The December 2010 issue of the Smithsonian included a wonderful article by Stacy Schiff entitled Rehabilitating Cleopatra.
Cleopatra ruled Egypt for 21 years and yet it would be men on the winning side of history, male writers throughout the centuries, and Hollywood directors who would label her a seductress.
As Schiff writes “It has forever been preferable to attribute a woman’s success to her beauty rather than her brains, to reduce her to the sum of her sex life.”
And
“Cleopatra would unsettle more as sage than seductress; it is less threatening to believe her fatally attractive than fatally intelligent.”
Halleluiah, sister!
As much as I firmly believe this to be true I still think Elizabeth Taylor made a rocking Cleopatra.
Here is a suitable quote from Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra - "My honour was not yielded, but conquered merely."
Love it, Liz, and I agree with Taylor's portrayal of Cleopatra - rocking!!
ReplyDeleteLove the post and isn't it true. Sorry it's taken me so long. This week like and the dentist interfered.
ReplyDeleteJanet - hope the dentist was not painful. I had to cancel my root canal on Thursday. I was home sick Wednesday thru Friday. Feeling better today - actually venture out of the house to go to the store but now I'm exhausted!
ReplyDeleteJennifer - thanks for stopping by stranger - lol