INTRODUCTION

William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra is considered a tragedy, though it is also referred to
as historical work by some. It was first published in his "first folio" in 1623, but was reportedly
first performed at either the Blackfriars or Globe theatre by Shakespeare's acting company the
King's Men.

Antony and Cleopatra was written about character Mark Antony, who first appeared in
Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, and his lover Cleopatra. Within the play the action shifts back
and forth between Rome and Egypt, and the two locations seem to almost play a role. Alexandria
is portrayed as a sensual and creative place while Rome is less extravagant and more pragmatic.
Rome is ruled by three joint rulers called triumvirs; Mary Antony, Octavius Caesar, and Lepidus.

In the play Mark Antony shirks his responsibilities in Rome after becoming seduced by Egyptian
Queen Cleopatra. As a soldier he neglects his own state matters including his wife Fulvia's death
after her rebellion against Octavius. Octavius calls upon Antony to return to Rome and Cleopatra
implores him to stay with her. Though he swears his love for Cleopatra, he finally leaves back
for Rome.

Back home it is proposed that Mark Antony marry Octavius' younger sister Octavia to prove the
deep bond between the two men. Enobarbus, Antony's lieutenant, describes the unparalleled
beauty of Cleopatra knowing that he will not be satisfied marrying Octavia. Not wanting to anger
Octavius and face political strife, Antony marries his sister.

When Cleopatra finds out about the marriage she is enraged, striking out at the messenger who
brought her the news. She calms down slightly when she hears that Octavia is unattractive.

The leaders of Rome are not in agreement over a war with Sextus Pompey. When Lepidus and
Octavius break a truce and resume battle with Sextus, Antony is not consulted and he becomes
angry with the other two triumvirs. He returns to Egypt and Cleopatra and crowns himself and
his lover the rulers of Egypt and a third of the Roman Republic. He demands that Octavius give
him a fair share of Sextus' land. Octavius has meanwhile imprisoned Lepidus and is not pleased
with Antony's actions.
When a battle begins between Octavius and Antony at sea, Cleopatra and her fleet flee with
Antony following. His Roman forces are left in ruin and Antony is angry that Cleopatra has
made him a coward, though he forgives her. Octavius then sends Cleopatra a direct message
asking her to abandon Antony and join his side. She considers it while flirting with the
messenger and Antony is furious. Again, however, he forgives her and vows to fight another
battle, on land this time, for her.

Antony is plagued by disloyal allies like Enobarbus, but treats his defector with such kindness
that Enobarbus dies broken-hearted. His troops desert him and he loses the battle, finally
denouncing Cleopatra as a traitor. Cleopatra decides to stage her death to win back Antony's
love. But her plan backfires when Antony sees her body and decides to kill himself. When
mortally wounded he learns she is in fact alive, and is brought to her death monument to die
embracing her.

Octavius arrives to convince Cleopatra to surrender, but she refuses. She does not want to be
paraded through the streets of Rome and remembered in history as a villain. She is betrayed and
imprisoned by the Roman soldiers, her wealth stripped from her, and warned that Octavius will
indeed parade her through Rome.

With this news Cleopatra takes her only life with poison, delighting at how she will meet Antony
again after death. Octavius becomes the singular Roman Emperor, but feels some pity for the
two lovers and has them buried together.

Antony and Cleopatra (First Folio title: The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra) is

a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either
the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in around 1607; its first appearance in print was in
the Folio of 1623.

The plot is based on Thomas North's 1579 English translation of Plutarch's Lives (in Ancient

Greek) and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony from the time of
the Sicilian revolt to Cleopatra's suicide during the Final War of the Roman Republic. The major
antagonist is Octavius Caesar, one of Antony's fellow triumvirs of the Second Triumvirate and
the first emperor of the Roman Empire. The tragedy is mainly set in the Roman
Republic and Ptolemaic Egypt and is characterized by swift shifts in geographical location and
linguistic register as it alternates between sensual, imaginative Alexandria and a more pragmatic,
austere Rome.

Many consider Shakespeare's Cleopatra, whom Enobarbus describes as having "infinite variety",

as one of the most complex and fully developed female characters in the playwright's body of
work. She is frequently vain and histrionic enough to provoke an audience almost to scorn; at the
same time, Shakespeare invests her and Antony with tragic grandeur. These contradictory
features have led to famously divided critical responses. It is difficult to classify Antony and
Cleopatra as belonging to a single genre. It can be described as a history play (though it does not
completely adhere to historical accounts), as a tragedy (though not completely
in Aristotelian terms), as a comedy, as a romance, and according to some critics, such as
McCarter, a problem play. All that can be said with certainty is that it is a Roman play, and
perhaps even a sequel to another of Shakespeare's tragedies, Julius Caesar.
CHARACTER

 Mark Antony – Roman general and one of the three joint leaders, or "triumvirs", who rule
the Roman Republic after the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.
 Octavius Caesar – another triumvir
 Lepidus – another triumvir
 Cleopatra – Queen of Egypt
 Sextus Pompey – rebel against the triumvirate and son of the late Pompey

Antony's party

 Demetrius
 Philo
 Domitius Enobarbus
 Ventidius
 Silius – officer in Ventidius' army
 Eros
 Canidius – Antony's lieutenant-general
 Scarus

 Dercetus
 Schoolmaster – Antony's ambassador to Octavius
 Rannius (non-speaking role)
 Lucilius (non-speaking role)
 Lamprius (non-speaking role)

Octavius' party

 Octavia – Octavius' sister

 Maecenas
 Agrippa – admiral of the Roman navy
 Taurus – Octavius' lieutenant general
 Dolabella
 Thidias
 Gallus
 Proculeius

Sextus' party

 Menecrates

SYNOPSIS

Mark Antony—one of the triumvirs of the Roman Republic, along with Octavius and Lepidus—
has neglected his soldierly duties after being beguiled by Egypt's Queen, Cleopatra. He ignores
Rome's domestic problems, including the fact that his third wife Fulvia rebelled against
Octavius and then died.

Octavius calls Antony back to Rome from Alexandria to help him fight against Sextus Pompey,
Menecrates, and Menas, three notorious pirates of the Mediterranean. At Alexandria, Cleopatra
begs Antony not to go, and though he repeatedly affirms his deep passionate love for her, he
eventually leaves.

The triumvirs meet in Rome, where Antony and Octavius put to rest, for now, their
disagreements. Octavius' general, Agrippa, suggests that Antony should marry Octavius's sister,
Octavia, in order to cement the friendly bond between the two men. Antony accepts. Antony's
lieutenant Enobarbus, though, knows that Octavia can never satisfy him after Cleopatra. In a
famous passage, he describes Cleopatra's charms: "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / Her
infinite variety: other women cloy / The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry / Where most
she satisfies."

A soothsayer warns Antony that he is sure to lose if he ever tries to fight Octavius.

In Egypt, Cleopatra learns of Antony's marriage to Octavia and takes furious revenge upon the
messenger who brings her the news. She grows content only when her courtiers assure her that
Octavia is homely: short, low-browed, round-faced and with bad hair.
Before battle, the triumvirs parley with Sextus Pompey, and offer him a truce. He can
retain Sicily and Sardinia, but he must help them "rid the sea of pirates" and send them tributes.
After some hesitation, Sextus agrees. They engage in a drunken celebration on Sextus' galley,
though the austere Octavius leaves early and sober from the party. Menas suggests to Sextus that
he kill the three triumvirs and make himself ruler of the Roman Republic, but he refuses, finding
it dishonourable. After Antony departs Rome for Athens, Octavius and Lepidus break their truce
with Sextus and war against him. This is unapproved by Antony, and he is furious.

Antony returns to Hellenistic Alexandria and crowns Cleopatra and himself as rulers of Egypt

and the eastern third of the Roman Republic (which was Antony's share as one of the triumvirs).
He accuses Octavius of not giving him his fair share of Sextus' lands, and is angry that Lepidus,
whom Octavius has imprisoned, is out of the triumvirate. Octavius agrees to the former demand,
but otherwise is very displeased with what Antony has done.

Antony prepares to battle Octavius. Enobarbus urges Antony to fight on land, where he has the
advantage, instead of by sea, where the navy of Octavius is lighter, more mobile and better
manned. Antony refuses, since Octavius has dared him to fight at sea. Cleopatra pledges her fleet
to aid Antony. However, during the Battle of Actium off the western coast of Greece, Cleopatra
flees with her sixty ships, and Antony follows her, leaving his forces to ruin. Ashamed of what
he has done for the love of Cleopatra, Antony reproaches her for making him a coward, but also
sets this true and deep love above all else, saying "Give me a kiss; even this repays me."

Octavius sends a messenger to ask Cleopatra to give up Antony and come over to his side. She
hesitates, and flirts with the messenger, when Antony walks in and angrily denounces her
behavior. He sends the messenger to be whipped. Eventually, he forgives Cleopatra and pledges
to fight another battle for her, this time on land.

On the eve of the battle, Antony's soldiers hear strange portents, which they interpret as the
god Hercules abandoning his protection of Antony. Furthermore, Enobarbus, Antony's long-
serving lieutenant, deserts him and goes over to Octavius' side. Rather than confiscating
Enobarbus' goods, which Enobarbus did not take with him when he fled, Antony orders them to
be sent to Enobarbus. Enobarbus is so overwhelmed by Antony's generosity, and so ashamed of
his own disloyalty, that he dies from a broken heart.
Antony loses the battle as his troops desert en masse and he denounces Cleopatra: "This foul
Egyptian hath betrayed me." He resolves to kill her for the imagined treachery. Cleopatra decides
that the only way to win back Antony's love is to send him word that she killed herself, dying
with his name on her lips. She locks herself in her monument, and awaits Antony's return.

