Otherness and Gender Subjugation in Antony and Cleopatra

Abstract

Indeed, a significant disjunction is present between the Orient and the Occident; Orientalism by Said is a thorough example of this strong argument. Ethnic and gender hierarchies entangle the two great noble persons from East and West, turning into a fire that blindly follows footsteps, endangerously shaken or may threaten to undermine the whole Empire’s foundation. The article is an in-depth and comprehensive research study that explores how the Empires of the East and West are perceived as morally corrupt due to their excessive emphasis on duty. It outlines the factors of trade, as well as the relationships between Eastern and Western powers, and cultural assimilation, in the context of Imperial Rome’s expansion to the East. Additionally, it highlights Shakespearean themes of love and madness. Furthermore, it also asserts that Europe at the time of the play, Antony and Cleopatra, was anxiously concerned about the expansion of Islam, as well as the Turkification and conversion of colonizers to nativization. The conclusive argument is an assurance that masculinity and femininity are the two contradictory subversions that corrupt civilizations.