What Women Owe to Cleopatra
Cleopatra is the example of a woman who knows how to use her femininity to get what she advance herself in society. Because of this quality, she is probably the strongest female character we have read this semester. As we discussed in class, Cleopatra and Antony may never have been in love with each other, but rather the idea of each other. For Cleopatra, her relationship with Antony was useful so that she could defend her own people from being conquered as easily as the rest of the areas within the conquest of Rome. Being the queen of Egypt, as well as beautiful, were really the only things that she had to offer. Yet she was able to use those two roles to her advantage, and even elevated those two qualities by use of theater in order to keep Antony thrilled and satisfied with their relationship.
By having control of Antony, it was not hard to be a major influence in how his part of the triumvirate was ran. The fact that she was able to assert herself to the point that she had more control of Antonyâs military than he did shows how far a woman can go if they use their femininity to their advantage.
Cleopatra uses her sexuality to gain what she needs. It is a method that is still extremely effective today. It is an under-the-radar type of strategy that women are able to use in order to advance themselves in society and live comfortable lives. In pop culture and literature, this is a very common use of female characters, especially in political dramas. We can see this with many of the female characters in House of Cards where Zoey Barnes uses Frank Underwoodâs attraction to her to give her confidential stories from the White House, and with Frankâs wife who uses her relationship with her husband to have impact on issues she is passionate about.
Cleopatra is a combination of these two characters, considering it is clear that Claire really is in love with her husband and because Cleopatra is actually successful in exploiting her femininity and because Zoeyâs career would be nothing without Frank.
In Antony and Cleopatra as well as House of Cards, women are portrayed to be completely reliant on men in order to be taken seriously. Without Antony, Egypt would be quickly disposed of. This really leaves no alternative for Cleopatra except to use her role as a female to win over Antony. It begs the question, how far would women have advanced themselves without using their sexuality? It is clear that women are progressing to being more respected for their work rather than their bodies nowadays to a certain extent, but how often would women have been given an ear by men if they had not been in the bed next to them, especially in the days of Antony and Cleopatra? A lot is owed to Cleopatra and other women like her who were brave enough to lower themselves to the desires of men to get what they wanted, but we are thankfully at a point in time where that will not be as necessary.Â












