TMA01 Option 1: Cleopatra
Cleopatra is a potent but mutable construct of femininity. Her name conjures up common associations-power, beauty and sex-these reputations can be called upon with no explanation, as in this Palmolive advertisement from 1910 (A111, Cleopatra Option 1, module materials). An elaborately clad Cleopatra can be seen seated on a curule-style sofa smiling, leaning over a vase of soap. In a time when the suffrage movement started gaining traction and gender roles were changing, Palmolive stripped Cleopatra of her intellect and title. They took a safer, reactionary route when drawing on a collective Western understanding of Cleopatra. This advertisement presents a sanitised and decorative sensuality stripped of intellect and agency; beauty is fulfilling, and a woman’s power stems from her role as consumer.
Palmolive’s advertisement shows Cleopatra sitting on a sofa in an elaborate headdress, constraining bodice, and heavy jewellery. She is smiling, leaning over her attendant, who is kneeling on the floor holding up a vessel filled with soap. To the right in the image, the merchant who brought the product is bowing with his arms crossed over his chest. Bright and colourfully decorated with vases and flowers, the illustration projects intimacy and innocence. Cleopatra is the epitome of femininity, and she is smiling because it was her goal all along. The ad-copy reinforces the message: ‘Once you become acquainted with . . . Palmolive . . . no other soap will satisfy’ (A111, Cleopatra Option 1, module materials) promising that Palmolive Soap will fulfil you.
The modern interpretation of Cleopatra may be softer than that of Roman historians Plutarch and Cassius Dio, but it is still influenced by it. Plutarch described her beauty as incomparable, and the ‘. . . attraction in her person . . . a peculiar force of character . . .’ (Plutarch, 1965, p. 294; quoted in A111 Book 1, p. 30). which put all under her spell. Cassius Dio also emphasised Cleopatra’s power as a kind of seductive magic; she bewitched and enslaved (A111 Book 1, p. 31). In the Roman accounts, Cleopatra did not convince; she enthralled; the Palmolive advertisement carries this idea forward. Cleopatra does not do, she is.
In this ad, Cleopatra is depicted as a woman who is unconcerned with matters outside of the domestic: the ruler, even the ‘master of a thousand flatteries’ (A111 Book 1, p. 31) is absent. There is one man whom she may command, a deferential, dark-skinned man eager to deliver products just for her. By representing itself in a role naturally inferior to a white woman in the early 20th century political landscape, Palmolive empowers her to consume, while signalling her appropriate lack of authority in other matters. By contrast, in medieval Arab accounts, Cleopatra was a noble and able monarch who furthered scientific learning. She was admired for her intellect and skill (A111 Book 1, pp. 33-35), not her beauty.
Cleopatra is one of the most well-known women in Western culture, and while the view of her has become more nuanced, Palmolive’s Cleopatra embodies the enduring Roman idea that a woman’s influence lies in her appearance, not her intellect. The advertisement leverages her reputation as a seductress but cuts her claws and turns consumption into a symbol of power.
References
Palmolive Soap Company (1910) ‘Buying Palmolive 3,000 Years Ago’. Advertisement. Milwaukee: B. J. Johnson Soap Company.
Fear, T. (2025) ‘Cleopatra’, in Jones, R. (ed.) Reputations. Milton Keynes: The Open University, pp. 5–43.
The Open University (2025) Cleopatra in Hollywood. A111: Discovering the Arts and Humanities. The Open University. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2487399 (Accessed: 15 October 2025).