Her plan backfires: rather than rushing back in remorse to see the "dead" Cleopatra, Antony
decides that his own life is no longer worth living. He begs one of his aides, Eros, to run him
through with a sword, but Eros cannot bear to do it and kills himself. Antony admires Eros'
courage and attempts to do the same, but only succeeds in wounding himself. In great pain, he
learns that Cleopatra is indeed alive. He is hoisted up to her in her monument and dies in her
arms.

Since Egypt has been defeated, the captive Cleopatra is placed under a guard of Roman soldiers.
She tries to take her own life with a dagger, but Proculeius disarms her. Octavius arrives,
assuring her she will be treated with honour and dignity. But Dolabella secretly warns her that
Octavius intends to parade her at his Roman triumph. Cleopatra bitterly envisions the endless
humiliations awaiting her for the rest of her life as a Roman conquest.

Cleopatra kills herself using the venomous bite of an asp, imagining how she will meet Antony
again in the afterlife. Her serving maids Iras and Charmian also die, Iras from heartbreak and
Charmian from one of the two asps in Cleopatra's basket. Octavius discovers the dead bodies and
experiences conflicting emotions. Antony's and Cleopatra's deaths leave him free to become the
first Roman Emperor, but he also feels some sympathy for them. He orders a public military
funeral.

William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra is considered a tragedy, though it is also referred to
as historical work by some. It was first published in his "first folio" in 1623, but was reportedly
first performed at either the Blackfriars or Globe theatre by Shakespeare's acting company the
King's Men.

Antony and Cleopatra was written about character Mark Antony, who first appeared in
Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, and his lover Cleopatra. Within the play the action shifts back
and forth between Rome and Egypt, and the two locations seem to almost play a role. Alexandria
is portrayed as a sensual and creative place while Rome is less extravagant and more pragmatic.
Rome is ruled by three joint rulers called triumvirs; Mary Antony, Octavius Caesar, and Lepidus.

In the play Mark Antony shirks his responsibilities in Rome after becoming seduced by Egyptian
Queen Cleopatra. As a soldier he neglects his own state matters including his wife Fulvia's death
after her rebellion against Octavius. Octavius calls upon Antony to return to Rome and Cleopatra
implores him to stay with her. Though he swears his love for Cleopatra, he finally leaves back
for Rome.

Back home it is proposed that Mark Antony marry Octavius' younger sister Octavia to prove the
deep bond between the two men. Enobarbus, Antony's lieutenant, describes the unparalleled
beauty of Cleopatra knowing that he will not be satisfied marrying Octavia. Not wanting to anger
Octavius and face political strife, Antony marries his sister.

When Cleopatra finds out about the marriage she is enraged, striking out at the messenger who
brought her the news. She calms down slightly when she hears that Octavia is unattractive.

The leaders of Rome are not in agreement over a war with Sextus Pompey. When Lepidus and
Octavius break a truce and resume battle with Sextus, Antony is not consulted and he becomes
angry with the other two triumvirs. He returns to Egypt and Cleopatra and crowns himself and
his lover the rulers of Egypt and a third of the Roman Republic. He demands that Octavius give
him a fair share of Sextus' land. Octavius has meanwhile imprisoned Lepidus and is not pleased
with Antony's actions.

When a battle begins between Octavius and Antony at sea, Cleopatra and her fleet flee with
Antony following. His Roman forces are left in ruin and Antony is angry that Cleopatra has
made him a coward, though he forgives her. Octavius then sends Cleopatra a direct message
asking her to abandon Antony and join his side. She considers it while flirting with the
messenger and Antony is furious. Again, however, he forgives her and vows to fight another
battle, on land this time, for her.

Antony is plagued by disloyal allies like Enobarbus, but treats his defector with such kindness
that Enobarbus dies broken-hearted. His troops desert him and he loses the battle, finally
denouncing Cleopatra as a traitor. Cleopatra decides to stage her death to win back Antony's
love. But her plan backfires when Antony sees her body and decides to kill himself. When
mortally wounded he learns she is in fact alive, and is brought to her death monument to die
embracing her.

Octavius arrives to convince Cleopatra to surrender, but she refuses. She does not want to be
paraded through the streets of Rome and remembered in history as a villain. She is betrayed and
imprisoned by the Roman soldiers, her wealth stripped from her, and warned that Octavius will
indeed parade her through Rome.

With this news Cleopatra takes her only life with poison, delighting at how she will meet Antony
again after death. Octavius becomes the singular Roman Emperor, but feels some pity for the
two lovers and has them buried together.

Broken Alliances

On the brink of another bloody civil war against Pompey's forces, Antony and Octavius manage
to negotiate a peace and they, along with Lepidus, feast with Pompey in celebration.

Antony and Octavia then leave for Athens, where Antony has been summoned to quell a
rebellion by the Scythians. No sooner have they arrived there than Antony learns that Octavius
has ignored the agreed peace treaty, has taken arms against Pompey once more, is plotting
against Lepidus, the third member of the triumvirate, and has also spoken critically of Mark
Antony. Enraged, Antony sends Octavia back to Rome to act as a go-between but also prepares
for war against Octavius.

War

Octavius learns that Antony has returned to Alexandria and, with Cleopatra, has appeared
enthroned in the market place, crowning themselves and their children as kings and queens.
Octavius declares war on Egypt and, despite warnings not to fight at sea, Antony agrees that the
two navies will meet for a sea battle at Actium.

The Egyptians, under Antony's command, lose when he deserts the battle to follow Cleopatra's
fleeing ships. Antony is ashamed and in despair at his own unsoldierly behaviour. But when he
hears that Octavius is planning a secret peace with Cleopatra at the expense of Antony's own
life, he has Caesar's messenger whipped and rouses himself for a second battle in which he is
victorious.

Before the third and decisive battle, many of Antony's soldiers desert him fearing bad omens,
including his most loyal friend Enobarbus. A disappointed Antony sends after Enobarbus all the
treasures he had left behind on his desertion, and Enobarbus is so stricken with shame that he
dies.

Having won the initial battle by land, Antony prepares to face Octavius's forces again at sea.

The Ending

If you don't want to know how it ends, stop reading now!

The Egyptian navy deserts, leading the defeated Antony to believe that Cleopatra has betrayed
him to Octavius. She is so angry that she retreats to her monument and sends false word to
Antony that she has committed suicide.

Appalled, and echoing the suicide of the conspirator Brutus at Philippi, Antony begs a faithful
servant to hold his sword while he falls upon it. Unwilling to do so, the servant, Eros, kills
himself. Antony then attempts suicide but fails, leaving himself badly wounded.

A messenger arrives from Cleopatra, telling Antony of her deception. Antony instructs his
guards to take him to Cleopatra's monument where he is raised up to the top of the monument to
die in her arms.

Having persuaded Octavius that she will surrender, but fearful of capture and the shame of being
exhibited as a defeated enemy through the streets of Rome, Cleopatra holds a poisonous snake to
her breast and dies, along with her faithful maids.
Analysis

Among  William  Shakespeare’s  great  tragedies,  Antony  and  Cleopatra  is  the  anomaly.

Written around 1607, following the completion of the sequence of tragedies that began
with Hamlet and concluded with Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra stands in marked contrast from
them in tone, theme, and structure. For his last great tragedy, Shakespeare returned to his
first, Romeo and Juliet.

Like  it,  Antony  and  Cleopatra  is  a  love  story  that  ends  in  a  double  suicide;  however, the
lovers here are not teenagers, but the middle-aged Antony and Cleopatra  whose battle between
private desires and public responsibilities is
played  out  with  world  domination  in  the  balance.  Having  raised  adolescent  love  to  the  le

vel  of  tragic  seriousness  in  Romeo  and  Juliet,  Shakespeare  here  dramatizes a love story on

a massive, global scale. If Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth conclude with the
prescribed pity and terror, Anthony and Cleopatra ends very differently with pity and triumph, as
the title lovers, who

have  lost  the  world,  enact  a  kind  of  triumphant  marriage  in  death.  Losing  everything,  the

y  manage  to  win  much more  by  choosing  love  over  worldly  power. Antony  and 

Cleopatra  is  the  last in a  series  of  plays,  beginning  with  Romeo and Juliet and
including Troilus and Cressida and Othello, that explores
the  connection  between  love  and  tragedy.  It also can be  seen  as  the  first of the playwright’s
final series of romances, followed by Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest in which
love eventually triumphs over every obstacle. Antony and Cleopatra is therefore a peculiar
tragedy of affirmation, setting the dominant tone of Shakespeare’s final plays.

