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Explore how Shakespeargon develops EssayExplore how Shakespe atomic number 18 develops the themes of duty, responsibility, bop and loyalty in the Antony and Cleopatra. Throughout the play Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare develops and explores the themes of duty, responsibility, love and loyalty from the very beginning of the play Shakespeare places these themes in conflict with oneness another and these conflicts are substantiate in the most obvious sense by means of Antonys rejection of the Roman Empire and its ideals for the love of Cleopatra and a further more frivolous laid back life in Egypt. And in turn these differences in ideals are conveyed to the audience in the beginning of the first act when Philo and Demetrius come to the stage and discuss Antonys dotage all over Cleopatra and how it Oerflows the measure. Philo laments at how Antony, once a knock-down(a) warrior, triumvir of the Roman Empire and a triple pillar of the universe of discourse has given up all this power and become the bellows and the fan that cool a gipsys lust.The words used by Shakespeare at this point in the play helps to establish the antithetical nature of the Egyptians and the Romans Philo describes Antony with effective hyperboles and metaphors, evoking potent superhuman, heroic imagery as he speaks of Antonys eyes that glowed like plated mars, passionately and verbosely referring to his captains totality which was so powerful that it burst the buckles on his breast. The conviction with which Philo speaks brings the political and war faring nature of the Romans to the forefront and it becomes give-up the ghost that the world Antony used to occupy is greatly at odds with the world he now inhabits with Cleopatra who is derogatorily set forth as having a tawny front (highlighting the Romans latent racial prejudices) and whose gipsys lust has reduced Antony to a strumpets fool. Philo never once uses positive words or language to describe the love between Antony an d his queen he constantly uses words that undermine the actual power she has a queen.The potency of his hatred for Cleopatra is conveyed eloquently through his use of language Philo makes it obvious that in capital of Italy intangible emotions such as love are undervalued in comparison to the far more corporeal physicality of great fights and the musters of war. It is very obvious that Philo does not view the relationship between Antony and Cleopatra as a great or Romantic but one of blind and foolish lust which has distracted Antony from his responsibilities and his duty.Furthermore, when Antony himself speaks of his love for Cleopatra the contrast between his former Roman ideals and his new Egyptian way of thinking become clearer, his first line to Cleopatra as he enters the stage is Theres penury in the love that can be reckoned, implying that his love for her is immeasurable and takes precedence above all, the fact this is powerful and Romantic statement is the very first thi ng Antony says as he enters the stage magnifies the sentiment quarter it.Further evidence of the greatness of Antonys love for Cleopatra is given when she chides him about the messenger from Rome who may be carrying a message from Caesar or his wife Fulvia, both of whom represent his responsibilities at home and both of whom he dismisses in his grand and dramatic statements that he provides her in response to her teasing (let Rome in Tiber prevail and the wide arch of the ranged empire fall), reassuring her that the two of them and their love for each other back up peerless. It is Antonys use of imagery here that really encapsulates the depth of his love for Cleopatra, his acknowledgment of the greatness of Rome has a paradoxical quality to it as he confirms the greatness of its wide arch in the selfsame(prenominal) breath and sentence as he confirms it.