Caesar and Cleopatra - Bernard Shaw

Shaw mainly writes comedies so most of his plays are light, but Caesar and Cleopatra has to be one of his lightest and most fanciful plays. It's easy to say this because he takes two monuments of historical respectability in Julius Caesar and Cleopatra and makes a light farce of their story together. The play is still thick with ideas and objectives, but is the first work I know to imagine Cleopatra as a bratty child controlled by handlers and without a clue of how to rule. Shaw takes this step by noticing her age and the lack of intelligence and dignity in her father so there is a reason to exhibit Cleopatra in such an ungrateful light. Caesar is portrayed respectfully, but isn't considered a man in the play. He is part lion, woman and God. This combination of different traits allows Shaw to imagine Caesar as the dignitary he wants him to be. When Shaw creates a character that may have little recognition of the real character, it means Shaw has found the character in which to portray himself in the play. His works are always running commentaries. It makes for an impressive work because a large part of popular history is given a refreshing new look in Caesar and Cleopatra. The story is silly and some of the jokes even sillier, but there is true logic behind this play.