Structurally,  as  well,  Antony  and  Cleopatra  is  exceptional.  Ranging over the Mediterranean

world from Egypt to Rome to Athens, Sicily, and Syria, the play has 44 scenes, more than twice
the average number in Shakespeare’s plays. The effect is a dizzying rush of events,
approximating the method of montage in film. Shakespeare’s previous tragedies were
constructed around a few major scenes. Here ther are so many entrances and exits so many
major  scenes.  Here  there  are  so  many  entrances  and  exits,  so  many  shifts of locations and
incidents that Samuel Johnson condemned the play as a mere string of episodes “produced
without any art of connection or care of disposition.” Later critics have discovered the play’s
organizing principle in its thematic contrast between Rome and Egypt supported by an elaborate
in  its  thematic  contrast  between  Rome  and  Egypt,  supported  by  an  elaborate pattern of
images, contrasts, and juxtapositions. There is still, however, disagreement over issues of
Shakespeare’s methods and intentions in Antony and Cleopatra . Critic Howard Felperin has
suggested that the play “creates an ambiguity of effect and response unprecedented enen within
ambiguity  of  effect  and  response  unprecedented  even  within  Shakespeare’s  work.” The
critical debate turns on how to interpret Antony and Cleopatra , perhaps the most complex,
contradictory, and fascinating characters Shakespeare ever created.
Antony and Cleopatra  picks up where Julius Caesar left off. Four years after
Caesar’s  murder,  an  alliance  among  Octavius,  Julius  Caesar’s  grandnephew;  Mark  Antony
;  and  the  patrician  politician  Lepidus  has  put  down  the  conspiracy  led  by  Brutus  and  Ca
ssius  and  resulted  in  a  division  of  the  Roman  world among them. Antony, given the eastern
sphere of the empire to rule,
is  now  in  Alexandria,  where  he  has  fallen  in  love  with  the  Egyptian  queen  Cleopatra.  E
nthralled,  Antony  has  ignored  repeated  summonses  to  return  to  Rome  to  attend  to  his  po
litical  responsibilities.  By  pursuing  his  desires  instead, in the words of his men, Antony, “the
triple pillar of the world,” has been “transform’d into a strumpet’s fool.” The play immediately
establishes a dominant thematic contrast between Rome and Egypt that represents two
contrasting worldviews and value systems. Rome is duty, rationality, and the
practical  world  of  politics;  Egypt,  embodied  by  its  queen,  is  private  needs,  sensual
pleasure, and revelry. The play’s tragedy stems from the irreconcilable division
between  the  two,  represented  in  the  play’s  two  major  movements:  Antony’s  abandoning  
Cleopatra  and  Egypt  for  Rome  and  his  duties  and  his  subsequent defection back to them.
Antony’s lieutenant Enobarbus functions in the play as Antony’s conscience, whose sexual
cynicism stands in contrast to the love-drenched Egyptian court.
Antony is forced to take action when he learns that his wife, Fulvia, who
started  a  rebellion  against  Octavius,  has  died,  and  that  Sextus  Pompey,  son  of Pompey the
Great, is claiming his right to power by harrying Octavius on the seas. His resolve to return to
Rome to take up his duties there displeases Cleopatra,  and  they  engage  in  a  back-and-
forth  lover’s  exchange  of  insults,  avowals of love, and jealous recriminations and, ultimately,
a mutual  awareness of Antony’s dilemma in trying to reconcile his personal desires with his
political responsibilities. Antony comforts Cleopatra by saying:
The  second  act  begins  in  the  house  of  Sextus  Pompey,  who  gauges  the  weakness of the
three triumvirs, especially Antony, whom he hopes will continue to be distracted by Cleopatra:

Angrily dismissing the soothsayer, Antony nevertheless agrees with his

analysis,  recognizing  that  “I’th’  East  my  pleasure  lies.”  Before  Antony  leaves  for  Egypt,
however, the triumvirs and rebels meet on Pompey’s galley for a night of drinking and feasting
following negotiations. Antony’s capacity for raucous merrymaking  shows  the  self-
indulgence  that  will  lead  to  his  downfall,  while  Octavius’s sobriety, if puritanical and
passionless, nevertheless bespeaks an iron will and determination that eventually will insure his
victory over his rivals.
As the third act begins, Ventidius, another of Antony’s commanders, has
conquered  the  Parthians,  a  victory  for  which  he  diplomatically  plans  to  let  Antony take
credit. Antony, now in Athens with Octavia, learns that Octavius has slandered him and is
warring against Pompey. The alliance between the two triumvirs, as well as Antony’s control
over his own forces, is further threatened when Antony discovers that Octavius has imprisoned
Lepidus to solidify his position and that one of his officers has murdered Pompey. Octavia
returns to  Rome  to  try  to  repair  the  breach  between  husband  and  brother.  There,  Octavius
tells her that Antony has returned to Egypt and convinces her that
Antony  is  not  only  unfaithful  but  is  preparing  for  war:  “He  hath  given  his  empire / Up to
a whore.” Octavius responds by preparing to engage Antony in battle at Actium. In Egypt
Enobarbus fails to convince Cleopatra not to take
part  in  the  battle,  and  the  lovers  also  discount  Enorbarbus’s  logical  reasons  for fighting
Octavius on land rather than sea. This decision is partly due to
Octavius’s  challenge:  He  dares  Antony  to  meet  him  in  a  naval  engagement.  Cleopatra
claims, “I have  sixty  sails.  Octavius none  better,”  and  Antony  is  unable to resist either
Octavius’s challenge or Cleopatra’s bravado. At Actium
a  sickened  Enobarbus  watches  as  Cleopatra’s  ships  turn  tail  and  flee,  and  a  despairing,
shame-filled Antony follows her “like a doting mallard” with his ships. Cleopatra apologizes to
when  Antony  sees  Octavius’s  ambassador  kissing  Cleopatra’s  hand  and  her  cordial  behavi
or  toward  him,  he  becomes  enraged,  berating  Cleopatra  and  ordering the messenger Thidias
to be whipped. Again the couple are reconciled, and Antony decides to stake all on another
battle. Enobarbus, however, has had enough of Antony’s clouded judgment and makes plans to
desert him and join Octavius.

In the fourth act Octavius scoffs at Antony’s challenge to meet him in a duel and prepares for
war with confidence, knowing that many of his rival’s men have defected to him. When Antony
learns of Enobarbus’s desertion he forgives his friend and generously sends his treasure to him.
Enobarbus reacts to Antony’s magnanimity with remorse and dies desiring Antony’s forgiveness.
Antony scores an initial victory over Octavius, but in a later sea battle and on land in the
Egyptian desert, Antony’s army is routed. Enraged, Antony blames Cleopatra and accuses her of
betraying him. Terrified by his anger, Cleopatra seeks refuge in her monument and plots to
regain Antony’s affection by send-ing word to him that she has slain herself. Her plan
disastrously misfires when the news shames Antony into taking his own life:
I.The Strategy Game

This map game is designed to help students explore the concepts of divided power, leadership
strategies, and the stakes of war. The game is specific to the play’s action by including a
triumvirate, homeland protection, love and betrayal, and five possible individuals seeking
control.

Setting up the Game

1. One large map of the Roman Empire and its surrounding territories in approximately 41 b.c.
for each group of students. (To be used as a game board. Alternately, if more familiar geography
is preferred, use a map of the United States with Canada, and Mexico as the surrounding
territories and the U.S. governed by a triumvirate.)

2. Five large game pieces to represent five leaders and 60 smaller game pieces to represent five
armies of 12 pieces each. (Either chess or checkers pieces, coins or toy soldiers are
recommended as game pieces.)

3. Strategy Cards made by writing individual strategies on index cards (suggestions for strategy
statements below).

4. Small pieces of scrap paper and pens or pencils to write Declarations.

• Divide the class into groups of five. If numbers do not work out evenly, assign a sixth person to
the group to act as the mediator who requests Declarations and hands out Strategy Cards.

• Designate each group member to one of the following (A,B,C,D or E): Triumvirate of Rome
(A,B,C), Ruler of Egypt (D), Ruler of Parthia (E).

• Give each student a large game piece to represent his ruler. Each ruler receives an army,
represented by 12 game pieces.
Playing the Game

A simplified list of steps:

1. Divide Power and Territories amongst five Rulers.

2. Round One: (a) Strategy Cards dealt, (b) invitation for Requests for Allies made and Requests
for Allies notes exchanged, (c) Declarations made by all five Rulers, (d) game pieces moved to
war or retreat locations, (e) losses and gains of armies exchanged, (f) armies stay where they are
and go on to next round.

3. Round Two: same as above.

4. Round Three: same as above, but in step (e) game pieces are counted, (f) all Strategy cards
and notes of Requests for Allies are exposed. Leaders with the most game pieces are announced
as winners. To start the game, the Triumvirate divides the Roman Empire into three territories of
sub-rule. The Ruler of the African continent is (A), the Ruler of the Asian continent is (B), and
the Ruler of the European continent is (C).

The game consists of three rounds. To play each round:

• Deal out one Strategy Card to each ruler. (Use the Strategy Card to influence your Declaration
and strategy during the round.)

• Privately read your Strategy Card and decide how this will influence your Declaration. Leaders
do not conspire before they announce their Declarations, but if one ruler wishes to request the aid
of another ruler in war before the Declarations are made, a “Request for Allies” is offered.

• Request Allies by passing small notes to certain rulers. The contents of the notes are not to be
known until all three rounds are complete. Once declarations are made there is no turning back.
The rulers must make Declarations that are based on the Strategy Cards, for the card’s strategies
will all be exposed after all three rounds have been played. (This assures that students, as in life
and in the play’s action, are not always sure whom to trust and exactly how their actions are
motivated.)
• Make your declaration of war on a specific ruler or territory, or plea for peace or abstinence, by
making a Declaration Statement one at a time. (Examples of Declaration Statements given
below.)

