The Reception of Cleopatra in the Age of Mass Media

Description

This study examines the reception of Cleopatra from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day as it has been reflected in popular culture in the United States of America. Daugherty provides a broad overview of the influence of the Egyptian queen by looking at her presence in film, novels, comics, cartoons, TV shows, music, advertising and toys. The aim of the book is to show the different ways in which the figure of Cleopatra was able to reach a large and non-elite audience. Furthermore, Daugherty makes a study of the reception of Cleopatra during her own lifetime. He begins by looking at her portrayal in the vicious propaganda campaign waged by Octavian against his rival Marc Antony. The consequence was that Cleopatra was left with a tarnished reputation after the Civil War. Daugherty’s examination of both the historical and contemporary reception of Cleopatra shows the enduring legacy of one of history’s most remarkable queens. Cover Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents Illustrations Acknowledgements 1 ‘A Lass Unparalleled’ 1.1 Scope and thesis of this study 1.2 The ‘real’ Cleo and her known associates 1.3 Her beauty and her race 1.4 Her early receptions 2 The Femme Fatale 2.1 Cleopatra at the fin de siècle 2.2 Silent Cleopatras 2.3 Pulp fiction 2.4 Demise of the vamp119 3 A Kinder, Gentler Cleopatra 3.1 Advertising and Palmolive Soap 1909–29 3.2 Cleopatra laughs 3.3 Femme fatale to flapper 4 Thoroughly Modern Cleopatra 4.1 Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) 4.2 Postwar novels 4.3 Pepla 4.4 Pulps 4.5 Comic and graphic novels prior to Lizpatra59 4.6 Television pre-Lizpatra 4.7 Cartoons pre-Lizpatra 5 Lizpatra1 and Its Aftermath 5.1 Mankiewicz (1963) aka Lizpatra 5.2 Historical fiction after Lizpatra 5.3 Historical fiction for children and young adults 5.4 Science fiction 5.5 Comedy 5.6 Comics 5.7 Manga and anime 5.8 Pornographic films 5.9 Musical theatre 5.10 Television 6 Eighties’ Ladies 6.1 Maxie – Glenn Close1 6.2 Barbara Chase-Riboud 6.3 Science fiction and fantasy 6.4 Anne Rice, The Mummy (1989) 7 The Fantasy Queen of the Nineties 7.1 Traditional historical fiction 7.2 Film and TV 7.3 Science fiction and fantasy 7.4 Prose fantasy fiction 7.5 Graphic novels 8 The Twenty-first-Century ‘Authentic’ Cleopatras 8.1 Sources for the increased interest in Cleopatra 8.2 Miniseries and films 8.3 Historical novels 8.4 Historical novels about Cleopatra’s children 9 The Twenty-first-Century Fantasy Cleopatras 9.1 Horror and science fiction 9.2 Comics and graphic novels 9.3 Video games 9.4 Animation 10 Her Infinite Variety 10.1 Trends 1889–2022 10.2 Primacy of Plutarch and Shakespeare 10.3 Endurance of Orientalism 10.4 Changing role of film in influencing other reception genres 10.5 As a reflection of changing gender roles 10.6 As a reflection of changing racial perceptions 10.7 Gal Gadot in a snake bra? 10.8 Video games and graphic novels 10.9 A modest pitch for a TV series Notes Appendices Appendix A: Brief chronology of Cleopatra VII Philopator (adapted from Roller 2010: 159–62) Appendix B: Bibliography of secondary works cited in the text Appendix C: Bibliography of Cleopatra in prose fiction Appendix D: Bibliography of Cleopatra in films and TV shows Appendix E: Bibliography of Cleopatra in comics and graphic novels Appendix F: Bibliography of Cleopatra in animation Appendix G: Bibliography of Cleopatra in electronic games Appendix H: Bibliography of Cleopatra on the stage Appendix I: Bibliography of Cleopatra in poetry, recordings and music Index