Critical comparison between “Henry IV, 2” and “Antony and Cleopatra” In “Henry IV, Part Two” we see a dying king who does not want to make a noise . be made against him with regard to the proceedings which will take place after his death. However, in “Antony and Cleopatra,” we see the two powerful characters, Antony and Cleopatra, clearly displaying their wealth. In "Henry IV, Part II", Shakespeare uses setting to focus on the characters and dialogue while in "Antony and Cleopatra", the setting is the main indicator of the fortunes of the two rulers. The differences in the depiction of the desirable characteristics of a ruler, namely respect and support of the people, allow Shakespeare to invite the audience to imagine their ideal ruler. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay King Henry appears to be a good ruler, given the way his nobles crowd around him in stage directions. His apparent politeness when he says, "Please take care of me" 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 sweet friends.” The king seems not to want to make any noise when he says: “Let there be no noise.” This is another demonstration of Henry's humility. Shakespeare, through his lack of a narrator, allows King Henry to gain the audience's approval on his own, rather than having their perception altered. When it comes to Anthony's portrayal, Shakespeare is much less complimentary. In the opening scene, Philo, supposedly one of Anthony's friends, undermines him and says that Anthony's love "beyond measure", meaning that he thinks that a general should focus on the battlefield and not on a woman. Shakespeare uses Philo as his narrator, which is helpful in understanding what Anthony's subjects think of him. We can observe that he is a narrator when he says “behold and see” because he invites us to bear witness to support his opinions. Using an internal narrator increases the audience's proximity to people's opinions because they believe that what they hear is unchanged and real. Philo continues to insult Anthony as he now seems more than a little impressed by Anthony going from "triple pillar of the world" to "a trumpet fool". By calling Anthony this, Philo implies that Anthony should be embarrassed for having indulged in such infatuation with Cleopatra. This all seems rather unfair to Anthony because the audience isn't allowed to decide for themselves how to view Anthony because of Philo's opinion. Cleopatra seems equally unsympathetic from her description. We are led to believe that before Cleopatra, Antony was a strict general. The scale of Cleopatra's pompous arrival, which Antony is forced to be a part of, seems entirely unnecessary. The settings include music on stage, Cleopatra with a crowd of young women, a train, which presumably involves a stretcher carried by strong young men, and eunuchs fanning her. Shakespeare adds all of these characteristics in the stage directions to emphasize how unusual the lifestyle they live is for Anthony. Cleopatra then demands attention, rather than deserving it. She says, “If it really is love, tell me how much,” to which Anthony responds, “There is a begging in love that can be counted.” » This exchange does not seem free and easy, but very forced and uncomfortable for Anthony. King Henry's respect and love are evidenced by the long monologue he.