![]() ![]() Against the background of Britain's seizing control of Egypt and the Suez Canal (per the University of Warwick), books like Guy Boothby's "Pharos the Egyptian" and Bram Stoker's "The Jewel of Seven Stars" depicted the clash of ancient magic and religion with the industrialized might of the British Empire, the latter not always faring well. ![]() The theme of Egyptian culture triumphing over its rulers or successor states reemerged during the Victorian era, expressed through examples of what's been called imperial gothic literature. The collision of Rome and Egypt was a popular subject of Elizabethan literature and theater, notably through William Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra." Though portraying a period in time when Rome was subjugating Egypt, "Antony and Cleopatra" portrays the Egyptians as winning what we might call today a culture war, supplanting Roman fashions, customs, and decadence with their own as Cleopatra seduces successive Roman leaders. ![]()
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