Antony and Cleopatra

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Antony and Cleopatra

Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy

Tragedy

Tragedy is a form of The arts based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific Poetic tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western culture....
by William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English people poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist....
. It was first printed in the First Folio

First Folio

Thomas North

Sir Thomas North was an England translator of Plutarch, second son of the Edward North, 1st Baron North....
's translation of Plutarch

Plutarch

Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. AD 46 ? 120 ? commonly known in English as Plutarch ? was a Ancient Rome historian , biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonism....
's Life of Markus Antonius and follows the relationship between Cleopatra

Cleopatra VII of Egypt

Cleopatra VII Philopator was a Hellenistic ruler of Egypt, originally sharing power with her father Ptolemy XII Auletes and later with her brothers/husbands Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV; eventually gaining sole rule of Egypt....
and Mark Antony

Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Marc Antony, was a Roman Republic politician and General. He was an important supporter and the best friend of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia....
from the time of the Parthian War

Roman-Persian Wars

The Roman–Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Greco-Roman world and two successive List of Iranic states and empires. Contact between Parthia and the Roman Republic began in 92 BC; wars began under the late Republic, and continued through the Roman Empire and Sassanid Empires....
to Cleopatra's suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the intentional taking of one's own life. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"....
. The major antagonist is Octavius Caesar, one of Antony's fellow triumvirs and the future first emperor of Rome. The tragedy is a Roman play characterized by swift, panoramic shifts in geographical locations and in registers, alternating between sensual, imaginative Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports....
and the more pragmatic, austere Rome

Rome

Discussion

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Source

The principal source for the story is Plutarch

Plutarch

Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. AD 46 ? 120 ? commonly known in English as Plutarch ? was a Ancient Rome historian , biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonism....
's "Life of Mark Antony" from Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans Compared Together
Parallel Lives

File:Plutarchs LIVES.jpgPlutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly called Parallel Lives or Plutarch's Lives, is a series of biography of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings....
, in the translation made by Sir Thomas North

Thomas North

Sir Thomas North was an England translator of Plutarch, second son of the Edward North, 1st Baron North....
in 1579. A large number of phrases within Shakespeare's play are taken directly from North's prose, including Enobarbus's famous description of Cleopatra's barge, beginning "The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne/Burned on the water." However Shakespeare also adds scenes, including many of the ones portraying Cleopatra's domestic life, and the role of Enobarbus is greatly developed. Historical facts are also sometimes changed: in Plutarch Antony's final defeat was many weeks after the battle of Actium, and Octavia lived with mark for several years and bore him two children.

Date and Text

Most scholars believe it was written in 1606–07, although some researchers argue for an earlier dating, around 1603–04.Antony and Cleopatra was entered in the Stationers' Register

Stationers' Register

The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers of London. The company is a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with the publishing industry, including printers, bookbinders, booksellers, and publishers in England....
(an early form of copyright

Copyright is a form of intellectual property which gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation; after which time the work is said to enter the public domain....
for printed works) in May of 1608, but it does not seem to have been actually printed until the publication of the First Folio

First Folio

Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies is the 1623 published collection of William Shakespeare's plays. Modern scholars commonly refer to it as the First Folio....
in 1623. The Folio is therefore the only authoritative text we have today. Some Shakespeare 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 'scenes' may be inappropriate a description, as the scene changes are often very fluid, almost montage-like. The large number of scenes are necessary because the action frequently switches between Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports....
, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, Messina in Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
, Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
, Athens

Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
and other parts of Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
and the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. The play contains thirty-four speaking characters, fairly typical for a Shakespeare play on such an epic scale.

Characters

Mark Antony, Roman general and one of the three men (triumvirs) who rule Rome after the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.

Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt

Octavius Caesar (Octavian), One of the three men (triumvirs) who rule Rome after the assassination of Julius Caesar.

Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, One of the three men (triumvirs) who rule Rome after the assassination of Julius Caesar.

