Eng/220 - the Contrast of Character Between Octavia and Cleopatra

The Contrast of Character between Octavia and Cleopatra

Stephanie Tolli

ENG/220

June15, 2015

April Rivers

Cleopatra and Octavia, Comparison and Contrast

Cleopatra and Octavia were two female leaders who were both similar and yet so different that came from competing societies. The difference in both pretense and method emphasizes the different ideals of their respective civilizations. The Roman notion of Egypt was that it was a country of magic and uncontrolled passion, where their account of themselves was one of calmness and rational thought. They were both mothers and two of the most powerful women in the world at this time. They were women who had to struggle in a world where men were the only people considered worth anything. These women came to conduct their lives to make their choices for good or evil. "Cleopatra and Octavia exploits cultural fears of effeminacy, luxury, and moral corruption in an effort to claim a place for strong and active women in the republic of virtue." (Gadeken, 1999, p.523)

Cleopatra was a woman of beauty, charisma and allure who used her pride to manipulate men. Her technique first worked with Caesar, then with Pompey, and finally Anthony. She was a product of her own cunning and their expectations. Cleopatra's charisma with men was her unlikely rise to power. She pretended to be weak, emotional, and helpless to gain power over men. That manipulation is what caught Anthony's eye. By allowing Cleopatra to control him, Anthony empowered her affectation. Cleopatra represented a luxury that threatened his manhood. She was full of pride and ambition that often blinded her to genuine happiness and experiencing love, even with her children.

In contrast, Octavia could not compete with the sultry and extravagant Cleopatra for Anthony’s attention. “Octavia was an English literary tradition of the honest, frugal, and virtuous Roman matron for whom true womanhood requires an active moral life” (Gadeken, 1999, p. 525). She was confused, being a design of grace in her right, and she was also a scorned woman. She was a passive victim in this role. “Octavia was a figure of strength in her dedication to the principles of reason and duty. She had self-control, frugality, and prudence that put her in the best local tradition” (Gadeken, 1999, p. 256). She was an abandoned woman, with Anthony refusing to admit that she was the type of women that he could love. Blinded by Cleopatra’s manipulations, he could not see Octavia’s true love. He publicly and brutally rejected her. She could only weep and wait. Octavia remained obedient to her husband, although he felt threatened by her intelligence. Anthony found in Octavia the type of submission he desired but looked upon her real love as feigned. This submission caused him to prefer Cleopatra to the devotion of Octavia. In the end, his delusions became tragic: fooled by Cleopatra's arts, he committed suicide while Octavia remained willing to forgive him. Octavia treated her marriage in the fashion of a soldier called to battle.

Octavia represents the ideal one should strive to become. The complete opposite of Cleopatra, Octavia was governed by love. She structured her life around selfless devotion to others. Octavia's goodness also gave her earthly contentment unknown to Cleopatra, who was ruled by pride and ambition. The tragedy was the fact that Cleopatra saw committing suicide the only way to placate her pride. While Cleopatra’s indulgence of passion led to self-absorption and self-destruction, Octavia’s selflessness fostered emotional strength and stability. In perfect contrast to Cleopatra’s violent suicide, Octavia met death with the same serenity with which she lived.