Architectural Rhetoric in Shakespeare and Spenser by Vaught Jennifer C.;

Author:Vaught, Jennifer C.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: De Gruyter
Published: 2019-09-12T16:31:26.370000+00:00

He imagines “the piece of virtue” Octavia not only as a besieged castle but also as the battering “ram,” or siege engine threatening the “fortress” of affection between Antony and himself. This latter architectural metaphor joins her to the battering rams Achilles in Troilus and Cressida and Aufidius in Coriolanus. Cleopatra herself speaks militantly and sexually when she orders the Messenger to “Ram thou thy fruitful tiding in mine ears,” only to hear the unwelcome news about Antony’s marriage to Octavia (II.v.22–24). In schematic terms of a morality play such as The Castle of Perseverance, Antony is repelled by Roman Virtue but attracted to Egyptian Vice.

In works by Spenser and Shakespeare, oratory commonly associated with Ciceronian architectural mnemonics can move a crowd for productive or destructive ends. As a result, in Antony and Cleopatra the war for empire-building among the “three pillar [s]” of the Western world – Octavius, Antony, and Pompey – is fought in the air as well as the water. Taking to the airwaves, Octavius uses Homeric winged words to manipulate public opinion against Antony. As Antony tells Octavia,

… he hath waged

New wars ’gainst Pompey; made his will, and read it

To public ear;

Spoke scantly of me; when perforce he could not

But pay me terms of honour, cold and sickly

He vented them; most narrow measure lent me;

(III.iv.3–8)

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.