Critical comparison between “Henry IV, 2” and “Antony and Cleopatra”In “Henry IV part two”, we see a dying king who does not want a big stir to be imposed on him in terms of proceedings that will take place after his death. However, in “Antony and Cleopatra,” we see the two powerful figures, Antony and Cleopatra, clearly displaying their wealth. In “Henry IV Part Two”, Shakespeare uses mise en scène to focus on the characters and dialogues while in “Antony and Cleopatra”, the setting is the main indicator of the fortunes of the two sovereigns. Differences in the portrayal of a ruler's desirable characteristics, namely the respect and support of the people, allow Shakespeare to invite the audience to imagine their own ideal ruler. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay King Henry appears to be a good ruler by the way he has his nobles flocking around him in the captions. His apparent kindness when he says, "Please take me up," seems to place him on the same level as his nobles, a quality that earns him favor as an ideal ruler. We also see this when Henry refers to his nobles as "my kind friends." The king doesn't seem to want to make a fuss when he says, "Don't make any noise." This is another demonstration of Henry's humility. Shakespeare, through his lack of narrator, allows King Henry to gain the audience's approval on his own, rather than altering their perception. When it comes to Antony's portrayal, Shakespeare is much less complimentary. In the opening scene, Philo, supposedly one of Anthony's friends, is undermining him and saying that Anthony's love "is beyond measure", i.e. he thinks a general's focus should be on the battlefield and not on a woman. Shakespeare uses Philo as a narrator, which is helpful when it comes to understanding what Antony's subjects think of him. We can observe that he is a storyteller when he says “look and see,” as he invites us to witness evidence to support his opinions. Using an internal narrator increases the audience's closeness to people's opinions because they believe what they are hearing is unaltered and real. Philo continues to insult Anthony as he seems more than impressed that Anthony has transformed from "the triple pillar of the world" into "a foolish slut". By calling Anthony this, Philo implies that Anthony should be embarrassed for allowing himself to become so infatuated with Cleopatra. This all seems rather unfair to Anthony since the audience is not allowed to decide for themselves how to view Anthony because of Philo's opinion. Cleopatra appears equally unpleasant from her description. We are led to believe that before Cleopatra, Antony was a stern general. The scale of Cleopatra's pompous arrival, of which Antony is forced to take part, seems entirely unnecessary. Captions include music on stage, Cleopatra with a crowd of young women, a train, presumably implying a litter carried by strong young men, and eunuchs waving it. Shakespeare adds all of these characteristics in the stage directions to emphasize how unusual the lifestyle they live is for Anthony. Cleopatra therefore demands attention, rather than earning it. He says, "If it's really love, tell me how much," to which Anthony replies, "There's begging in love that can be calculated." This exchange does not appear to be free and easy, but very forced and uncomfortable for Anthony. The respect and love that King Henry has is highlighted by the long soliloquy he has after finding out about his father's death. Initially, the prince takes a little while.