Antony and Cleopatra - Power

Power:

If you think love and politics can mix, then you've obviously never seen House of Cards. In the show, Frank Underwood doesn't actually love his wife, Claire Underwood. He constantly uses her as a political chip. He uses her mothers illness to buy him time. He uses her as a campaign tool to win voters over. He uses her a surrogate and messenger, because she's been with him from the beginning. This, in a lot of ways, is like Antony and Cleopatra's relationship. But Antony is Claire, and Cleo is Frank. And here's the real kicker: neither of them love each other, but they love having the power. And their compatibility and capability for gaining power is how they manage to stick together. It is a (often tense) symbiotic relationship. 

I imagine Antony and Cleo's relationship much like this, but Antony is too pussy-whipped to care. He thinks he's in control, even though Cleo obviously has him drooling at her feet. She just wants to stay alive man! You can't blame a girl for that. As for Antony's blame on Cleo, he should take a step back. He's the one that fucked himself over FOR Cleo! If he wasn't such a horny teenager, he probably would've realized she was manipulating him and controlling him. As for letting politics and love mingle, I honestly can't say. I still don't consider what Cleo and Antony had "love," but who am I to judge?

You honestly think Antony takes his role in the Triumvirate seriously?????? After the shit he pulls???? If he really cared, I don't think he would have allowed himself to become spoiled in Egypt, letting his honor amongst influential romans falter. The other two thirds of the triumvirate were perfectly happy with staying in Rome to run the place. Antony thinks that he'll be fine to just hang in Egypt and not participate in running (what was effectively) the most powerful country in the world. I think Antony's downfall isn't the fact that he lost his power in Rome, it's the fact that he didn't bother trying to keep it. 

Obviously the play is about political power. It's about how political power gets fucked over by "love." Again, I don't think the tragedy here is about any kind of lost love, I think it's about the loss of power over "love." 

Aight fam, listen. I just belted out all this crap above, and I am not about to research 17th century English politics to answer this one. But I'm sure that Elizabeth did just that. She wanted to keep the power within her (albeit probably) extended family.