• After all five Declarations are made, move the game pieces representing armies and rulers to
declared locations of wars, or in retreat to your own land. (Armies placed in war will either win
or lose soldiers. Those that stay at home and are not attacked, lose nothing, but gain nothing.)

• If you combine forces with another ruler and outnumber another army placed on the same
territory, the outnumbered army gives up one half of his/her soldiers to the larger army and these
soldiers are divided equally amongst the winning rulers. If you do not combine forces and armies
are equal, the round is a draw.
SUGGESTIONS FOR STRATEGY CARDS:

• “You are in love with Ruler D and will proclaim whatever Ruler D proclaims.”

• “You don’t trust Ruler A’s ability to make rational decisions and will not side with Ruler A in
war.” • “You have great loyalty towards Ruler C and will back Ruler C in any war, unless you
suspect that Ruler C has betrayed you.”

• “You believe that the Triumvirate is disorganized and ask Ruler D to side with you in
overtaking all of the Triumvirate territory.”

• “You do not want to go to war and risk losing your beautiful country, so you refrain from
attacking anyone, even if it means betraying another Ruler and fleeing battle.”

• “You suspect that Ruler E has broken the treaty with you, and you declare war.”

• “You are angry with Ruler A and are determined to fight, no matter what the consequences.”

• “You don’t trust anyone, and so will side with no one.”

• “You will promise anything so that no one will be angry with you, but you will turn tail and run
in war, rather than face defeat or vulnerability.”

• “You believe you are invincible and will fight with anyone for more control over land.”

SUGGESTIONS FOR DECLARATIONS:

Declarations are to be made as announcements of battle, retreat, wishes for peace, and for
forming an ally with another Ruler. Examples:

• “I will ally with D, and go to war if he/she proclaims war on anyone.”

• “I stand my ground and go to war with anyone who attacks my borders.”

• “I will not partake in any of these wars and hope that all of you will refrain from battle.”
II. THE ANCIENT WORLD

Acquaint students with the geography of Antony’s and Cleopatra’s world by posting a map of
the world depicting the division of land and ancient names of these lands as listed in the play

• Show students the territories governed by the five rulers in the play.

• Use the map as a visual guide to the play’s action so that students can see territories lost and
gained.

• Use color-coded push-pins, flags, or post-it notes to represent where rulers are during each
scene. Also keep track of each ruler’s armies.

• Have students point to where each scene takes place so they can follow the action.

Students can also create map images of the play’s action using a computer and a simple graphics
program, like Power Point. They can highlight territories gained and lost during the play’s action
and present these images to the class showing how the play’s world changes with each battle.

III. STORYTELLING

Shakespeare, one of the greatest storytellers of the English language, adapted most of his plays
from popular, well-known tales. As any good storyteller does, he took artistic license with these
tales and made his own adaptations of the original. So, too, could the students.

• Before reading the play, tell students the beginning of the story of Antony and Cleopatra and
then have them finish the story, predicting how it will end.

• Students can write their own stories or small groups can create group stories with each member
adding to it.

• Then they can simply tell their version to the class or explore an original method of presenting
the story. As Shakespeare used the stage and drama, students could also use drama or comic
strips, radio plays, spoof skits, readers’ theater, soap opera, poetry, rap, ballad, mime, dance,
video, email exchanges, news announcement, etc. This can be a lengthy and creative exercise
where students invest in the possibilities and methods of storytelling.
• Once all stories are presented, students can discuss and perhaps vote on the most likely ending
to match Shakespeare’s version.

IV. WHAT MAKES A TRAGEDY?

Introduce students to Aristotle’s Poetics. Outline the contents of an effective tragedy interpreted
from Aristotle’s Poetics, including:

1. Tragedy—a serious play typically dealing with the problems of a central character, or
protagonist, leading to an unhappy or disastrous ending brought on by fate and a tragic flaw in
the main character

2. Hubris—wanton insolence or arrogance resulting from excessive pride or from passion

3. Foreshadowing—to indicate or suggest beforehand

4. Climax—the highest point of interest or tension in a drama, and the turning point of the play’s
action 5. Catharsis—the purifying of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions 6.
Denouement—the outcome, solution, unraveling or clarification of a plot in a drama.

V. UNDERSTANDING REAL VS. DRAMATIC ACTION

Have students read books or watch documentaries that depict life in Rome, Egypt, and the
ancient world. They can explore transportation, styles of dress, methods of war as well as
uniforms and arms. This provides students with clear visual images of the characters and their
lifestyles. Likewise, they will begin to understand how long it took to move armies from place to
place. Students can then understand how, within the play’s two-hour dramatic action, many years
elapse. During the time of the play’s five acts, Antony and Cleopatra have born a number of
children together, and many battles have been won or lost.

Have students speculate how much time has passed during the play’s action and look to the text
to support these speculations. For example, in Act III, scene vi, Caesar complains of Antony’s
public display of his bastard children and his declarations to give more of the Triumvirate’s land
to Cleopatra:
VI. KEEPING TRACK OF THE CHARACTERS AND THEIR LOYALTIES

Have students divide a piece of paper into four columns and place the rulers, Caesar, Antony,
Cleopatra, and Pompey, at the top of each column. Underneath, list his/her loyal followers.
Students can place this chart next to the script as they read the play and keep track of the
loyalties of the minor characters. As minor characters betray their leaders, retreat or die, students
can either cross out or move them to other columns, keeping track of power shifts.

VII. KNOWING THE STORY AS THE ELIZABETHANS DID

Most Elizabethans were familiar with the tale of Antony and Cleopatra before Shakespeare
produced his drama about them. Shakespeare’s source was most likely Plutarch and it is included
as supplemental reading in the Signet Classic text. Students can read Plutarch’s story before they
read the play and later discuss how Shakespeare adapted Plutarch’s famous tale to the stage.
Assign portions of Plutarch’s tale to small groups to read and relate to the class either by oral
reading or storytelling.
WHILE READING

I. FORMING INDIVIDUAL INTERPRETATIONS OF SCENES

Many scenes offer an opportunity for individual interpretations. For example: where Cleopatra’s
integrity and honesty are questionable, where an officer’s or servant’s loyalty sways, or where
humor and sarcasm are used to expose subtext. Can students form their own opinions of these
interpretations? If so, how do they interpret them?

• Divide the characters’ parts amongst the students, reading the play orally. Discuss
interpretations of scenes and character motivations.

• Divide the class into small groups, assigning a scene to each group. Have them rehearse,
practicing voice, inflection, and emotion. They can prepare an introduction to the scene, set the
stage, and then read the scene aloud with their practiced interpretations while the rest of the class
attempts to summarize the scene in writing. The class can then discuss perceived interpretations
gained through these presentations.

• Staging methods can also be explored by individuals or small groups. For example, in Act IV,
scene xv, Cleopatra is in her monument with her ladies. She asks them to help lift the dying
Antony up to her so that she will not have to leave the safety of her monument. Assign this same
scene to a few different individuals or groups and compare interpretations and solutions to its
staging challenge.

II. EXPLORING THE SOUNDS OF THE PLAY

Shakespeare’s plays were performed outdoors with minimal props. Elizabethan theater
practitioners had to be quite creative using inexpensive devices to create magic and action on
stage. This activity reinforces the live action and stage sounds of drama, as well as introduces
students to simplified staging devices as a means of bringing a play to life. Assign small groups
to specific scenes from the play. Provide each group with a cassette recorder. Have students
practice reading the scenes aloud, playing specific characters and providing sound effects.
Students enjoy bringing objects to class that make supportive sound effects, including crowd and
battle noises, footsteps upon character’s entrances, swords being drawn, snakes attacking, etc.
Have students record the scenes as a mini radio play. Groups then play their scenes in sequence.
III. INTERPRETING CONTENT THROUGH DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Pose discussion questions before reading each scene or act that require students to delve into the
content as they read it.

• After reading the scene, hold class discussions concerning their varied answers to the questions.

• Assign journal entries that explore the answers to these questions.

• Split the class into small groups and have them discuss the answers to questions posed and
report on their findings.

• Split the class into small groups and assign each group a different scene to explore. Give each
group one or two discovery questions to guide their exploratory work on the scene. Then have
each group read the scene aloud and discuss their interpretations.
SOURCES

The principal source for the story is an English translation of Plutarch's "Life of Mark Antony,"
from the Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans Compared Together. This translation, by Sir
Thomas North, was first published in 1579. Many phrases in Shakespeare's play are taken
directly from North, including Enobarbus' famous description of Cleopatra and her barge:

This may be compared with North's text:

"Therefore when she was sent unto by diverse letters, both from Antonius himselfe, and also
from his friends, she made so light of it and mocked Antonius so much, that she disdained so set
forward otherwise, but to take her barge in the river of Cydnus, the poope whereof was of gold,
the sailes of purple, and the oares of silver, which kept stroke in rowing after the sound of
musicke of flutes, howboyes cithernes, vials and such other instruments as they played upon the
barge. And now for the person of her selfe: she was layed under a pavilion of cloth of gold of
tissue, apparelled and attired like the goddesse Venus, commonly drawn in picture: and hard by
her, on either hand of her, pretie fair boys apparelled as painters do set foorth god Cupid, with
little fans in their hands, with which they fanned wind upon her."
DATE AND TEXT

Many scholars believe it was written in 1606–07, although some researchers have argued for an
earlier dating, around 1603–04. Antony and Cleopatra was entered in the Stationers' Register (an
early form of copyright for printed works) in May 1608, but it does not seem to have been
actually printed until the publication of the First Folio in 1623. The Folio is therefore the only
authoritative text today. Some scholars speculate that it derives from Shakespeare's own draft, or
"foul papers", since it contains minor errors in speech labels and stage directions that are thought
to be characteristic of the author in the process of composition.

