Conflict And Reconciliation

Shakespeare was the greatest dramatist and poet during the British Renaissance and he has become the most representative British cultural symbol today.Antony and Cleopatra was a famous tragedy created in Shakespeare's late career.This thesis is focused on the conflict and reconciliation within the protagonists and the study is based on Hegel's Theory of Tragedy.Hegel's theory of tragedy is based on his philosophy of the Identity of opposites.In tragedy,the opposites form the "conflict" and Identity forms in "reconciliation".Hegel thought that the conflict in tragedy arises from the differences and oppositions of heart,the essence of which lay in the position,that both of the conflicting sides have justification,but because that they are in contradiction,each side pushed its one-sided and exclusive claim to the point and denied the equally justifiable opposing claim,resulting in the inevitable conflict.The conflict as a break in harmony,it cannot last,but must be negated.The conflict demands to be reconciled.What was destroyed in conflict was the exclusive claim but the justification was preserved.The two conflicting sides reconciled with each other in the end.In Antony and Cleopatra,both of the protagonists experienced a process from conflict to reconciliation within themselves.Antony is a triumvir of the Roman Empire,he looks to honor as everything to him;however,as the lover of Cleopatra,he looks to love as his whole life.He doesn't have a harmonious medium and he struggles in the conflict between love and honor throughout the rest of his life and finally he was destroyed by the conflict.However,as Hegel says,what is destroyed in the conflict is the exclusive claim,but the justification of both conflicting sides is preserved.Although Antony himself is destroyed,his ideals of love and honor are preserved,these two conflicting forces reconcile with each other in the end.Within Cleopatra is the same kind of conflict:as a woman,love was her whole life;however,as the Queen of Egypt,she must think about how to benefit her country.When her crisis occurred,the conflict between her single-minded love and her passion for duty becomes violent.In the death of Antony she realizes how horribly she has treated Antony.She abandons her passion for duty and receives her internal reconciliation.Both Antony and Cleopatra suffered in the conflict,but they got their reconciliation in the end.