Shakespearean Prophecy on Election Eve

A while ago, the now popularized Shakespearean scholar Stephen Greenblatt embarrassed himself by appearing on the Colbert Report to discuss what Shakespeare play best allegorizes the U.S. elections. I say Greenblatt embarrassed himself because he used all of his Shakespearean booksmarts to make the lamest, most crass attack on Sarah Palin imaginable. He suggested that she was best allegorized by Bottom, since he is a "horse's ass." (Bottom, Isabel swiftly noted, is transformed into a mule...not a horse.)

In any event, I figured I should have a go at the game...

As far as I see it, the play which best and most uncannily captures the current political strife is (drumroll please), The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra. This is, of course, Shakespeare's "sequel" (using the word loosely) to Julius Caesar. In A&C, Antony appears to shirk his duty to Rome, preoccupied in Egypt, while his rival Octavius Caesar paves the way to making himself the first official Roman Emperor. (Caesar, one should note, was the befuddled monarch torn apart by the Roman senators who feared he would use newly invested powers to become a tyrant...sounds like George W. Bush.)

So here's the breakdown...
Antony (McCain) is an old, grizzled war veteran who is hot-headed and easily distracted. He has been hanging out with Cleopatra, a leader with mass sex appeal (read Palin) who governs a distant Roman state rich in natural resources while Rome seems to suffer famine. Cleopatra is beloved by the people of her homeland (who praise her even when she behaves like a commoner rather than a political leader), but the gossip-mongers in Rome have declared her a whore (see the baby-Trig scandal). Cleopatra also enjoys outdoor sports (she often fishes) and carrying male weaponry (she tells us that she wields Antony's sword at one point). However, Antony's association with her is a risky venture...romanticized by his friends but seen as too wild and irregular by some of his own troops. Antony also has a sidekick, Enobarbus, known for speaking his mind directly to those above him like a brash common foot soldier (Joe the Plumber).
When Octavius (read Obama...it's even an "O" name) begins his invasion of Egypt, Antony's troops beg him to fight Octavius on land, because that is his strength. For inexplicable reasons, Antony chooses instead to fight him on Octavius's terms and his soundly thrashed. Antony gives Octavius tactical advantages despite the advise of his supporters.

It should be noted, however, that Antony previously offered to settle the dispute through one-on-one combat with Octavius, the young, twirpy, inexperienced, "scarce bearded" leader of the city of Rome. Octavius, knowing Antony's legendary powers on the battlefield, refuses to fight in single combat (like refusing the townhall debates), choosing instead to rely on the wealth of Rome, his own eloquence, and his seemingly insurmountable good luck. Even Antony admits that a supernatural force seems to hover over Octavius, making his unavoidable political rise a foregone conclusion.

But Antony and Octavius aren't the only powerful figures in the Roman government. They share their authority with the third triumvir, Lepidus. Lepidus is well-intending, but often tongue-tied and mispeaking if not misguided (read Biden). He seems to want genuinely to bridge the rivalry between Octavius and Antony, although his frequent gaffes lead him to be little more than comic relief. Lepidus seems to be embraced by Octavius, only to disappear towards the end of the play. We discover he was surreptitiously killed for trumped up charges of treason against Octavius (quite like Biden's relatively quiet role in the campaign late in the game).

And we know how the play ends...
Antony goes down in a bitter defeat, followed shortly thereafter by Cleopatra. Octavius Caesar stands alone, the sole ruler of Rome. He is shortly thereafter renamed Caesar Augustus and realizes his dream of being the first true Roman Emperor, finally removing the last vestiges of the Roman Republic. Any hope the republicans had of restoring Rome to her former system of representational, democratic government vanishes.

And, of course, Caesar Augustus is ultimately hailed by the Romans as a god incarnate, worshipped by his followers and ushering in the Pax Romana (Pax Obama?) that led to the conditions of the birth of Christ.

Comments

[the mad engineer]

Brilliant piece, Peter. Fortunately Octavius will not win.

[Matt]

I don't think we will be that fortunate mad engineer--it is going to be a dark time for America. Johnson saw to the birth of the "Great Society"--Obama will see to the birth of the "Fabulous Society".

[PeterTerp]

Well, we are into Act V, and it doesn't look so good for Tony.