Abstract

김미경:  셰익스피어의 희곡 '안토니와 클레오파트라'에 나타난 과도함과 이국성  Medieval and Early Modern English Studies Volume 24 No. 1 (2016)   151-166 
 [Mi-Kyong Kim: Exorbitance and Exoticism in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra]

The representation of Antony as a voyager is foregrounded in Shakespeare's play, Antony and Cleopatra, and the motif of 'exorbitance' and 'exoticism' is importantly dealt with. Antony's exorbitance is erotic rather than imperialistic. Antony is excessive in love. The first words of the play provide us with the information that 'this dotage of our General's/ O'erflows the measure' (1.1.1-2). Therefore, Antony makes it a rule to refuse to set a limit on love. His new world naturally demands the death of the world he once possessed: "Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch/ Of the ranged empire fall. (1.1.35-6)". Antony submits himself to Cleopatra and takes the abundant Nile as his measure. Cleopatra’s exoticism is the power to stimulate Antony’s exorbitance. Antony’s judgement is bewitched by the ‘enchanting queen’ (1.2.123). Refer to Enobarbus's description of the meeting of Antony and Cleopatra on the Cydnus (2.2.197-212). Cleopatra's power to enchant her lover is her exotic quality as a Egyptian Queen. When Lepidus asks ‘what manner o’ thing is your crocodile? (2.7.40), Antony answers, ‘It is shaped, sir, like itself, and it is as broad as it hath breadth.’ (2.7.41-2) In this joke, Antony refuses to translate Cleopatra to Roman people. The untranslatable mystery of Cleopatra’s difference is what is significant in the last act of the play. Cleopatra commits suicide fundamentally to avoid being displayed in Caesar’s triumph in Shakespeare which is different from Plutarch. Cleopatra’s suicide preserves her exotic mystery from translation and functions as a method to keep her autonomy.

Keywords

셰익스피어, 안토니와 클레오파트라, 코스모폴리타니즘, 자율성, 과도함, 이국성
cosmopolitanism, exorbitance, exoticism, eroticism, autonomy, difference, irreversible body.