Using Pompey and Caesar, he taught that the road to power is not paved by honorable actions. He used Caesar’s betrayal of Lepidus and Anthony’s arranged marriage to prove that the rulers with the most power will do anything to gain/maintain it. And finally, he used Cleopatra to show that the quest for power in some people goes even deeper than love. Perhaps with this story, Shakespeare is arguing that those that want power are those who are most unfit for it. Maybe he is within the same school of thought as Plato, and he believes the ruling class must go through extensive training and teaching before they are ready to handle any power. Or maybe he is like Dasaratha of the Ramayana and believes that the greatest rulers are those that have no desire to rule in the first place. Whatever the case, one thing is certain: when power is pursued in the way that it is in Anthony and Cleopatra, it will end in
Using Pompey and Caesar, he taught that the road to power is not paved by honorable actions. He used Caesar’s betrayal of Lepidus and Anthony’s arranged marriage to prove that the rulers with the most power will do anything to gain/maintain it. And finally, he used Cleopatra to show that the quest for power in some people goes even deeper than love. Perhaps with this story, Shakespeare is arguing that those that want power are those who are most unfit for it. Maybe he is within the same school of thought as Plato, and he believes the ruling class must go through extensive training and teaching before they are ready to handle any power. Or maybe he is like Dasaratha of the Ramayana and believes that the greatest rulers are those that have no desire to rule in the first place. Whatever the case, one thing is certain: when power is pursued in the way that it is in Anthony and Cleopatra, it will end in