William Shakespeare
Antony and Cleopatra (1606)


BBC Radio Production 2002






Antony and Cleopatra was the sequel to Julius Caesar. The play contrasts Roman politics with Egyptian love. 

In Julius Caesar, Antony is portrayed as a clever politician ruled by his emotions, in contrast to Brutus, ruled by reason. Anthony can move crowds through the power of emotional rhetoric. He has a Roman wife, but chooses to stay in Egypt with Cleopatra. He wife dies and he returns briefly to Rome, but cannot give up Cleopatra, and eventually returns to her.

One of the plays main themes is the apparently conflicting demands of love and duty. Rome and all that it stands for represents duty. Egypt represents the intuitive female and mystical side of life, and the eternal. The play is dominated not by Antony but by Cleopatra. 

At the end there are suggestions of the lovers reuniting beyond the grave.




Enjoy and Seed!!