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The textual motif of empire within Antony and Cleopatra has strong gendered and erotic undercurrents.

Antony, the Roman soldier characterized by a certain effeminacy, is the main article of conquest, falling first to Cleopatra and then to Caesar ( Octavian ).

Cleopatra's triumph over her lover is attested to by Caesar himself, who gibes that Antony “ is not more manlike / Than Cleopatra ; nor the queen of Ptolemy / More womanly than he ” ( 1. 4. 5-7 ).

That Cleopatra takes on the role of male aggressor in her relationship with Antony should not be surprising ; after all, “ a culture attempting to dominate another culture will endow itself with masculine qualities and the culture it seeks to dominate with feminine ones ” -- appropriately, the queen's romantic assault is frequently imparted in a political, even militaristic fashion.

Antony's subsequent loss of manhood seemingly “ signifies his lost Romanness, and act 3, scene 10, is a virtual litany of his lost and feminized self, his “ wounder chance ”.

Throughout the play, Antony is gradually bereaved of that Roman quality so coveted in his nostalgic interludes — by the centremost scenes, his sword ( a plainly phallic image ), he tells Cleopatra, has been “ made weak by his affection ” ( 3. 11. 67 ).

In act 4, scene 14, “ an un-Romaned Antony ” laments, “ O, thy vile lady !/ She has robb'd me of my sword ,” ( 22-23 )— critic Arthur L. Little Jr. writes that here “ he seems to echo closely the victim of raptus, of bride theft, who has lost the sword she wishes to turn against herself.

By the time Antony tries to use his sword to kill himself, it amounts to little more than a stage prop ”.

Antony is reduced to a political object, “ the pawn in a power game between Caesar and Cleopatra ”.

Having failed to perform Roman masculinity and virtue, Antony's only means with which he might “ write himself into Rome's imperial narrative and position himself at the birth of empire ” is to cast himself in the feminine archetype of the sacrificial virgin ; “ once understands his failed virtus, his failure to be Aeneas, he then tries to emulate Dido ”.

Antony and Cleopatra can be read as a rewrite of Virgil's epic, with the sexual roles reversed and sometimes inverted.

James J Greene writes on the subject: “ If one of the seminally powerful myths in the cultural memory of our past is Aeneas ' rejection of his African queen in order to go on and found the Roman empire, than it is surely significant that Shakespeare's ... depicts precisely and quite deliberately the opposite course of action from that celebrated by Virgil.

For Antony ... turned his back for the sake of his African queen on that same Roman state established by Aeneas ”.

Antony even attempts to commit suicide for his love, falling short in the end.

He is incapable of “ occupying the ... politically empowering place ” of the female sacrificial victim.

The abundant imagery concerning his person —“ of penetration, wounds, blood, marriage, orgasm, and shame ”— informs the view of some critics that the Roman “ figures Antony's body as queer, that is, as an open male body ... not only ' bends ' in devotion ' but ... bends over ”.

In reciprocal contrast, " in both Caesar and Cleopatra we see very active wills and energetic pursuit of goals ".< ref > James, Max H. "" The Noble Ruin ": Antony and Cleopatra.

" College Literature Spring 8. 2 ( 1981 ): 127-43.

JSTOR.

Web.

1 Feb. 2012.

< http :// www. jstor. org / stable / 25111383 >.</ ref > While Caesar's empirical objective can be considered strictly political, however, Cleopatra's is explicitly erotic ; she conquers carnally — indeed, " she made great Caesar lay his sword to bed ;/ He plough'd her, and she cropp'd " ( 2. 2. 232-233 ).

Her mastery is unparalleled when it comes to the seduction of certain powerful individuals, but popular criticism supports the notion that " as far as Cleopatra is concerned, the main thrust of the play's action might be described as a machine especially devised to bend her to the Roman will ... and no doubt Roman order is sovereign at the end of the play.

But instead of driving her down to ignominy, the Roman power forces her upward to nobility ".

Caesar says of her final deed, " Bravest at the last ,/ She levelled at our purposes, and, being royal ,/ Took her own way " ( 5. 2. 325-327 ).