Sextus Pompeius (Pompey), Son of the late Pompey the Great.

Domitius Enobarbus, Follower of Antony

Octavia, Octavius's sister.

Ventidius, Eros, Scarus, Dercetas, Demetrius, Philo: Friends of Antony.

Agrippa, Military commander and advisor of Octavius.
Dolabella, Friend and attendant of Octavius.

Mecaenas, Proculeius, Thyreus, Gallus, Menas, Friends of Octavius.

Menecrates, Varrius, Friends of Sextus Pompeius.

Taurus, Lieutenant-general of Caesar.

Canidius, Lieutenant-general of Antony.

Silius, Officer in Ventidius's army.

Euphronius, Ambassador from Antony to Caesar.

Alexas, Mardian the Eunuch, Seleucus, Diomedes, Cleopatra's attendants.

Charmian, Iras, Maids of honor attending Cleopatra.

Soothsayer

Clown

Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and other Attendants

Synopsis

Mark Antony

Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)

Marcus Aemilius Lepidus ,born ca 90 BC died 13 BC, was a patrician Ancient Rome politician of the 1st century BC who rose to become a member of the Second Triumvirate and Pontifex Maximus....
– has neglected his soldierly duties after being beguiled by Egypt's Queen, Cleopatra. He ignores Rome's domestic problems, including the fact that his wife, Fulvia

Fulvia

Fulvia was a Ancient Rome woman who lived in the 1st century BC. According to Plutarch, Fulvia had no interest in spinning nor managing a household nor ruling a husband with no ambition for public life; Fulvia wanted to govern or to command and be a commander-in-chief....
, rebelled against Octavius, and then died.

Octavius calls Antony back to Rome from Alexandria

Alexandria

Sextus Pompeius

Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius, in English Sextus Pompey , was a Ancient Rome general from the late Roman Republic . He was the last focus of opposition to the Second Triumvirate....
), Menecrates

Menecrates

Menecrates is the name of:*Menecrates of Ephesus, ancient Greek poet*Menecrates of Syracuse, physician to Philip of Macedon*Menecrates of Xanthus, ancient Greek historian...
, and Menas

Menas

Menas, a male personal name, could refer to any of the following persons:*Patriarch Mennas of Constantinople*Menas of Ethiopia, Emperor of Ethiopia....
, three notorious pirates of the Mediterranean. At Alexandria, Cleopatra begs Antony not to go, and though he repeatedly affirms his love for her, he eventually leaves.

Back in Rome, Agrippa brings forward the idea that Antony should marry Octavius Caesar's sister, Octavia, in order to cement the bond between the two men. Antony's lieutenant Enobarbus

Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32 BC)

Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus was a general and politician of ancient Rome in the 1st century BC....
, though, knows that Octavia can never satisfy him after Cleopatra. In a famous passage, he delineates Cleopatra's charms in paradoxical terms: "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, and takes furious revenge upon the messenger that brings her the news. She grows content only when her courtiers assure her that Octavia is homely by Elizabethan standards: short, low-browed, round-faced and with bad hair.

At a confrontation, the triumvirs parley with Pompey, and offer him a truce. He can retain Sicily

Sicily

Sardinia

Sardinia is the Mediterranean islands#By area island in the Mediterranean Sea . The area of Sardinia is . The island is surrounded by the France island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Tunisia and the Balearic Islands....
, but he must help them "rid the sea of pirates" and send them tributes. After some hesitation Pompey accedes. They engage in a drunken celebration on Pompey's galley. Menas suggests to Pompey that he kill the three triumvirs and make himself ruler of Rome, but he refuses, finding it dishonorable. Later, Octavius and Lepidus break their truce with Pompey and war against him. This is unapproved by Antony, and he is furious.

