Alexandria, Egypt

All of the play's onstage action takes place in Alexandria, Egypt. John Dryden (mostly) observes Aristotle's idea of the unity of time, place, and action, as described in Poetics. All of the play's dramatic action happens in one place within a reasonable amount of time, though in stage time the action takes longer than one day. Though this idea is Aristotle's, it is also popular with the French Neoclassicists, whom Dryden says in his foreword he admires. The amount of time the hero, Mark Antony, spends in Egypt shows how fair he has strayed from the Anglo Saxon value system represented by the Roman Empire.

The Roman Empire

Offstage actions take place in the Roman Empire. Mark Antony exits to invade Caesar Octavius' camp there at the end of Act I: Scene 1, and he returns victorious at the opening of Act II: Scene 1. Ventidius, Dolabella, and Octavia...