il Giardino Romantico

Antony and Cleopatra
Act V, Scene ii, Lines 280~298


   

Cleopatra: Give me my robe, put on my crown, I have
                Immortal longings in me.  Now no more
                The juice of Egypt's grape shall moist this lip.
                Yare, yare, good Iras; quick.  Me thinks I hear
                Antony call; I see him rouse himself
                To praise my noble act.  I hear him mock
                The luck of Caesar, which the gods give men
                To excuse their after wrath.  Husband, I come!
                Now to that name my courage prove my title!
                I am fire and air; my other elements
                I give to baser life.  So have you done?
                Come then, and take the last warmth of my lips.
                Farewell, kind Charmian, Iras, long farewell.
                                        [Kisses them.  Iras falls and dies]
                Have I the aspic in my lips? Dost fall?
                If thou and nature can so gently part,
                The stroke of death is as a lover's pinch,
                Which hurts, and is desir'd.  Dost thou lie still?
                If thus thou vanishest, thou tell'st the world
                It is not worth leave-taking.

If we choose to analyze Shakespeare's female characters, it would be unwise to neglect as noble a character as Cleopatra.  Torn between loyalty towards her nation and the man she loves, death seemed to be the only solution for her.  Could she have continued to live if she had been able to keep one or the other?  Perhaps.  True, she is manipulative.  She is, after all, a queen.  Wouldn't it be her prerogative to manipulate people in any way she wishes to?  One might hold their awe towards her as a woman in love, but because she is a woman, we cannot deny the fact that it takes a lot of courage to face death rather than humiliation, just as a man would do in those days. 

Compare her to two other queens mentioned in the series, and you'll see that she is indeed a noteworthy character.  Gertrude has no significance to her country.  She is merely a means through which the next king can ascend the throne.  If she had half the courage Cleopatra had, then she would have killed herself upon her husband's death.  Lady Macbeth is notorious for her determination to get her husband to become the king.  That motive, is a selfish one, for if she had considered what was best for the state, she would have come to the conclusion that they had to abort their evil task, since Duncan showed no sign of being an incompetent king.

This is yet another piece, which I have not encountered through my academic studies, yet I feel obliged to include her into this series, for she is the epitome of grace, elegance, and courage in women.

若是談到莎翁筆下的女性角色們，埃及艷后是不可忽略的一角。在愛情與愛國之間奮鬥著，最後果然是「賠了安東尼又折兵」。自殺，也無疑是她唯一能夠防衛自己顏面與尊容的選擇。若是愛情與國家最後能保住其中一項，不知她是否會願意保住性命活下去？是的。說到心機重，應該沒人比的過埃及艷后。但往另一個角度想，人家可是埃及的皇后。有什麼是她不能做的？或許從一個戀愛中的女人來看，的確是挺有爭議性的。但卻也因為她是個女人，活在當時男人稱霸天下的年代，卻有足夠的勇氣選擇死亡也不願意面對侮辱。正所謂，『后可殺，不可辱』。  

拿她與兩位在此系列中提到的兩位皇后比就可看出她的確是個了不起的角色。哈姆雷特中的Gertrude的皇后一位並沒有實際對於國家的直接貢獻。她的身分只不過便於下一位接王位者能夠順利登基。若是她有埃及艷后一半的勇氣，她早該在得知自己丈夫死亡後也跟隨在後。馬克白夫人惡名昭彰在於她挺拔丈夫順利登上王位的決心。這個動機是自私的。若她有考慮到國家的利益，她應該要發現，Duncan並不是一個無能的國王。

這也是在求學過程中尚未接觸到的作品之一。但由於埃及艷后一角實在太具吸引力，不得不貢獻一篇來探討這位代表女性優雅及英勇角色。