Antony returns to Alexandria, Egypt, and crowns Cleopatra and himself as rulers of Egypt and the eastern third of the Roman Empire (which was Antony's share as one of the triumvirs). He accuses Octavius of not giving him his fair share of Pompey's 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, in the middle of the battle, Cleopatra flees with her sixty ships, and Antony follows her, leaving his army 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 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

Hercules

Hercules is the Ancient Rome name for the mythical Ancient Greece hero Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. Early Roman sources suggest that the imported Greek hero supplanted a mythic Italian shepherd called "Recaranus" or "Garanus", famous for his strength....
abandoning his protection of Antony. Furthermore, Enobarbus, Antony's long-serving lieutenant, deserts him and goes over to Octavius's side. Rather than confiscating Enobarbus's goods, which he did not take with him when he fled to Octavius, 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.

The battle goes well for Antony, until Octavius shifts it to a sea-fight. Once again, Antony loses when Cleopatra's fleet deserts to Octavius's side—his fleet surrenders, and he denounces Cleopatra: "This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me." He resolves to kill her for the 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 fails: 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.

Octavius goes to Cleopatra, trying to convince her to surrender. She angrily refuses, since she can imagine nothing worse than being led in triumph through the streets of Rome, proclaimed a villain for the ages. She imagines that "the quick comedians / Extemporally will stage us, and present / Our Alexandrian revels: Antony / Shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see / Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness / I' th' posture of a whore." This speech is full of dramatic irony, because in Shakespeare's time Cleopatra really was played by a "squeaking boy", and Shakespeare's play does depict Antony's drunken revels.

Cleopatra is betrayed and taken into custody by the Romans. She tests Octavius' intentions towards her by instructing her treasurer to 'betray' her when she gives Octavius an accounting of her wealth. When Octavius dismisses his statement that Cleopatra has held back information about her actual possessions Cleopatra realises that, despite his promises of fair treatment, he intends to parade her at his triumph.

Cleopatra resolves to kill herself, using the poison of an asp

Asp (reptile)

Asp is the modern Anglicisation of the word Aspis, which in Ancient history referred to any one of several venomous snake species found in the Nile delta region....
. She dies calmly and ecstatically, imagining how she will meet Antony again in the afterlife. Her serving maids, Iras and Charmian, also kill themselves. 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 kind of sympathy for them: "She shall be buried by her Antony. / No grave upon the earth shall clip in it / A pair so famous..." He orders a public military funeral.

Themes and motifs

Many scholars of the play attempt to come to conclusions about the ambivalent nature of many of the characters. Are Antony and Cleopatra true tragic heroes, or are they too fault-ridden and laughable to be tragic? Is their relationship one of love

Love

Love is any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection and attachment . The word wikt:en:love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure to intense interpersonal attraction....
or lust

Lust

Lust is an inordinate craving for coitus often to the point of assuming a self-indulgent, and sometimes violent character. Lust, or an immoderate desire for the flesh of another , is considered a sin, or impure act, in all of the Abrahamic religions....
? Is their passion wholly destructive, or does it also show elements of transcendence? Does Cleopatra kill herself out of love for Antony, or because she has lost political power? Octavius Caesar is another ambivalent character, who can be seen as either a noble and good ruler, only wanting what is right for Rome, or as a cruel and ruthless politician.

One of the major themes running throughout the play is opposition. The main being Rome/Egypt, Love/Lust, and Male/Female. One of Shakespeare's most famous speeches, Enobarbus' description of Cleopatra on her barge, is full of opposites. Cleopatra herself sees Antony as both the Gorgon

Gorgon

In Greek mythology, the Gorgon was a vicious monster with sharp fangs. She was a protective deity from early religious concepts. Her power was so strong that one attempting to look upon her, would be turned to stone, therefore, such images were put upon items from temples to wine kraters for protection....
and Mars

Mars (mythology)

Mars was the Roman mythology warrior God , the son of Juno and Jupiter , husband of Bellona , and the lover of Venus . He was the most prominent of the military gods that were worshipped by the Roman legions....
(Act 2 Scene 5, lines 118-19)

