The slave girl is an enslaved person who plays the harp for Cleopatra in Act IV. When Cleopatra expresses interest in learning to play, the girl’s teacher, an old musician, informs her that the undertaking requires learning the philosophy of Pythagoras and will take years to master. The enslaved girl, in contrast, has not had a proper musical education and only “learns as a dog learns.” Cleopatra retorts that the enslaved girl plays more beautifully than her teacher despite her rudimentary education. Cleopatra’s admiration for the enslaved girl’s practical skills over the old musician’s structured approach to music education shows that she has internalized Caesar’s pragmatism.
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The Slave Girl Character Timeline in Caesar and Cleopatra
The timeline below shows where the character The Slave Girl appears in Caesar and Cleopatra. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1
...fills the air. A full moon illuminates the desert, and the Sphinx becomes visible. A young girl lies sleeping atop a pile of red poppies one of the Sphinx’s paws. Trumpet notes...
(full context)
Act 4
...later, Cleopatra rests in her chamber at the palace in Alexandria and listens to a slave girl play the harp. The girl’s instructor, an old musician, sits nearby and assesses the performance....
(full context)
