Antony and Cleopatra Summary
William Shakespeare

Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare Scholars believe that Shakespeare wrote Antony and Cleopatra in late 1606 or early 1607, shortly after writing King Lear and Macbeth (also covered in WLA... Read more

Biography Essay"He was not of an age, but for all time." So wrote Ben Jonson in his dedicatory verses to the memory of William Shakespeare in 1623, and so we continue to affirm today. No other writer,... Read more

Considered by critics, scholars, and the theater-going public the most important dramatist in the history of English literature, William Shakespeare occupies a unique position in the pantheon of great... Read more

William Shakespeare's reputation is based primarily on his plays. With the partial exception of the Sonnets (1609), quarried since the early nineteenth century for autobiographical secrets allegedly ... Read more

In the following excerpt, Schanzer responds to critics who have considered Antony and Cleopatra to be "faultily constructed," arguing that the structural pattern of the work consists &#x... Read more

In the following excerpt, Mack argues that Antony and Cleopatra "owes much, at least in its general outline, to the medieval tragic formula of the fall-of-princes and mirror-for-magistrates tra... Read more

In the following excerpt, Hibbard discusses Shakespeare's use of language in Antony and Cleopatra, describing the play's style as "an astonishing union of the hyperbolical with th... Read more

In the following essay, Coates considers parallels between the Renaissance story of "The Choice of Hercules" and Antony and Cleopatra. The importance of the 'Choice of Hercules... Read more

In the following essay, Wells discusses the austerity that characterizes the Roman view of love and passion in Antony and Cleopatra. He comments: "Shakespeare suggests that the political world ... Read more

In the following essay, Barroll examines the way in which desire and its “strangeness” inform the characterization of Antony. I Mark Antony is one of Shakespeare's most complex... Read more

In the following essay, Wortham investigates the Renaissance emblem tradition that informs Antony and Cleopatra, and attempts to discern how the emblematic imagery operating in the text would have bee... Read more

In the following essay, Levin studies three conundrums appearing in the negotiations of Cleopatra and Caesar, and examines how these episodes illuminate the battle of wits between the two characters. ... Read more

In the following essay, Floyd-Wilson observes the correspondence between geography and gender that is often examined in the play (for example, the association of Egypt with femininity and Rome with ma... Read more

In the following essay, Yachnin explores the parallels between Antony and Cleopatra's contrasting of Egyptian past with Roman future and the shift from an Elizabethan to a Jacobean style of rul... Read more

In the following essay, Mack surveys the many polarities explored in Antony and Cleopatra and suggests that Shakespeare, in order to question logical expectations, deliberately refused to allow ascend... Read more

In the following essay, Hume analyzes the way in which language functions in the play and demonstrates how Shakespeare used language in order to distinguish and develop the characters in Antony and Cl... Read more

In the following essay, Freeman uses the theory of cognitive metaphor to evaluate the figurative language found in Antony and Cleopatra. Any approach to metaphor hoping to enhance centuries of scho... Read more

In the following essay, Jankowski identifies the similarities and differences between Queen Elizabeth and Shakespeare's Cleopatra, and notes that although both women used their bodies for polit... Read more

In the following review, Carnegy offers a mostly favorable assessment of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Antony and Cleopatra at Stratford-upon-Avon for the Summer-Winter 1999-200... Read more

In the following excerpted review, Jackson comments on the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Antony and Cleopatra at Stratford-upon-Avon, directed by Steven Pimlott. In particular, Jack... Read more

In the following essay, Simmons explores the ways in which the structure and thematic interests of Antony and Cleopatra are reflective of elements of Shakespearean comedy. Antony and Cleopatra is i... Read more

In the following review of Michael Attenborough's 2002 Royal Shakespeare Company staging of Antony and Cleopatra, Fleming finds fault with the production's slow start and muddled enuncia... Read more

In the following review of the 2002 Royal Shakespeare Company staging of Antony and Cleopatra under the direction of Michael Attenborough, Hopkins contends that the production was “unfocused&#x... Read more

In the following excerpt, Fawkner examines the oppositional pattern of “following and leaving” in Antony and Cleopatra, which he suggests defines the conceptual structure of the drama. ... Read more

