About the Book
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 54. Chapters: Bianca (Othello), Bianca Minola, Celia (As You Like It), Cleopatra VII, Cordelia (King Lear), Cordelia of Britain, Desdemona, Emilia (Othello), Gertrude (Hamlet), Goneril, Helena (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Hermia, Imogen (Cymbeline), Juliet, Lady Macbeth, Lady Macduff, Maria (Twelfth Night), Miranda (The Tempest), Mistress Quickly, Nurse (Romeo and Juliet), Olivia (Twelfth Night), Ophelia, Perdita (The Winter's Tale), Porcia Catonis, Portia (Merchant of Venice), References to Ophelia, Regan (King Lear), Rosalind (As You Like It), Rosaline, Sycorax, Three Witches, Titania, Viola (Twelfth Night), Virgilia, Volumnia, Women in Shakespeare's works. Excerpt: Cleopatra VII Philopator (Ancient Greek: Late 69 BC - August 12, 30 BC), known to history as Cleopatra, was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. She was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great's death during the Hellenistic period. The Ptolemies, throughout their dynasty, spoke Greek and refused to speak Egyptian, which is the reason that Greek as well as Egyptian languages were used on official court documents such as the Rosetta Stone. By contrast, Cleopatra did learn to speak Egyptian and represented herself as the reincarnation of an Egyptian goddess, Isis. Cleopatra originally ruled jointly with her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes, and later with her brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, whom she married as per Egyptian custom, but eventually she became sole ruler. As pharaoh, she consummated a liaison with Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne. She later elevated her son with Caesar, Caesarion, to co-ruler in name. After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, she aligned with Mark Antony in opposition to Caesar's legal heir, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later known as Augustus). With Antony, she bore the twins Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helios, and another son, Ptolemy Philadelphus (her unions with her brothers had produced no children.) After losing the Battle of Actium to Octavian's forces, Antony committed suicide. Cleopatra followed suit, according to tradition killing herself by means of an asp bite on August 12, 30 BC. She was briefly outlived by Caesarion, who was declared pharaoh by his supporters, but soon killed on Octavian's orders. Egypt became the Roman province of Aegyptus. To this day, Cleopatra remains a popular figure in Western culture. Her legacy survives in numerous works of art and the many dramatizations of her story in literature and other media, including William Shakespeare's tragedy Antony and Cleopatra, Jules Massenet's opera Cleopatre and the 1963 film C"
