Antony And Cleopatra Power Play

Power play is featured in human experience at all levels, from the public world of politics to the private world of personal relationships. Textual portrayal of power as a complex social force, has intoxicated the human disposition encapsulating the composers vision of power play being destructive and self serving. Through Anthony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare demonstrates the interplay of political power among the triumvirate, intertwined with Cleopatra's sexual power play which controls Anthony as he gets transformed into a "strumpets fool", highlighting the manipulating nature of power play. Similarly in, Elizabeth (1998), Shekhar Kapur showcases, the triumphing rise of Elizabeth from her rotten beginnings to being one of England's most powerful monarchs, through use of various power play tactics.
Octavious Caesar is portrayed as very powerful character through his deceive language, his clear identification of effective strategies and characterization of being someone who is capable of great ruthlessness. In order to fulfill his objectives Caesar establishes a power play stragedy which involves taking advantage of opponents weakness. This is evident when he tells Octavia "he has given his empire up to whore" which shows how he utilizes the personal to attack Antony's political power. Caesar's actions, imprisoning Lepidus and therefore depriving him of his power after "having made use of him in the wars" against Pompey, highlighting his duplicating façade as well as his dispassionate nature. Many of the men who are placed in the front line by Caesar are the very men who have previously deserted from Antony's ranks, accentuating the shifting balance of political power and emphasizing that one need's to exploit opportunities and weaknesses in others to