Cleopatra: Histories, Dreams and Distortions

By Lucy Hughes-Hallett

Book Overview

'Brilliant and discursive' Antonia Fraser, Sunday Times

'Hughes-Hallett's exemplary reappraisal ... throws a searching light on two thousand years of male erotic fantasy' Joan Smith, New Statesman

Winner of the FAWCETT PRIZE and EMILY TOTH AWARD

In the 2,000 years since her death, Cleopatra has been recreated over and over again by poets, artists and filmmakers, each time in a form that fits the prejudices, anxieties and yearnings of the age that produced it. To Chaucer she was the model of a good wife, while to Cecil B. DeMille she was 'the wickedest woman in history'.

In this revised edition of Lucy Hughes-Hallett's award-winning cultural history, the real Cleopatra - one of the most powerful women in the ancient world - is skilfully revealed alongside a legion of imaginary counterparts and the sexual, racial and political messages they carry.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 000878132X
• ISBN13: 9780008781323
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

A very informative read

The author does an excellent job of laying out all the various portrayals of Cleopatra, both historical and literary, and relating them to women's status in society at the time.The book is filled with clear examples of the author's points, and her theories are backed up with documentation.Cleopatra comes across as a very human "character" whose actions can be interpretted in many ways, depending on who is telling the story. Lucy Hughes Hallett gives the reader several "historical" Clepatras, ranging from a "Nile vamp" to a romantic heroine dying for love. The author stresses the point that various periods in history have used the Cleopatra legend for different purposes, everything from instilling national pride to selling shampoo. The book in no way presents a one-sided version of the queen's story. If anything the reader is presented wth an array of contradictory elements and allowed to pick and choose the ones he wants to incorporate into his own version of Cleopatra.I found the book well written, intelligent and thought provoking.

Marvelous Read

I beg to differ with the previous reviewer. Hughes-Hallett's Cleopatra is a fascinating--and sociologically astute--work. Hughes-Hallett is looking at Cleopatra's image as it has been created and recreated through the ages. She begins with a review of Cleopatra's story through the eyes of her Roman enemies (specifically Octavius--later Caesar Augustus) and explains how Octavius' "propaganda machine" used certain images and concepts to discredit Cleopatra. Like all propaganda, the images tell us more about Octavius and the world he lived in than about Cleopatra. Likewise, when, in the next chapter, Hughes-Hallett describes the images Cleopatra used to promote herself, we learn more about the religion and society surrounding Cleopatra than any specific biographical information. The book moves on through history: Cleopatra in Shakespeare, for instance. It is not a biography, and Hughes-Hallett makes it quite clear that it is not meant to be a biography. What we know about Cleopatra is very little. Instead Hughes-Hallett's book explores what Cleopatra has meant to the different ages in which her myth and story have been told. Like many famous women throughout history, she has been both villified and romanticized. I would rank Hughes-Hallett's book with Marina Warner's From the Beast to the Blond (although it is not as erudite) for its exploration of story and history and how the two mix together.