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| | Session 27 |
 | | Shakespeare's handling of Cleopatra and Octavia, within the structure of the play, as well as in terms of the ways in which they contribute to the characterization of Antony and Octavius Caesar, is very interesting. |
 | | Cleopatra, on the other hand, as much as Antony is a "subject" in this play and yet how easy it is to talk about Antony, how difficult to get a fix on what Shakespeare is up to with Cleopatra. |
 | | At the start, Antony is Mars, Cleopatra is Venus; by the end they have been reduced, or elevated, depending on how you look at it, to man and woman, husband and wife -- which in Shakespeare's time is a sacrament, though their relationship of course is never sanctified by the rites of any church. |
| web.missouri.edu /~benderr/courses/135/sessions/27.html (1454 words) |
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