Modern editions divide the play into a conventional five-act structure but, as in most of his
earlier plays, Shakespeare did not create these act divisions. His play is articulated in forty
separate "scenes", more than he used for any other play. Even the word "scenes" may be
inappropriate as a description, as the scene changes are often very fluid, almost montage-like.
The large number of scenes is necessary because the action frequently switches between
Alexandria, Italy, Messina in Sicily, Syria, Athens, and other parts of Egypt and the Roman
Republic. The play contains thirty-four speaking characters, fairly typical for a Shakespeare play
on such an epic scale.
ANALYSIS AND CRITICISM

Classical allusions and analogues: Dido and Aeneas from Virgil's Aeneid

Many critics have noted the strong influence of Virgil's first-century Roman epic poem,
the Aeneid, on Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. Such influence should be expected, given
the prevalence of allusions to Virgil in the Renaissance culture in which Shakespeare was
educated. The historical Antony and Cleopatra were the prototypes and antitypes for Virgil's
Dido and Aeneas: Dido, ruler of the north African city of Carthage, tempts Aeneas, the legendary
exemplar of Roman pietas, to forego his task of founding Rome after the fall of Troy. The
fictional Aeneas dutifully resists Dido's temptation and abandons her to forge on to Italy, placing
political destiny before romantic love, in stark contrast to Antony, who puts passionate love of
his own Egyptian queen, Cleopatra, before duty to Rome. Given the well-established traditional
connections between the fictional Dido and Aeneas and the historical Antony and Cleopatra, it is
no surprise that Shakespeare includes numerous allusions to Virgil's epic in his historical
tragedy. As Janet Adelman observes, "almost all the central elements in Antony and
Cleopatra are to be found in the Aeneid: the opposing values of Rome and a foreign passion; the
political necessity of a passionless Roman marriage; the concept of an afterlife in which the
passionate lovers meet." However, as Heather James argues, Shakespeare's allusions to Virgil's
Dido and Aeneas are far from slavish imitations. James emphasizes the various ways in which
Shakespeare's play subverts the ideology of the Virgilian tradition; one such instance of this
subversion is Cleopatra's dream of Antony in Act 5 ("I dreamt there was an Emperor Antony" ).
James argues that in her extended description of this dream, Cleopatra "reconstructs the heroic
masculinity of an Antony whose identity has been fragmented and scattered by Roman
opinion." This politically charged dream vision is just one example of the way that Shakespeare's
story destabilises and potentially critiques the Roman ideology inherited from Virgil's epic and
embodied in the mythic Roman ancestor Aeneas.
Critical history: changing views of Cleopatra

Cleopatra, being the complex figure that she is, has faced a variety of interpretations of character
throughout history. Perhaps the most famous dichotomy is that of the manipulative seductress
versus the skilled leader. Examining the critical history of the character of Cleopatra reveals that
intellectuals of the 19th century and the early 20th century viewed her as merely an object of
sexuality that could be understood and diminished rather than an imposing force with great poise
and capacity for leadership.

This phenomenon is illustrated by the famous poet T.S. Eliot's take on Cleopatra. He saw her as
"no wielder of power," but rather that her "devouring sexuality...diminishes her power". His
language and writings use images of darkness, desire, beauty, sensuality, and carnality to portray
not a strong, powerful woman, but a temptress. Throughout his writing on Antony and Cleopatra,
Eliot refers to Cleopatra as material rather than person. He frequently calls her "thing". T.S. Eliot
conveys the view of early critical history on the character of Cleopatra.

Other scholars also discuss early critics' views of Cleopatra in relation to a serpent signifying
"original sin". The symbol of the serpent "functions, at the symbolic level, as a means of her
submission, the phallic appropriation of the queen's body (and the land it embodies) by Octavius
and the empire". The serpent, because it represents temptation, sin, and feminine weakness, is
used by 19th and early 20th century critics to undermine Cleopatra's political authority and to
emphasise the image of Cleopatra as manipulative seductress.

The postmodern view of Cleopatra is complex. Doris Adler suggests that, in a postmodern

philosophical sense, we cannot begin to grasp the character of Cleopatra because, "In a sense it is
a distortion to consider Cleopatra at any moment apart from the entire cultural milieu that creates
and consumes Antony and Cleopatra on stage. However the isolation and microscopic
examination of a single aspect apart from its host environment is an effort to improve the
understanding of the broader context. In similar fashion, the isolation and examination of the
stage image of Cleopatra becomes an attempt to improve the understanding of the theatrical
power of her infinite variety and the cultural treatment of that power." So, as a microcosm,
Cleopatra can be understood within a postmodern context, as long as one understands that the
purpose for the examination of this microcosm is to further one's own interpretation of the work
as a whole. Author L.T. Fitz believes that it is not possible to derive a clear, postmodern view of
Cleopatra due to the sexism that all critics bring with them when they review her intricate
character. She states specifically, "Almost all critical approaches to this play have been coloured
by the sexist assumptions the critics have brought with them to their reading." One seemingly
anti-sexist viewpoint comes from Donald C. Freeman's articulations of the meaning and
significance of the deaths of both Antony and Cleopatra at the end of the play. Freeman states,
"We understand Antony as a grand failure because the container of his Romanness "dislimns": it
can no longer outline and define him even to himself. Conversely, we understand Cleopatra at
her death as the transcendent queen of "immortal longings" because the container of her
mortality can no longer restrain her: unlike Antony, she never melts, but sublimates from her
very earthly flesh to ethereal fire and air."

These constant shifts in the perception of Cleopatra are well-represented in a review of Estelle
Parsons' adaptation of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra at the Interart Theatre in New York
City. Arthur Holmberg surmises, "What had at first seemed like a desperate attempt to be chic in
a trendy New York manner was, in fact, an ingenious way to characterise the differences
between Antony's Rome and Cleopatra's Egypt. Most productions rely on rather predictable
contrasts in costuming to imply the rigid discipline of the former and the languid self-indulgence
of the latter. By exploiting ethnic differences in speech, gesture, and movement, Parsons
rendered the clash between two opposing cultures not only contemporary but also poignant. In
this setting, the white Egyptians represented a graceful and ancient aristocracy—well groomed,
elegantly poised, and doomed. The Romans, upstarts from the West, lacked finesse and polish.
But by sheer brute strength they would hold dominion over principalities and kingdoms." This
assessment of the changing way in which Cleopatra is represented in modern adaptations of
Shakespeare's play is yet another example of how the modern and postmodern view of Cleopatra
is constantly evolving.

Cleopatra is a difficult character to pin down because there are multiple aspects of her
personality that we occasionally get a glimpse of. However, the most dominant parts of her
character seem to oscillate between a powerful ruler, a seductress, and a heroine of sorts. Power
is one of Cleopatra's most dominant character traits and she uses it as a means of control. This
thirst for control manifested itself through Cleopatra's initial seduction of Antony in which she
was dressed as Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and made quite a calculated entrance in order to
capture his attention. This sexualised act extends itself into Cleopatra's role as a seductress
because it was her courage and unapologetic manner that leaves people remembering her as a
"grasping, licentious harlot". However, despite her "insatiable sexual passion" she was still using
these relationships as part of a grander political scheme, once again revealing how dominant
Cleopatra's desire was for power. Due to Cleopatra's close relationship with power, she seems to
take on the role of a heroine because there is something in her passion and intelligence that
intrigues others. She was an autonomous and confident ruler, sending a powerful message about
the independence and strength of women. Cleopatra had quite a wide influence, and still
continues to inspire, making her a heroine to many.

This phenomenon is illustrated by the famous poet T.S. Eliot's take on Cleopatra. He saw her as
"no wielder of power," but rather that her "devouring sexuality...diminishes her power". His
language and writings use images of darkness, desire, beauty, sensuality, and carnality to portray
not a strong, powerful woman, but a temptress. Throughout his writing on Antony and Cleopatra,
Eliot refers to Cleopatra as material rather than person. He frequently calls her "thing". T.S. Eliot
conveys the view of early critical history on the character of Cleopatra.

Other scholars also discuss early critics' views of Cleopatra in relation to a serpent signifying
"original sin". The symbol of the serpent "functions, at the symbolic level, as a means of her
submission, the phallic appropriation of the queen's body (and the land it embodies) by Octavius
and the empire". The serpent, because it represents temptation, sin, and feminine weakness, is
used by 19th and early 20th century critics to undermine Cleopatra's political authority and to
emphasise the image of Cleopatra as manipulative seductress.

