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William Shakespeares most epic play, Antony and Cleopatra features international settings, several wars and battles, and an all-consuming love story.The most geographically sweeping of Shakespeares plays,Antony and Cleopatras setting is the entire Roman Empire, its backdrop the well-documented history of Octavius Caesar, Marc Antony, and Cleopatra.Scholars believe that Shakespeare wroteAntony and Cleopatrain 1606, immediately afterMacbeth,and it is one of the last great tragedies that Shakespeare produced.

Shakespeares primary source forAntony and Cleopatrawas theLifeof Marcus Antonius contained in PlutarchsLives of the Noble Grecians and Romans,which was translated into English by Sir Thomas North in1579.Norths language was so rich that Shakespeare incorporated large, relatively unchanged excerpts of it into his text. The plot of the play also remains close to Norths history, although characters like Enobarbus and Cleopatras attendants are largely Shakespearean creations.

Marcus Antonius, commonly known in English asMark Antony(April 20, 83 BC August 1, 30 BC), was aRomanpolitician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousinJulius Caesar. AfterCaesar's assassination, Antony formed an official political alliance with Octavian (the futureAugustus) andLepidus, known to historians today as the Second Triumvirate.Thetriumviratebroke up in 33BC. Disagreement between Octavian and Antony erupted into civil war, thefinal war of the Roman Republic, in 31BC. Antony was defeated by Octavian at the navalBattle of Actium, and in a brief land battle atAlexandria. He and his loverCleopatracommitted suicide shortly thereafter. His career and defeat are significant in Rome's transformation fromRepublictoEmpire.

Cleopatra VII Philopator (Late 69 BC[1] August 12, 30 BC), known to history asCleopatra, was the lastpharaohofAncient Egypt.She was a member of thePtolemaic dynasty, a family ofGreek origin that ruled Egypt afterAlexander the Great's death during theHellenistic period. Cleopatra represented herself as the reincarnation of an Egyptian goddess,Isis.AfterCaesar's assassinationin 44 BC, she aligned withMark Antonyin opposition to Caesar's legal heir, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. With Antony, she bore the twinsCleopatra Selene IIandAlexander Helios, and another son,Ptolemy Philadelphus. After losing theBattle of Actiumto Octavian's forces, Antony committed suicide. Cleopatra followed suit, according to tradition killing herself by means of an aspbite on August 12, 30 BC.

Mark Antony (General of the Roman Army), Octavian, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, three men (triumvirs) who rule Rome after the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.Cleopatra VII, Queen of EgyptSextus Pompey Son of the late Pompey the Great.Octavia the Younger, Octavian's sister.Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Military commander and advisor of Octavian.

Mark Antony, one of the three rulers of the Roman Empire, spends his time in Egypt, living a life of decadence and conducting an affair with the countrys beautiful queen, Cleopatra. When a message arrives informing him that his wife, Fulvia, is dead and that Pompey is raising an army to rebel against the triumvirate, Antony decides to return to Rome.Upon his arrival, he and Caesar quarrel, while Lepidus ineffectually tries to make peace. Realizing that an alliance is necessary to defeat Pompey, Antony and Caesar agree that Antony will marry Caesars sister, Octavia.Antonys closest friend predicts to Caesars men that, despite the marriage, Antony will surely return to Cleopatra.

In Egypt, Cleopatra learns of Antonys marriage and flies into a jealous rage. However, when a messenger delivers word that Octavia is plain and unimpressive, Cleopatra becomes confident that she will win Antony back. The triumvirs meet Pompey and settle their differences without going to battle. Pompey agrees to keep peace in exchange for rule over Sicily and Sardinia. Antony and Octavia depart for Athens. Once they are gone, Caesar breaks his truce, wages war against Pompey, and defeats him. This news angers Antony, as do the rumors that Caesar has been speaking out against him in public.

Antony returns to Egypt and to Cleopatra, where he begins to build an Army against Caesar; Caesar hears of his treachery and sends the powerful Roman Navy to Egypt.Cleopatra begs Antony to let her lead her own ships against Caesars forces, and he reluctantly agrees; But in the heat of the fight, Cleopatra leaves the battle, and Antony follows her, leaving their forces to wither against Caesars might.Anthony rages against Cleopatra, but pressing on, wins more battles, only to find that the Egyptians are no match for the armies of Rome.

Cleopatra senses imminent defeat, and she tells a servant to relate to Antony that she has committed suicide. In anguish, he falls on his sword, mortally wounding himself, and she, after being captured by Caesar, rather than ending up being displayed as a trophy of war, commits suicide by allowing herself to be poisoned by several deadly asps.

William Shakespeare introduces a tension between reason and emotion that runs throughout the playIf Antony is the military hero and disciplined statesmen that Caesar and others believe him to be, then he seems to have happily abandoned his reason in order to pursue his passion. He declares: Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch / Of the ranged empire fall (I.i.3536). The play, however, is more concerned with the battle between reason and emotion than the triumph of one over the other, and this battle is waged most forcefully in the character of Antony.He is, in the end, a man ruled by passion as much as by reason. Likewise, the play offers us a worldview in which one sensibility cannot easily dominate another. Reason cannot ever fully conquer the passions, nor can passion wholly undo reason.

There s beggary in the love that can be reckond.Antony and Cleopatra. Act i. Sc. 1.This grief is crowned with consolation.Antony and Cleopatra. Act i. Sc. 2.The barge she sat in, like a burnishd throne,Burnd on the water; the poop was beaten gold;Purple the sails, and so perfumed thatThe winds were love-sick with them; the oars were silver,Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and madeThe water which they beat to follow faster,As amorous of their strokes. For her own person,It beggard all description.Antony and Cleopatra. