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Antony and Cleopatra
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Antony and Cleopatra
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Antony and Cleopatra
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Antony and Cleopatra

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. READ BY SIR ANTHONY QUAYLE AND CAST

Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Life of Marcus Antonius and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony from the time of the Parthian War to Cleopatra's suicide. The major antagonist is Octavius Caesar, one of Antony's fellow triumviri 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 and the more pragmatic, austere Rome.

Many consider the role of Cleopatra in this play one of the most complex female roles in Shakespeare's work. She is frequently vain and histrionic, provoking an audience almost to scorn; at the same time, Shakespeare's efforts invest both her and Antony with tragic grandeur. These contradictory features have led to famously divided critical responses

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 6, 2011
ISBN9780007424047
Author

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is the world's greatest ever playwright. Born in 1564, he split his time between Stratford-upon-Avon and London, where he worked as a playwright, poet and actor. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway. Shakespeare died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two, leaving three children—Susanna, Hamnet and Judith. The rest is silence.

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Reviews for Antony and Cleopatra

Rating: 3.7285713974025976 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

770 ratings24 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The acting was fabulous. But like most such plays, one needs must read along otherwise one has no idea who's speaking. I played it at 0.8x speed. Makes for greater understanding.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    *If you actually don't know the story of this play, just a warning, this review will probably contain some spoilers.This Shakespeare play tells the famous love story of Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra VII. Their countries, the crumbling kingdom of Egypt and the rising, powerful kingdom of Rome, are at war, and relations are hostile between them. Despite all this, Antony and Cleopatra, who should have been enemies, are in love. Caesar is beginning to take desperate measures in order to lure Antony back to his homeland, where they need him as a general.This play contained a lot of interesting motives, with the love story between enemies as the most noticeable, of course. Caesar's many efforts to direct Antony's love back to Rome were also interesting - after the man had slighted him, insulted him, and defied him so many times, Caesar remains hopeful, and continues his attempts to reclaim his best general. Besides being in need of a strong commander for his war, Caesar obviously also loves Antony. He has him marry into his family, making Antony officially family, but he clearly thought of the young man as family far before the marriage.Cleopatra was also interesting, and one of those characters who you can't quite predict (besides knowing the story beforehand, that is). She is at times hard and cool, at other times warm. Cruel and kind, angry and happy. With Antony, her mind and moods change like the wind. I wondered, exasperated at times, how he could possibly put up with her. However, Antony seems to view this as evidence of how passionate Cleopatra is, how unique, and how mysterious she is. Antony is fascinated with her, and would have been no matter what.Like many hopeless romances that cannot possibly end well, this one doesn't. The scene where Antony flees from battle to follow Cleopatra was a sad one. On one hand, his ultimate, absolute devotion to her was touching. Being a soldier and a warrior was what he had been trained to do for all his life. Undoubtedly, he dreamed of one day being a general. He knows nothing else, and he has worked for nothing else. He will have had men in his charge on other ships, probably friends, perhaps men he grew up with. Yet he leaves them, to follow Cleopatra's ship. It was a terrible choice that had tragic consequences, one that was neither right nor wrong. Though he does not regret his love for Cleopatra, Antony acknowledges after his desertion from battle that he betrayed his men and himself. Cleopatra understands his shame.A tragic romance from Shakespeare.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I've never read the play before, and it was really interesting.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I didn't like Antony and Cleopatra very much at the beginning -- but then, it always seems to take about an act for me to get into the swing of a Shakespeare play. It helps with Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra that I'm familiar with the history it's based on. It took me a while to warm to the characters of Antony and Cleopatra, though, but for all that there's something very human about the way Cleopatra reacts to Antony -- now this, now that -- and how he responds to her.

    There are, of course, some beautiful speeches and descriptions here: I was nudged into reading this by reading a reference just yesterday to Cleopatra burning upon the water. I don't think I've seen this one as often quoted as I have the other Shakespeare plays I've been reading lately, though...
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Cleopatra: the fiercest, most fabulous queen in Shakespeare.
    Marc Antony: can't even commit suicide right.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    what an amazing play.
    "
    - I say, O Caesar, Antony is dead.
    - The breaking of so great a thing should make a greater crack. The round world should have shook lions into civil streets and citizens to their dens. The death of Antony is not a single doom. In the name lay a moiety of the world."
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The classical tragic romance.
    I found Cleopatra a little annoying but overall enjoyed this doomed tale.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I found this so-so. Both Antony and Cleopatra are portrayed as fickle individuals absorbed in their love-making to the exclusion of everything else. Cleopatra in particular is whiny and manipulative; Antony plainly gives up on all duties. The play only becomes tragic and imbued with grandeur once I allow myself to not think of these people as, well, humans but as larger-than-life figures, household names straight out of Great (Wo)Man History. I’m not sure I want to do that. The quality picks up towards the end, but the earlier acts contain some good back-and-forth banter and penis jokes.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This tragedy features triumvir Mark Antony and Queen of Egypt Cleopatra. She loves him although he is married. Octavius Caesar, the third political figure in the book, keeps the play's action interesting. Based on texts from Plutarch's Lives, we learn a little history of the Roman Republic prior to the time of Christ. It's not my favorite Shakespeare, but I liked it better after reading it this second time. I probably would not have re-read it, if I"d remembered how Cleopatra died. It's a classic, and a great way to share a little ancient history.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I have to admit, this one did very little for me, primarily because the two main players, Antony and Cleopatra, seem to be quite shallow and whiny and often stupid throughout the play.

