<P> There's a great spirit gone! Thus did I desire it: What our contempt doth often hurl from us, We wish it ours again; the present pleasure, By revolution lowering, does become The opposite of itself: she's good, being gone: The hand could pluck her back that shov'd her on . (1.2. 119 - 24) </P> <P> In this way, Harris is suggesting that Rome is no higher on any "gender hierarchy" than Egypt . </P> <P> L.T. Fitz outwardly claims that early criticism of Antony and Cleopatra is "colored by the sexist assumptions the critics have brought with them to their reading ." Fitz argues that previous criticisms place a heavy emphasis on Cleopatra's "wicked and manipulative" ways, which are further emphasised by her association with Egypt and her contrast to the "chaste and submissive" Roman Octavia . Finally, Fitz emphasises the tendency of early critics to assert that Antony is the sole protagonist of the play . This claim is apparent in Brandes argument: "when (Antony) perishes, a prey to the voluptuousness of the East, it seems as though Roman greatness and the Roman Republic expires with him ." Yet Fitz points out that Antony dies in Act IV while Cleopatra (and therefore Egypt) is present throughout Act V until she commits suicide at the end and "would seem to fulfill at least the formal requirements of the tragic hero ." </P> <P> These criticisms are only a few examples of how the critical views of Egypt's "femininity" and Rome's "masculinity" have changed over time and how the development of feminist theory has helped in widening the discussion . </P>

When does antony die in antony and cleopatra