Becoming Cleopatra The Shifting Image of an Icon

Cleopatra is an icon of "exotic" femininity. Sexy, political, and racially ambiguous--since the time of Shakespeare she has been a central character in popular culture. And, more often than not, Cleopatra has been imagined as the epitome of dangerous female sexuality. Moving fluidly from Shakespeare's England to contemporary Los Angeles, Francesca Royster looks at the performance of race and sexuality in a wide range of portrayals of Cleopatra. Royster begins with Shakespeare's original appropriation of Plutarch, and then moves on to analyze performances of the Cleopatra icon by Josephine Baker, and the on screen performances of Elizabeth Taylor, Tamara Dobson (Cleopatra Jones), and Queen Latifah (in Set It Off).Royster, Francesca T. is the author of 'Becoming Cleopatra The Shifting Image of an Icon' with ISBN 9781403961082 and ISBN 1403961085.