationships in Antony and Cleopatra The love of Antony and Cleopatra is not about love at all. Their interaction can only be considered a kind of immature lust-power relationship. Their relationship is superficial, self-centered, irresponsible and destructive. Their attraction to each other is centered around infatuation and a sort of selfish rush to be more important than the world. Just as a man or woman today may attempt to control the desires of her fiancé, Cleopatra wants to manipulate Antony into wanting her: Cleopatra. Look where he is, who is with him, what he does: I did not send you: if you find him sad, tell him I dance; if you are cheerful, report that I suddenly fell ill. Quick and back. The relationship between Romeo and Juliet was sweet and beyond life. The relationship between Cleopatra and Antony is very mundane (we don't even know if Cleopatra "applied the asp" because she wanted to be with Antony in death or if she simply couldn't bear to be left with Caesar in life). GW Cavaliere of The Aesthetic School of Critics he says of Cleopatra that she is "a metaphysical good, not a moral one, a good of the whole. She is good in the same way that one might say that life is good, or the universe is good, not because it contains any suffering or bad moments, but because from the perspective these experiences are also worth having. Her perfection flourishes from totality, not from exclusion. Ultimately you like Cleopatra in this play because she is so robust, sensual, unpredictable and capable of so many strong emotions Here bursts at the messenger after reporting that Antony had married:Cleopatra. So what do you say? Or I will despise your eyes like balls before me; it falls in the neck: as it determines, so it dissolves my life! Caesarion's next strike! Until, little by little, the memory of my womb, together with all my brave Egyptians, for the dump of this storm of pellets, lies without a grave, until the flies and mosquitoes of the Nile have buried them for prey! The hand of death has kidnapped him. . . let the patient Ottavia furrow your face with her prepared nails.. . . let us fill our bowls once more: let us mock the midnight bell. A 1759 quote about a performance of this play stated that it "did not appear to give the audience any great pleasure or elicit applause." I can imagine it. It's not one of Shakespeare's best works, but it offers a good dose of history, tragedy and poetry. I think this play would be perfect for a more modern reinterpretation that analyzes destructive power relations.