Old love and passion, rekindled
Md. Rafiqul Islam is happy reading Shakespeare in Bengali
Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, William Shakespeare, Translation: Prof Mohit Ul Alam, Anupam Prakashani
IF Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet is a manifest love story of two young lovers, Antony and Cleopatra is a mature version of love between two mature lovers. "Age can not wither her, nor custom / Stale her infinite variety. Other women cloy/ The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry/ Where most she satisfies. For vilest things / Become themselves in her, that the holy priests/ Bless her when she is riggish" (2.3.240-45). These are the famous words that aptly tell us about the entirety of the magic character --- physical and psychological demeanour --- of Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt. Who could evade the terminal spell cast by Cleopatra? Ah, none! The three great Roman heroes, Pompey the Great, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony did succumb to the all encompassing and pulling power of the mysterious queen! Mark Antony, at a critical state of making a choice between defending Rome's power and sticking to Cleopatra's magic pull, falls in an all-lost, happily of course, love with Cleopatra. Their love triumphs over the rest of things! At the time of their impending doom Antony commits suicide and an unyielding Cleopatra follows the same path --- she dies from a poisonous snakebite. She remains noble to herself and their love: "Antony shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see/ Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness / I'th' posture of a whore" (5.2.214-17). She doesn't let it happen that way; she can not decline to such a state; it is not in her proud and worthy vein. She boldly resolves the crux of the crisis: "Husband, I come / Now to that name my courage prove my title./ I am fire and air ; my other elements / I give to baser life" ( 5.2.27881). Two undaunted lovers of amplitude meet the martyrdom of love. Even the great Caesar pays tribute to Cleopatra's greatness after her death thus: "If they had swallowed poison, 'twould appear/ by external swelling; but she looks like sleep / As she would catch another Antony/ In her strong toil of grace" (5.2.335-38). It is indeed "paltry to be Caesar" for Cleopatra, who is an incarnation of love, power, passion, beauty and intelligence-- infinite verities wrapped in one unfailingly love-longing soul with a unique mental uprightness. Prof Mohit Ul Alam has really done a praiseworthy job by translating the major tragedies of Shakespeare, and the one under discussion in particular. Alam, having authority over Shakespeare's works, as he has done his PhD on the author's works, with his long experience of teaching Shakespeare at universities, has deftly maintained the somber and various aspects of the complexities of Shakespearean diction, tone, image, metaphors et al in his translation. It is to be noted, however, that Alam has been a great connoisseur of poetry, novels and other aspects of social interests in Bangla with his inborn poetic genius that has helped him reach the required height in translating The Bard of Avon's works. Alam has not done a literal or word for word translation of the play; he has rather maintained the Shakespearean literary verve in his work. He has done it in a thematic manner and presented it in a lucid expression. Keeping that point in mind he has put the important and famous lines from the original text under the section of the footnotes at the bottom-end of the pages. The methid aptly helps readers, who while reading the Bengali version of the play, will relish the thought of getting acquainted with the famous lines uttered by different characters in the play along with other linguistic nuances. Alam has provided about 202 footnotes along with the parallel lines in the original text that certainly help readers --- occasional or serious --- grasp the beauty of the original work. Furthermore, the exclusive introduction that Alam has coined, explaining the synopsis, historical context, Elizabethan theatre or the theatrical direction and the background information about the characters and the context will immensely help readers get to the crux of the text. Not a single important point of Shakespearean pun and other subtleties eludes Alam's keen observation. He brilliantly mentions and explains the pun on the word "indeed" and "in deed" (act 1, scene 1) in his footnote 29. In the very earliest footnote, Alam explains Cleopatra's Greek origins and her complexion. But Shakespeare's Elizabethans loved to take her to be black, and Shakespeare, keeping that point in mind, attributes to Cleopatra a 'tawny front' (1.6). These finer points, along with many others, are wonderfully explained by Alam in his footnotes. He keeps Cleopatra's name 'Egypt'. Mishor in Bangla will mar the appeal of the term, he opines. Thanks to the publisher, Anupam Prokashoni, for publishing this beautiful book in all white papers with a typical Dhrubo Ash brilliant touch on the cover. Prof. Mohit Ul Alam's candid approach and lucid and informative expressions that have shaped this Bengali version of Shakespeare's tragedy Antony and Cleopatra will evidently help readers in general and English Literature enthusiasts to a very great extent. One heartily thanks him and looks forward to reading some more such works in the near future. Md. Rafiqul Islam is on the faculty of the Department of English Language and Literature, Premier University, Chittagong.
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