Antony and Cleopatra story
Antony and Cleopatra (First Folio title: The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in around 1607; its first appearance in print was in the Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's 1579 English translation of Plutarch's Lives (in Ancient Greek) and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony from the time of the Sicilian revolt to Cleopatra's suicide during the Final War of the Roman Republic. The major antagonist is Octavius Caesar, one of Antony's fellow triumvirs of the Second Triumvirate and the first emperor of the Roman Empire. The tragedy is mainly set in the Roman Republic and Ptolemaic Egypt and is characterized by swift shifts in geographical location and linguistic register as it alternates between sensual, imaginative Alexandria and a more pragmatic, austere Rome.
11 total · 2 choice · 5 major · 4 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| obsessive love | choice | Antony and Cleopatra were so obsessed with each other that they arguably committed foolish acts which lead to their mutual destruction |
| star-crossed lovers | choice | the passionate relationship between Antony and Cleopatra ultimately lead to their destruction as the match was not politically apt |
| betrayal | major | there were numerous betrayals, notably that of Cleopatra to Antony when she fled the battle of Actium |
| courtly intrigues | major | Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar, Sextus Pompey, Lepidus, Cleopatra all intrigued for power and influence around the Mediterranean. |
| femme fatale | major | Cleopatra was described as a spectacularly attractive woman who seduced first Julius Caesar and now Mark Antony |
| suicide | major | Anthony and Cleopatra famously committed suicide in the end, as did some of their retainers |
| the lust for power | major | whatever one makes of the individual characters' various motives, the story concerned an epic struggle for power around the Mediterranean sea and over the Roman Empire |
| coping with the death of a lover | minor | Antony thought Cleopatra dead and killed himself upon which Cleopatra in turn killed herself. |
| coping with the death of a spouse | minor | Antonius had a mixed bag of emotions when he learned of his wife's death. |
| honorable suicide | minor | one reason for the suicides was to avoid the dishonor of becoming captives to Octavius, perhaps paraded trough Rome in chains |