Traditionally grouped with Shakespeare’s “Roman plays”,

opens and closes in Egypt. Probably written in 1606-07, it was not printed until the

. Beginning with the

, editors have traditionally imposed classical act/scene divisions on a play that contains 42 scenes. Those scenes move rapidly between Egyptian and Roman settings, between land and sea. Since such fluidity defies classical division, many early critics pronounced Shakespeare’s structure “flawed”. His primary source, Thomas North’s 1579 translation of

, similarly misled scholars to assume that

celebrates the rise of a Roman empire. Through such a lens, Antony is a deeply flawed western hero brought down by an eastern temptress. Inevitably,…

1941 words

Citation: Whall, Helen. "Antony and Cleopatra". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 August 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6560, accessed 27 November 2024.]

• View recommended reading for this article