ISBN: PB: 9780300274158
ISBN: HB: 9780300256673
November 2023
208 pp.
21,5x13,9 cm
1 map
PB:
10.99 GBP
QTY:
HB:
18.99 GBP
QTY:
Cleopatra
Her History, Her Myth
A feminist reinterpretation of the myths surrounding Cleopatra casts new light on the Egyptian queen and her legacy.
The siren passionately in love with Mark Antony, the seductress who allegedly rolled out of a carpet she had herself smuggled in to see Caesar, Cleopatra is a figure shrouded in myth. Beyond the legends immortalized by Plutarch, Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, and others, there are no journals or letters written by Cleopatra herself. All we have to tell her story are words written by others.
What has it meant for our understanding of Cleopatra to have had her story told by writers who had a political agenda, authors who distrusted her motives, and historians who believed she was a liar? Francine Prose delves into ancient Greek and Roman literary sources, as well as modern representations of Cleopatra in art, theater, and film. She challenges the common narratives driven by orientalism and misogyny and offers a new interpretation of Cleopatra's history from the lens of our own era.
The siren passionately in love with Mark Antony, the seductress who allegedly rolled out of a carpet she had herself smuggled in to see Caesar, Cleopatra is a figure shrouded in myth. Beyond the legends immortalized by Plutarch, Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, and others, there are no journals or letters written by Cleopatra herself. All we have to tell her story are words written by others.
What has it meant for our understanding of Cleopatra to have had her story told by writers who had a political agenda, authors who distrusted her motives, and historians who believed she was a liar? Francine Prose delves into ancient Greek and Roman literary sources, as well as modern representations of Cleopatra in art, theater, and film. She challenges the common narratives driven by orientalism and misogyny and offers a new interpretation of Cleopatra's history from the lens of our own era.
About the author
Francine Prose is the author of numerous books, including "Lovers at the Chameleon Club", "Paris 1932" and "Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife". A Distinguished Writer in Residence at Bard College, she lives in New York.