In the following essay, Yachnin views Antony and Cleopatra as a critique of absolutist loyalty to the divinely appointed sovereign. What might Antony and Cleopatra tell us about English political c... Read more

In the following essay, Sjöberg discusses Antony and Cleopatra as a drama of transformation derived from opposition and strife. LEPIDUS. But small to greater matters must give way. EN... Read more

In the following essay, Heffner examines Shakespeare's extensive use of messengers in Antony and Cleopatra, contending that “the messenger is a bit of necessary stage machinery which Sha... Read more

In the following essay, Bushman examines feminist readings of Cleopatra's character in Antony and Cleopatra and analyzes her status as the “tragic hero” of the play. To the dis... Read more

In the following review of the 1999 Globe Theatre production of Antony and Cleopatra directed by Giles Block, Morley, although not impressed with the overall production, praises it as the best he has ... Read more

In the following review, Klein asserts the essential failure of director Bonnie J. Monte's comic staging of Antony and Cleopatra at the 2000 New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, noting its lack of ... Read more

In the following excerpt, Macaulay reviews Michael Attenborough's 2002 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Antony and Cleopatra. The critic has high praise for Sinead Cusack's repres... Read more

In the following essay, Lindley argues that Antony and Cleopatra associates Octavius with the centralization and monopolization of trade—that it shows he wants, in effect, to be the sole propri... Read more

In the following essay, Vanhoutte argues that Shakespeare's depiction of Antony's suicide precludes judgments of it as either ignoble or praiseworthy. Drawing on the writings of Donne an... Read more

In the following review, Murray censures Sean Mathias, the director of the 1998 National Theatre production of Antony and Cleopatra, for his lack of respect for the play's poetry. He describes ... Read more

In the following review of Giles Block's 1999 production of Antony and Cleopatra at the Globe, Macaulay commends Mark Rylance's performance as Cleopatra for its liveliness and spontaneit... Read more

In the following review of Stephen Pimlott's 1999 staging of Antony and Cleopatra for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Shuttleworth describes the performances of the four principal actors as ... Read more

In the following essay, Fisch considers archetypal patterns of love/war and fertility/death associated with Roman and Egyptian mythological allusions in Antony and Cleopatra. The critic concludes by e... Read more

Rick Bowers, University of Alberta Those critics of Antony and Cleopatra who touch on the subject of Caesar's involvement are usually brief and disparaging before moving on to consider the... Read more

The play Antony and Cleopatra illustrates the cultural differences between two societies. With the characters of Antony and Cleopatra being a microcosm of Rome and Egypt. Antony is an omnipotent Roman... Read more

The scene I am going to be looking at is act 1 scene 1, there are many different dramatic devices that can be used in this scene, and I believe them all to be very important, just as I view the first ... Read more

The first scene is set in the Palace of Cleopatra in the city of Alexandria. The scene opens as a conversation develops between Philo and Demetrius who are Roman friends of Antony. By opening in the... Read more

Sex, manipulation, selfishness, obsession, and dramatic interactions are all present in "Antony and Cleopatra" and "The Letters of Abelard and Heloise." The roles of women in society and conceptions ... Read more

In the majority of Shakespeare's tragedies the protagonist will have a fatal flaw which inevitably leads to their demise. With Antony and Cleopatra being a tragedy this characteristic of a tragedy ca... Read more

What impression of Antony do we form in act 1" At the opening of the play, Antony is described in a critical speech in terms which contrast what he once was with what he has become. The brave gener... Read more

From the opening lines of Demetrius in Act 1:1, it is clear the Romans' regard Antony as "a strumpet's fool", abandoning his military endeavours in Rome, while seeking pleasure in Cleopatra's domain. ... Read more

Shakespeare's Use of Allusions "Dido a dowdy, Cleopatra a gypsy, Helen and Hero hildings and harlots, Thisbe a grey eye or so, but not to the purpose." (Shakespeare,) This quote is from Mercutio, a c... Read more

Antony and Cleopatra Book Notes is a free study guide on Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare. Browse the summary below:   Author Biography / Context of the Work   One-Page Plot S... Read more