In this essay, the man's role in marriage will be examined in relation to Richard II and Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. Marriage in Jacobean society was a highly codified and complex subject that would have governed the lives of almost the entire public (Ranald 68). In Richard II, Antony and Cleopatra, men face a multitude of marital pressures and expectations. In this complex web of marriage, the roles of the participants would have been tightly established and deviating from the norm would have been considered exciting, risky and dangerous. Therefore, deviations from conventional marriage would have challenged the public's usual beliefs. In this essay, I will show how, in Richard II, Antony and Cleopatra, male characters stray dangerously from their roles, causing the end of marriages. Shakespeare demonstrates this by establishing a clear parallel between the failure of the marriage and the failure of the character; as shown by Richard's bad reign and Antony's rejection of Rome. Both of these failures in their roles lead to the destruction of their marriages. While failure in one's role directly poses a problem to the marriage, failure in one's role also indirectly poses a problem to the marriage due to the conventionality of the marriage, causing tension between the male characters and the unconventionality. Both Anthony and Richard are presented as leaders and statesmen. Positions come with several duties and expectations that contain both the need for success and conquest, as well as the religious and moral dimensions of control. The expectations and duties to which the characters are held establish their role in society and are linked to their marital success. A key point...... middle of paper ......litity is presented through the consequences of Richard and Anthony not fulfilling their roles. Due to Anthony and Richard's failure in their roles, their marriages fall apart. Failure in roles destroys marriage because of the close association between marriage and roles, and through the tension caused between unconventional characters and conventional marriage. Although Anthony and Richard go through a seemingly similar process (they face similar roles and fail in similar ways), a key difference explains the different circumstances of the collapse of their marriage. Through Anthony's choice to fail in his role, he has the choice to end his marriage. Conversely, because Richard does not choose to fail in his role, Richard's marriage is destroyed without his consent. So how a character fails in their role influences how their marriage is destroyed..