    Definitely not a favourite.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Largely based on Plutarch, if I understand correctly, I enjoyed this historical based play by Shakespeare. They say hindsight is always 20/20 and that is true in the case of Mark Antony; although one may not sympathize much with Mark Antony - especially in his awful treatment of Fulvia and then Octavia - I did feel somewhat for his subordinates that paid with their lives for his poor judgement. I found Cleopatra a more interesting character; I'm not sure if her love for Mark Antony could probably be called that as it seems intermixed with hubris, but she stays with him to the end, or at least to her vision of her ideal of him. Octavian, Mark Antony, and Cleopatra all display a shared hubris and lust for power combined with political maneuvering that was bound to end in tragedy at some point.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    First reading of this play. For me it is definitely a play of two halves. The first three acts felt rather tedious and the dialogue unmemorable. But the fourth act, divided into no less than 13 scenes, mostly very short, contained the famous meat of the drama. Act 5 scene 2 also served as a dramatic conclusion.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Why do men do what they do when they're totally in love with women? Read this to find out...or at least dwell on it. Maybe we'll never come to a conclusion.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I know it's anathema for an English major, but this play was ho hum to me. Probably the et tu Brute....
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Read on my Kindle as part of Shakespeare's "The Complete Works".While the plot of this tragedy had plenty of action, somehow it just didn't work for me. I don't know if it was the language, my mood, or reading it instead of watching a performance... I'll have to try this one again sometime
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Shakespeare here writes about two historical characters far more famous and important that Lear or Macbeth but he doesn't treat them in a monumental tragic fashion. He instead portrays them as rather ordinary mortals: Antony, a pliable politician and unfocused warrior; Cleopatra, a passionate but insecure cougar. The most interesting scene is a on-boat banquet where the shrewd politicos of Rome persuade a young revolutionary to abandon a rebellion he is winning. The most memorable character (to me) is Enobarbus, a close, intelligent friend of Antony who betrays him when he decides he has no chance to win and then cannot live with himself.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Although a classic story, the characters came across to me as very mono-dimensional. I didn't really care about any of them. Antony just seemed whipped and Cleo didn't seem to have anything to inspire his devotion. Too melodramatic without much substance.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I do like the bit where Antony gives a grandiose speech, stabs himself, and then is mortified with annoyed surprise at the fact that he's still alive afterward.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    "Antony & Cleopatra" is definitely not one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. It is a slow starter that sort of meanders about setting the scene for several acts before getting to the meat of the story. The ending, however, is terrific.... it just takes a long while to get there.In the play, Cleopatra has fallen in love with Antony, one of the triumverate of Roman rulers. Of course, the rulers can't see to get along and end up in conflict with each other. War, destruction and death ensue.It's an interesting story but not one of Shakespeare's most entertaining, unfortunately.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I didn't like it as much as Shakespeare's other plays, probably because, for some reason, I had a harder time understanding it and it took me most of the first half of the play to really get into it. The very last scene is definitely my favorite, and I wish the rest of the play was that good.Cleopatra is probably one of my favorite female Shakespeare characters, though, along with her maids.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not my favorite of the bard's work but he really can't write poorly. I am not as fascinated by this 'epic' love story as some may be.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Despite its length and myriads of scene changes and characters to keep track of, I really enjoyed this play. I feel like it's not performed often enough on the Shakepeare circuits, but that helps to keep it fresh for me when I read it. The Folger edition contains footnotes to explain some of the archaic language and references, which is extremely helpful when reading.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    We had a free-choice play for my Shakespeare class, so I thought this would be a good one because Cleopatra is a great character. I also attempted to make a beaded headpiece to wear during my presentation, which didn't entirely work. The play is long and goes all over the place, but it's one of the greatest romances of all time, and worth reading.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Had to read the play, cause I love the history. Im not a big fan of Shakespeare, but the loved the play because of the charectors.