Adaptations and cultural references

Selected stage productions

1931, John Gielgud
John Gielgud

Sir Arthur John Gielgud, Order of Merit , Companion of Honour was an England actor and singer, particularly known for his warm and expressive voice, which his colleague Alec Guinness likened to "a silver trumpet muffled in silk"....
as Antony and Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson

Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
as Enobarbus at the Old Vic Theatre.
1947, Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell

Katharine Cornell was an American stage actress, writer, and theater owner and theatrical producer.She was born on February 16, 1893 in Berlin, Germany to American parents, and raised in Buffalo, New York....
won a Tony Award
Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live United States theatre and are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City....
for her Broadway performance of Cleopatra opposite the Antony of Godfrey Tearle
Godfrey Tearle

Sir Godfrey Tearle was an United States-born actor who portrayed the quintissential Englishman on stage and in films in both England and the United States....
. It ran for 126 performances, the longest run of the play in Broadway history.
1951, Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier

Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, Order of Merit was an English people Stage actor, Theatre director, and Theatrical producer. He is one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft and Ralph Richardson....
as Antony and Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh

Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier , was an English actress. She won two Academy Awards for playing "southern belles": Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and Blanche DuBois in the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she had also played on stage in London's West End Theatre....
as Cleopatra in a production that played in repertory with George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw, was an Irish people playwright.Although Shaw's first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, his talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays....
's Caesar and Cleopatra
Caesar and Cleopatra (play)

Caesar and Cleopatra, a play written in 1898 by George Bernard Shaw, was first staged in 1901 and first published with Captain Brassbound's Conversion and The Devil's Disciple in his 1901 collection, Three Plays for Puritans....
at the St James's Theatre
St James's Theatre

The St James's Theatre was a 1,200-seat theatre located in King Street, at Duke Street, St James's, London. The elaborate theatre was designed with a neo-classical exterior and a Louis XIV style interior by Samuel Beazley and built by the partnership of Samuel Morton Peto for the tenor and theatre director, John Braham....
and later on Broadway.
1953, Michael Redgrave
Michael Redgrave

Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave Order of the British Empire was a well-known English people stage and film actor, director, manager and author....
played Antony and Peggy Ashcroft
Peggy Ashcroft

Dame Peggy Ashcroft Order of the British Empire was an English actress....
played Cleopatra at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.
1986, Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton

Timothy Peter Dalton is a Wales actor. He is best known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill and for his roles in William Shakespeare films and plays....
and Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave

Vanessa Redgrave Order of the British Empire is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Emmy and Tony Award winning England actor. She is the most famous member of the Redgrave family, the world renowned theatrical dynasty....
in the title roles at Clwyd Theatr Cymru
Clwyd Theatr Cymru

Clwyd Theatr Cymru , known until 1998 as Theatr Clwyd, is a regional arts centre located 1 mile from Mold, Flintshire, in north-east Wales....
and Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre

The Theatre Royal Haymarket or Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre is a West End theatre in The Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use....
.
1999, Alan Bates
Alan Bates

Sir Alan Arthur Bates Order of British Empire was a United Kingdom actor of stage, screen and television....
and Frances de la Tour
Frances de la Tour

Frances de la Tour is an English actress perhaps best known for her role as Miss Ruth Jones in the United Kingdom sitcom Rising Damp, and as Olympe Maxime in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ....
in title roles, Guy Henry as Octavius (also David Oyelowo
David Oyelowo

David Oyelowo is an England actor of Nigerian descent. He is married to actress Jessica Oyelowo and they have three sons....
) at the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company

The Royal Shakespeare Company is a British theatre company. Located primarily at Stratford-upon-Avon, with bases also in London and Theatre Royal, Newcastle, it is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly-funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal National Theatre....
.
1999, Paul Shelley
Paul Shelley

Actor Paul Shelley was born 15 May 1942 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England.Paul trained at RADA and has made a highly acclaimed theatre career, mainly as a classical actor....
as Antony and Mark Rylance
Mark Rylance