The postmodern view of Cleopatra is complex. Doris Adler suggests that, in a postmodern

philosophical sense, we cannot begin to grasp the character of Cleopatra because, "In a sense it is
a distortion to consider Cleopatra at any moment apart from the entire cultural milieu that creates
and consumes Antony and Cleopatra on stage. However the isolation and microscopic
examination of a single aspect apart from its host environment is an effort to improve the
understanding of the broader context. In similar fashion, the isolation and examination of the
stage image of Cleopatra becomes an attempt to improve the understanding of the theatrical
power of her infinite variety and the cultural treatment of that power." So, as a microcosm,
Cleopatra can be understood within a postmodern context, as long as one understands that the
purpose for the examination of this microcosm is to further one's own interpretation of the work
as a whole. Author L.T. Fitz believes that it is not possible to derive a clear, postmodern view of
Cleopatra due to the sexism that all critics bring with them when they review her intricate
character. She states specifically, "Almost all critical approaches to this play have been coloured
by the sexist assumptions the critics have brought with them to their reading." One seemingly
anti-sexist viewpoint comes from Donald C. Freeman's articulations of the meaning and
significance of the deaths of both Antony and Cleopatra at the end of the play. Freeman states,
"We understand Antony as a grand failure because the container of his Romanness "dislimns": it
can no longer outline and define him even to himself. Conversely, we understand Cleopatra at
her death as the transcendent queen of "immortal longings" because the container of her
mortality can no longer restrain her: unlike Antony, she never melts, but sublimates from her
very earthly flesh to ethereal fire and air."

These constant shifts in the perception of Cleopatra are well-represented in a review of Estelle
Parsons' adaptation of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra at the Interart Theatre in New York
City. Arthur Holmberg surmises, "What had at first seemed like a desperate attempt to be chic in
a trendy New York manner was, in fact, an ingenious way to characterise the differences
between Antony's Rome and Cleopatra's Egypt. Most productions rely on rather predictable
contrasts in costuming to imply the rigid discipline of the former and the languid self-indulgence
of the latter. By exploiting ethnic differences in speech, gesture, and movement, Parsons
rendered the clash between two opposing cultures not only contemporary but also poignant. In
this setting, the white Egyptians represented a graceful and ancient aristocracy—well groomed,
elegantly poised, and doomed. The Romans, upstarts from the West, lacked finesse and polish.
But by sheer brute strength they would hold dominion over principalities and kingdoms." This
assessment of the changing way in which Cleopatra is represented in modern adaptations of
Shakespeare's play is yet another example of how the modern and postmodern view of Cleopatra
is constantly evolving.

Cleopatra is a difficult character to pin down because there are multiple aspects of her
personality that we occasionally get a glimpse of. However, the most dominant parts of her
character seem to oscillate between a powerful ruler, a seductress, and a heroine of sorts. Power
is one of Cleopatra's most dominant character traits and she uses it as a means of control. This
thirst for control manifested itself through Cleopatra's initial seduction of Antony in which she
was dressed as Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and made quite a calculated entrance in order to
capture his attention. This sexualised act extends itself into Cleopatra's role as a seductress
because it was her courage and unapologetic manner that leaves people remembering her as a
"grasping, licentious harlot". However, despite her "insatiable sexual passion" she was still using
these relationships as part of a grander political scheme, once again revealing how dominant
Cleopatra's desire was for power. Due to Cleopatra's close relationship with power, she seems to
take on the role of a heroine because there is something in her passion and intelligence that
intrigues others. She was an autonomous and confident ruler, sending a powerful message about
the independence and strength of women. Cleopatra had quite a wide influence, and still
continues to inspire, making her a heroine to many.

Structure: Egypt and Rome

The relationship between Egypt and Rome in Antony and Cleopatra is central to understanding
the plot, as the dichotomy allows the reader to gain more insight into the characters, their
relationships, and the ongoing events that occur throughout the play. Shakespeare emphasises the
differences between the two nations with his use of language and literary devices, which also
highlight the different characterizations of the two countries by their own inhabitants and
visitors. Literary critics have also spent many years developing arguments concerning the
"masculinity" of Rome and the Romans and the "femininity" of Egypt and the Egyptians. In
traditional criticism of Antony and Cleopatra, "Rome has been characterised as a male world,
presided over by the austere Caesar, and Egypt as a female domain, embodied by a Cleopatra
who is seen to be as abundant, leaky, and changeable as the Nile". In such a reading, male and
female, Rome and Egypt, reason and emotion, and austerity and leisure are treated as mutually
exclusive binaries that all interrelate with one another. The straightforwardness of the binary
between male Rome and female Egypt has been challenged in later 20th-century criticism of the
play: "In the wake of feminist, poststructuralist, and cultural-materialist critiques of gender
essentialism, most modern Shakespeare scholars are inclined to be far more skeptical about
claims that Shakespeare possessed a unique insight into a timeless 'femininity'." As a result,
critics have been much more likely in recent years to describe Cleopatra as a character that
confuses or deconstructs gender than as a character that embodies the feminine.
Literary devices used to convey the differences between Rome and Egypt

For Rome to "melt is for it to lose its defining shape, the boundary that contains its civic and
military codes. This schema is important in understanding Antony's grand failure because the
Roman container can no longer outline or define him—even to himself. Conversely we come to
understand Cleopatra in that the container of her mortality can no longer restrain her. Unlike
Antony whose container melts, she gains a sublimity being released into the air.

In her article "Roman World, Egyptian Earth", critic Mary Thomas Crane introduces another
symbol throughout the play: The four elements. In general, characters associated with Egypt
perceive their world composed of the Aristotelian elements, which are earth, wind, fire and
water. For Aristotle these physical elements were the centre of the universe and appropriately
Cleopatra heralds her coming death when she proclaims, "I am fire and air; my other elements/I
give to baser life," (5.2.289–290). Romans, on the other hand, seem to have left behind that
system, replacing it with a subjectivity separated from and overlooking the natural world and
imagining itself as able to control it. These differing systems of thought and perception result in
very different versions of nation and empire. Shakespeare's relatively positive representation of
Egypt has sometimes been read as nostalgia for an heroic past. Because the Aristotelian
elements were a declining theory in Shakespeare's time, it can also be read as nostalgia for a
waning theory of the material world, the pre-seventeenth-century cosmos of elements
and humours that rendered subject and world deeply interconnected and saturated with
meaning. Thus this reflects the difference between the Egyptians who are interconnected with the
elemental earth and the Romans in their dominating the hard-surfaced, impervious world.

Critics also suggest that the political attitudes of the main characters are an allegory for the
political atmosphere of Shakespeare's time. According to Paul Lawrence Rose in his article "The
Politics of Antony and Cleopatra", the views expressed in the play of "national solidarity, social
order and strong rule" were familiar after the absolute monarchies of Henry VII and Henry
VIII and the political disaster involving Mary Queen of Scots. Essentially the political themes
throughout the play are reflective of the different models of rule during Shakespeare's time. The
political attitudes of Antony, Caesar, and Cleopatra are all basic archetypes for the conflicting
sixteenth-century views of kingship. Caesar is representative of the ideal king, who brings about
the Pax Romana similar to the political peace established under the Tudors. His cold demeanour
is representative of what the sixteenth century thought to be a side-effect of political
genius Conversely, Antony's focus is on valour and chivalry, and Antony views the political
power of victory as a by-product of both. Cleopatra's power has been described as "naked,
hereditary, and despotic," and it is argued that she is reminiscent of Mary Tudor's reign—
implying it is not coincidence that she brings about the "doom of Egypt." This is in part due to an
emotional comparison in their rule. Cleopatra, who was emotionally invested in Antony, brought
about the downfall of Egypt in her commitment to love, whereas Mary Tudor's emotional
attachment to Catholicism fates her rule. The political implications within the play reflect on
Shakespeare's England in its message that Impact is not a match for Reason

The characterization of Rome and Egypt

Critics have often used the opposition between Rome and Egypt in Antony and Cleopatra to set
forth defining characteristics of the various characters. While some characters are distinctly
Egyptian, others are distinctly Roman, some are torn between the two, and still others attempt to
remain neutral. Critic James Hirsh has stated that, "as a result, the play dramatises not two but
four main figurative locales: Rome as it is perceived from a Roman point of view; Rome as it is
perceived from an Egyptian point of view; Egypt as it is perceived form a Roman point of view;
and Egypt as it is perceived from an Egyptian point of view.
Adaptation and Cultural Reference

Selected Stage Production

 1931, John Gielgud as Antony and Ralph Richardson as Enobarbus at The Old Vic.

