Antony and Cleopatra

Antony and Cleopatra

by William ShakespeareDr. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, Ph.D.
Epub (Kobo), Epub (Adobe)
Publication Date: 10/11/2015

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Antony and Cleopatra dramatizes a major event in world history: the founding of the Roman Empire. The future first emperor, Octavius Caesar (later called Augustus Caesar), cold-bloodedly manipulates other characters and exercises iron control over himself.


At first, he shares power with Mark Antony, Rome’s preeminent military leader, and the weaker Lepidus. Caesar needs Antony to fend off other Roman strongmen like Pompey; he even offers his sister Octavia to him as a bride, despite Antony’s reputation as a libertine and his past rivalry with Caesar. Once Caesar defeats Pompey, however, he needs no allies. He brings charges against Lepidus, denies Antony his spoils from Pompey’s defeat, and seizes cities in the eastern Roman colonies that Antony rules.


The play’s emphasis, however, is on those whom Caesar defeats: Antony and his wealthy Egyptian ally, Queen Cleopatra. The play does not sugarcoat Antony and Cleopatra’s famous love affair, including her calculated attempts to seduce Antony from his duties and his rage when he thinks she has betrayed him to Caesar. Nonetheless, the lovers find such sensual and emotional satisfaction that Caesar’s world conquest seems smaller than what they find in each other.


The authoritative edition of Antony and Cleopatra from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:


-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play


-Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play


-Scene-by-scene plot summaries


-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases


-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language


-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play


-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books


-An annotated guide to further reading


Essay by Cynthia Marshall


The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

ISBN:
9781501128844
9781501128844
Category:
Plays
Format:
Epub (Kobo), Epub (Adobe)
Publication Date:
10-11-2015
Language:
English
Publisher:
Simon & Schuster
William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, in 1564. The date of his birth is unknown but is celebrated on 23 April, which happens to be St George's Day, and the day in 1616 on which Shakespeare died.

Aged eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. They had three children. Around 1585 William joined an acting troupe on tour in Stratford from London, and thereafter spent much of his life in the capital. By 1595 he had written five of his history plays, six comedies and his first tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. In all, he wrote thirty-seven plays and much poetry, and earned enormous fame in his own lifetime in prelude to his immortality.

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