Mark Rylance is an English actor, theatre direction and playwright.As an actor, Rylance found success on stage and screen. For his work in theatre he has won Olivier Award and Tony Awards among others, and a British Academy of Film and Television Arts TV Award....
as Cleopatra in an all male cast production at Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare's Globe

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, which officially opened in 1997, is a reconstruction of The Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames....
Theatre in London.
2006, Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart

Patrick Hewes Stewart, Order of the British Empire is an English film, television and Stage actor. He is also Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield....
and Harriet Walter
Harriet Walter

Harriet Mary Walter, Order of the British Empire, is a United Kingdom actress....
in the title roles at the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company

The Royal Shakespeare Company is a British theatre company. Located primarily at Stratford-upon-Avon, with bases also in London and Theatre Royal, Newcastle, it is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly-funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal National Theatre....
.

Musical adaptations

Samuel Barber

Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is among his most popular compositions and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music....
's operatic version of the play

Antony and Cleopatra (opera)

Antony and Cleopatra is an opera in three acts by American composer Samuel Barber. The libretto was prepared by Franco Zeffirelli based on the play Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare....
was premièred in 1966.

Films

* Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra (1972 film)

Antony and Cleopatra is a 1972 in film film adaptation of the Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare made by the Rank Organisation. It was directed by Charlton Heston and produced by Peter Snell from a screenplay by Federico De Urrutia and the director....
, 1972, directed by and starring Charlton Heston

Charlton Heston

Charlton Heston was an United States actor of film, theater and television.Heston is known for having played heroic roles, such as Moses in The Ten Commandments , Colonel George Taylor in Planet of the Apes , El Cid in El Cid , and Judah Ben-Hur in Ben-Hur , for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor....
as Antony, Hildegarde Neil

Hildegarde Neil

Hildegarde Neil is a United Kingdom actress.She first appeared on television in an episode of No Hiding Place in 1964 and after that appeared mostly as a guest artiste in a variety of TV series over the last 40 years although has appeared in several films and on stage both in the west end and touring, including the 1973 Oscar winning film...
as Cleopatra and also featuring Eric Porter

Eric Porter

Eric Richard Porter was a distinguished English actor who appeared on stage as well as in cinema and television....
as Enobarbus.

Antony & Cleopatra, 1974, a television production of Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn

Sir Trevor Robert Nunn Order of the British Empire is an England theatre director and film director....
's stage version performed by London's Royal Shakespeare Company. This version was shown in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
to great acclaim in 1975. It stars Janet Suzman
Janet Suzman

Janet Suzman is a South African actress and director....
(Cleopatra), Richard Johnson
Richard Johnson (actor)

Richard Johnson is an England actor, writer and producer, who starred in several British films of the 1960s and has also had a distinguished stage career....
(Antony), and Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart

Patrick Hewes Stewart, Order of the British Empire is an English film, television and Stage actor. He is also Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield....
(Enobarbus).
Antony & Cleopatra, 1981, a TV movie made as part of the BBC Shakespeare series. It stars Colin Blakely (Antony) and Jane Lapotaire (Cleopatra).
Antony and Cleopatra, a 1983 TV movie. It stars Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton

Timothy Peter Dalton is a Wales actor. He is best known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill and for his roles in William Shakespeare films and plays....
(Antony) and Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Redgrave

Lynn Rachel Redgrave Order of British Empire is an English actress.A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn Redgrave trained in London, before making her theatrical debut in 1962....
(Cleopatra).cleopatra had two sisters one was berenice

Influence

John Dryden

John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of English Restoration to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden....
's play All for Love was deeply influenced by Shakespeare's treatment of the subject.

External links

cleopatra

, particularly the section
- HTML version of this title.
- Full text HTML of the play
- plain vanilla text from Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive and distribute cultural works, as founder Michael Hart said "To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."....
- Scene-indexed and searchable version of the play.