 1947, Katharine Cornell won a Tony Award for her Broadway performance of Cleopatra
opposite the Antony of Godfrey Tearle. It ran for 126 performances, the longest run of the
play in Broadway history.
 1951, Laurence Olivier as Antony and Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra in a production that
played in repertory with George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra at the St James's
Theatre and later on Broadway.
 1953, Michael Redgrave played Antony and Peggy Ashcroft played Cleopatra at
the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.
 1972, Janet Suzman and Richard Johnson, with Patrick Stewart as Enobarbus in Trevor
Nunn's production for the Royal Shakespeare Company
 1978, Alan Howard and Glenda Jackson in Peter Brook's production for the Royal
Shakespeare Company
 1981, Timothy Dalton played Antony and Carmen du Sautoy played Cleopatra at
the Mermaid Theatre.
 1982, Michael Gambon played Antony and Helen Mirren played Cleopatra for the Royal
Shakespeare Company at The Other Place, and later at The Pit at The Barbican Centre, in a
production directed by Adrian Noble.[90]
 1986, Timothy Dalton and Vanessa Redgrave in the title roles at Theatr
Clwyd and Haymarket Theatre.
 1987, Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench in the title roles at the Royal National Theatre.
 1999, Alan Bates and Frances de la Tour in title roles, Guy Henry as Octavius
(also David Oyelowo and Owen Oakeshott) at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
 1999, Paul Shelley as Antony and Mark Rylance as Cleopatra in an all-male cast
production at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London.
 2006, Patrick Stewart and Harriet Walter in the title roles at the Royal Shakespeare
Company.
 2010, Kim Cattrall and Jeffery Kissoon in the title roles at the Liverpool Playhouse.
 2010, Kate Mulgrew and John Douglas Thompson in a production directed by Tina
Landau at Hartford Stage.
 2010, Kathryn Hunter and Darrell D'Silva in the title roles at the Royal Shakespeare
Company.
 2014, Eve Best and Clive Wood in the title roles at Shakespeare's Globe in London. Phil
Daniels as Enobarbus.
 2017, Josette Simon and Antony Byrne in the title roles for the Royal Shakespeare
Company's at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
 2018, Johnny Carr and Catherine McClements in the title roles for the Bell
Shakespeare company at Sydney Opera House.
 2018, Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo in the title roles at the Royal National
Theatre in London.

UNDERSTANDING THE LANGUAGE OF THE PLAY

Shakespeare introduces themes through the language of the play. Using the quotations provided, or
others you select, ask students to identify important themes, truths, secrets, subtext or qualities
admired in Roman times as revealed through Shakespeare’s language. How does Shakespeare show
class differences in characters through their speech patterns, wording, and switches from poetry to
prose?

• Split the class into small groups and give each group a quotation to examine for subtext, word
imagery, and rhythm patterns. Have students read the passages aloud and discuss their choices oral
interpretation.

• Assign students individual passages and have them rewrite the passages in their own words, making
sense of the content and substituting modern expressions. Have the students read the rewritten
passages aloud and discuss their findings.

• Assign students a few quotations from the play that express similar themes. Have them write an
exploratory essay comparing the quotations and revealing the syntax that supports this similar theme.
• Assign each student one quotation from the list below and have them find another passage in the text
that expresses a similar theme. Have them also find contrasting themes. Assign journal entries that
compare and/or contrast quotations and have students discuss how the quotations support a common
theme in the play.

Metamorphic Tragedy of Anthony and Cleopatra

When he turned the pages of Plutarch, his principal historical source for Anthony and Cleopatra,
Shakespeare was confronted with the values of a sober ethical arbiter. Plutarch treats Anthony's
tragic fall as the consequence of his subservience to fleshly pleasure. Such pleasure is a 'pestilent
plague and mischief', a 'sweet poison'. It makes mature manhood regress to childishness:
Anthony 'spent and lost in childish sports (as a man might say) and idle pastimes, the most
precious thing a man can spend, ... and that is, time'. Even more shamefully, it makes courageous
manhood descend to cowardliness. By his flight at the battle ofActium, Anthony 'had not only
lost the courage and heart of an Emperor, but also of a valiant man.... In the end, as Paris fled
from the battle and went to hide himself in Helen's arms, even so did he in Cleopatra's arms'.l
Yet Shakespeare's management of his tragedy, like his understanding of Roman history in
general, is not circumscribed by Plutarch. There are indications that Shakespeare looked far
afield to furnish his play with quite minor details, such as Anthony's account ofEgyptian farming
practices, which apparently derives from Pliny or from the Renaissance historian of Africa,
Johannes Leo. The play's treatment of the historical significance of Augustus Caesar's victory
over Anthony and Cleopatra derives not only from Plutarch, but from the Augustan poets Horace
and VirgiI.2 In dramatizing the tragedy of Anthony, and in amplifying it with the tragedy of
Cleopatra, Shakespeare voices not only Plutarchan censoriousness. He adds generosity towards
human weakness.
Ironic Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra

The modern critic seeking to investigate the nature of the tragic condition in Shakespeare's
Antony and Cleopatra inherits not only the problems handed down from previous generations
nurtured on Bradley, Dowden, GranvilleBarker and Dover Wilson, but also those which emerge
from the play's effect upon a present-day audience. Some degree of compromise is undoubtedly
needed if the traditional body of attitudes surrounding the lovers is to be reconciled with
contemporary doubts concerning the values they claim to represent. Cleopatra was familiar to
Shakespeare's audiences as the legendary seductress of two great Romans--Julius Caesar in her
"salad days" and of Mark Antony in her thirties' Both her important conquests were middle-aged
and she herself was considered to be an outstanding example of la femme fatale, like Boccaccio's
Criseida, una vi/lana of Italian romance. Such masterful men could only be entrapped by such a
strong- willed female, in her own right a Queen, capable of swaying emperors and captains--the
supreme earthly manifestation of the vision of eros. Enobarbus's extravagant recollection of her
physical person as "O'er-picturing that Venus where we see/The fancy outwork nature" (II,ii,
200-1) and invidious comparison of other women to her in the "infinite variety" of her erotic
techniques (ibid., 235-8) make of her a dream courtesan such as all men desire.

Shakespeare never allows his audience to contemplate Cleopatra from afar, nor to regard her as
an ideal to be admired as an out-of-reach goddess high up in the clouds--on the contrary, he
constantly directs attention to her body and her physical actions. Her very first appearance is
accompanied by "Eunuchs fanning her" and she is soon shown being embraced by Antony--
throughout the play she is shown directly and by report as a creature of movement--E.A.J.
Honigmann refers to her "dancing, hopping, running, painting, learning, falling, reclining,
yawning,biting, pinching, fighting, and, above all, in her scenes with Antony, kissing, fondling,
embracing". One imagine her possibilities as a contortionist--Shakespeare pulls his audience
back to a concentration on her sexual power again and again, from first Act to last.

Roman poets and historians, not surprisingly, condemned her. Dante set her in the Second Circle
of Hell along with other carnal sinners of like sex--Dido, Helen and Francesca. Boccaccio
blamed her as he did Criseida, though Chaucer's brief portrait in The Legend of Good Women
marks her as a true lover according to courtly convention and praises her fidelity unto death.
Poets and particularly playwrights were then beginning to present Cleopatra as a person to be
pitied and the lovers as victims of circumstance who were not wholly guilty of infringing the
moral law:at the same time traditional opprobium could not be entirely cast aside because it was
too well established to permit of a drastic shift of emphasis. Giraldo Cinthio's Cleopatra (ca.
1542), Robert Garnier's MarkAntoine (1578) translated in 1590 by the Countess of Pembroke
and Samuel Daniel's The Tragedie of Cleopatra (1594) all rely to a greater or lesser extent on an
inherited portrait of Cleopatra as morally flawed though at the same time they sought the
audience's sympathy for her plight. Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. (160617) while owing
something to its predecessors, substitutes a romantic for a moral definition. The lovers and their
love is the first and only dramatic consideration in this play, and questions concerning the
morality of what they did are immaterial. Like that in Romeo and Juliet, its conflict is a death-
struggle between love and forces hostile to love. Individual "character" is not significant -
Antony's "heroic" reputation is a functional stereotype; Cleopatra's "infinite variety" a dramatic
convention to bring the classical vision of eros into Elizabethan focus.

Shakespeare did not seek to fashion tragic figures out of such well-tried clay. Enough that his
audience should readily accept the pair in the form which inherited tradition had determined,
namely, as ill-starred lovers, and then look afresh at what the play makes of them. In Act I
Antony is soon established as a general with a good fighting record and holding one of the three
most responsible positions in "the world" (i.e. the Roman political structure) but in his "dotage",
namely, in a state of over-fondness which threatens his judgement.

The audience knew enough about ancient history to perceive Antony as a man who did have
many laurels to rest upon--and, if his pubiic were ignorant of historical fact, they had at least
seen Julius Caesar performed. In addition, the account of his career as given in North's Plutarch
(1579)4 reveals Antony's shortcomings as well as his sterling qualities, though it is his cold-
blooded treatment of Octavia which is Antony's most ignoble recorded act during the period
covered by the play. Cleopatra's reputation as an experienced courtesan able to play upon his
emotions and almost (though not completely) numb his judgment confirms this initial impression
and perhaps encourages a more benevolent view to be taken of first reports concerning the
affaire than may really be justified in the light of information subsequently acquired.

This initial impression, together with the splendid setting of the Egyptian scenes, blocks the
audience's communal judgement and tends to crowd out logical opinions of the expedient kind
such as are voiced by the far less attractive "Roman" group, whose attitudes are governed or at
least influenced first and foremost by political considerations. Dowden's Victorian analysis of the
play perceived it as a love-tragedy wherein the love is so magnificent as to make the audience
sympathise with the lovers because they are so remarkable but it is to be doubted if this can
justly be said of the first four Acts. The spectacle of a middle-aged man in the grip of love for a
highly emotional women, even when set against a background of significant historical events, is
not to be adjudged remarkable in itself- it could well be sordid, or even silly, reflecting ill on the
partners. In Elizabethan eyes, lovers were legitimate objects of derision to be equated with
lunatics and poets in their madness5 • Antony has simply been made "mad" by love--he is
"inamorato", therefore capable of any kind of ridiculous behaviour.

