"Antony and Cleopatra" shows the conflict between the "hardihood of the West" and the "luxury of the East" resulting in the eventual fall of the Roman republic, even as it rejoices in its triumph over Egypt, a grand parallel drawn from Antony's ruination of Cleopatra, the "Eastern star." The fatal collision of cultures is an essential element of the play, and both understand one another but are incapable of resolving their differences. The nature of each culture, the way in which Shakespeare conveys the differences, the characters' understanding of each, and which culture eventually emerges victorious are essential to the development of this argument.

As Swinburne describes the glory of Cleopatra, "From her first imperial dawn on the stage of Shakespeare to the setting of that eastern star behind a pall of undissolving cloud we feel the...mystery of her absolute and royal soul" . She is a visible...