He is not yet become a "strumpet's fool", in spite of what Philo tells Demetrius about him and
can still stand outside himself and estimate the extent to which Cleopatra is affecting his
reputation as political leader and loyal husband to Fulvia. His ejaculations, made in response to
the wordiness of Enobarbus in the same scene, make this stage of detachment clear--he realises
that he "must with haste from hence" and "must be gone"--observations in opposition to what
Enobarbus is saying about Cleopatra, as usual, in superficial terms, or "light answers" as Antony
calls them. The Egypt-inspired characters seem to talk in a kind of shorthand, even not to be
communicating at all, nor even trying seriously to do so; Enobarbus helps the audience to
interpret what is really being said and done underneath the verbiage of allusion and half-hint.

In contrast, the members of the Roman group follow a species of logic. Caesar deals throughout
in facts, intelligence and politically-inspired opinions. Even Pompey, though a fatalist who hopes
for the best, is essentially a man who connects ends and means. The same contrast exists between
Cleopatra and Octavia, the former whose "passions are made of nothing but the finest part of
pure love" (I,ii,144-5), the latter "of a holy, cold, and still conversation" (II, vi, 119-20). Antony
cannot be expected to prefer her to his "Egyptian dish" simply because conventional demands of
marital fidelity and political loyalty have been made upon him as though they were one entity --
which in Caesar's eyes, they were. He flouts convention and defies Rome, compelling Caesar to
assert his authority. Octavia, as cold a fish as her half-brother, has little to say when she hears of
her husband's reunion with Cleopatra -- a marked contrast, again, with Cleopatra's violent rage
when she hears of Antony's re-marriage in II,v.
Placing Egypt and Rome in opposition with the ocean in between imparts a ready unity to the
amorphous dramatic material and creates a single conflict. Shakespeare crudely but effectively
reduced the symbolism to fundamentals of human civilization -- the ancient antitheses of East
and West, wherein East signifies Man's will, perceived as insatiable, desiring always to satisfy its
craving for action and dynamic living; this is the impulsive will in the service of desire, or pure
selfishness. Antony, a product of Rome and her imperial obligations, is brought up hard against
the voluptuous forces of Egypt for whose primitive appetites Cleopatra is made to stand. The
West is itself a focal point of controversy-- Antony as he is when Cleopatra ensnares him, the
Protestant will encountering the Romantic spirit, and setting off a conflict between reason and
desire. Octavius, slave of the intellect, speaks for logic, censorship, duty and the classical virtues
(in which Antony has also been schooled but from which he is now being lured away even
against his own better judgment). Enobarbus knows that his old friend will never leave Cleopatra
and by the time the action has reached III, vi, the audience understands that Antony has finally
repuditated Rome's authority and, after the reported battles, that he pas lost his Roman skill m
generalship.

According to this synoptic view, which has obvious origins in psychoanalytic theory, the lovers
provide the means by which Rome secures the political domination of Egypt but they are at the
same time the means of rendering Rome's victory innocuous; Antony chooses love before
imperial claims and his surrender is not to military forces. No internal conflict baffles him --
even his defeat and flight fail to crush him - his rejection of this world does not come until he
hears the false report of Cleopatra's death, brought him by Mardian in IV, xiv, 28f. To be
reunited with her/he realises that he himself must also depart from life: is ironic, firstly since she
is not dead; since"dishonour" concerns both public opinion of him and his opinion of himself --
publicly he has not been directly dishonoured7 , yet here he is only at this latter stage confirming
that he claims to agree with some general verdict. "Since Cleopatra died" is in the play only a
matter of minutes. Moreover, in III, xi he himself was raving against her and threatening her
death.

Both lovers have in their minds at least departed from the material world; both are beyond the
restorative powers of fancy. Antony and Cleopatra is not A Midsummer Night's Dream, nor is it
even Twelfth Night; Antony's condition is not of that Romeo, nor is his loss that of Othello,
though some superficial similarities are not far to seek. Cleopatra is no Juliet, Cordelia or Lady
Macbeth. She has no "character" that invites analysis -- in the first four Acts she is a self-
indulgent, alluring courtesan, having breadth but not depth. Dramatically she requires no depth.
She is what she is, neither guilt nor innocence belongs to her, and her "real" existence comes
only when death is said to immortalise her.

The higher elements of "Fire, and Air" -- as distinct from the baser ones of "earth and water"
making cold clay--the void separating the rational from the emotional, is not to be easily
conveyed in human terms without sliding into ·near-farce. The history of the lovers, even as
reported by North8 , consistently borders on the absurd. The second part of II, v, when the
Queen, infuriated when she hears of Antony's re-marriage, runs from violence to misery in a
matter of minutes, draws a very thin line between a serious portrait of an enraged women who
feels her position threatened by a rival and a laughable caricature of feminine jealousy.
Dramatically it is very effective; but it does nothing to prepare the audience to accept her
supposed ennoblement through passion in V,ii.

This is worth quoting from at length because it sums up the comfortable view of generations of
critics who looked to Shakespeare's later plays as conveying a reassuring vision, a "calm of
mind, all passion spent" message of optimism and solace. Shakespearean tragedy is explained
not only in such terms as an aperient but also as though the poet were offering his audiences a
sound investment in human hope and potential. The well-adjusted Caesar, showing more
sympathy than before, pays the dead lovers justifiable compliments and organizes a magnificent
funeral for them, ending in a shared tomb. Thanks to him the historicity of their immortality is
secure. Death has at last in his possession "a lass_unparallel'd", as Charmian describes her
mistress. She expires with a query on her lips which her loyal handmaiden completes:

The last unexpected shaft of Cleopatra's earthbound jealousy is aimed at faithful Iras whose
unexpected death in advance of her own suggests to the Queen the fanciful notion that her
attendant may gain Antony's favours in the next world before she herself arrives there -- a
conceit showing that she is still afraid of not being complete mistress of her own destiny. Her
comparisons of the death-dealing serpent's bite to the touch of nature and of life and her final
question, cut short by death, may not be entirely rhetorical. It is Charmian who supplies the
epithet "vile".
Cleopatra's self-dramatization flows outwards. Attired in robe and crown, she will ensure that no
posthumous lampoonery will immortalize her "greatness/ I' the posture of a whore" (ibid. 219).
No decriers will have the pleasure of insulting the lovers' memort'. Her "immortal longings" are
associated with a dignified survival, chiefly, it is hinted, for her own person rather than that of
Antony. She convinces herself, and many generations of audiences, that she is taking a step
towards certain immortality, as "fire and air", a state of elemental existence which is now the
only one left to her own choice, attainable through suicide. Her imagined reunion with Antony
beyond the grave, like her jealousy of the dead Iras, is just earthbound metaphor - she is
"wording" herself now.

Iras, Charmian and the Clown who wishes Cleopatra "joy of the worm" (V, ii,259, 278) have no
such illusions. For them death is just death-- freedom from life. The Clown makes an ironical
reference to a woman being "a dish for the gods,/if the devil dress her not" (V,ii,273-4). Death is
darkness-- Clemen notes that "in no other play is this darkness-symbol of death so closely
associated with the whole characterization of the persons as in Antony and Cleopatra12" and
illustrates the point by means of examples of the extinguishing of light -- though these refer
mainly to Antony rather than to Cleopatra.

Caesar and his train bring the play to a close by holding a hasty inquest into the deaths of the
three women. This final episode reads rather like the investigation in a roman-policier. Caesar
speaks first to Dolabella, who had tipped off Cleopatra that the sole survivor of the triumvirate
had been less than frank with her. He now shows himself to be a true courtier by confirming that
Caesar's predictions were completely accurate.

Here the Guard speaks up and recalls the "simple countryman" with his figs, delivered to
Cleopatra. There is the basket -- Exhibit A, one might say. Caesar immediately jumps to a
conclusion -- were they poisoned (by the figs, presumably) ? The Guard points out that Charmian
had been alive after Cleopatra was clearly dead and had spoken to him. He gives an account of
her death, how she trembled and then dropped down suddenly. The audience knows this and so
does another guard who contributes nothing to this discussion. Moreover, both guards know that
it was an asp which Charmian applied to her body, but they do not mention the snake at this
point. Instead, they allow Caesar and Dolabella to go on play-acting "detectives". Caesar
suggests that it does not look like poison since no external swellings is visible on any of the
bodies; Cleopatra, in fact, looks as though she were asleep, and still able to rouse a man's desires.

The Second Guard comes in time to witness Charmian's death, so may be presumed to have seen
the asp wriggle away. The first Guard has concealed his knowledge of the asp's presence and has
very skilfully taken advantage of the situation until the right moment. He even "blinds his
hearers with science" -- all this matter about aspic trails on the caves of Nile is just stage patter,
intended to impress. Sherlock Holmes in his latter days could not have done better press.
Sherlock Holmes in his latter days could not have done better. Caesar wastes no more time in
pronouncing his final verdict, which amounts to a presumption that was the result of the bite of
an "asp or asps unknown", probably hidden amongst fig - leaves and according to a hearsay
medical report (one cannot believe everything that Caesar says) Cleopatra had been investigating
"easy ways to die"' Death by asp-bite was supposed to be painless, and the symptoms
mentioned in the text were well-known to Shakespeare's contemporaries.

Bibliography

 Eddie Borey, author of ClassicNote. Completed on June 16, 2003, copyright held
by GradeSaver.
 Shakespeare, William, Ed. by Barbara Everett. The Tragedy of Antony and
Cleopatra. New York: Signet, 1988.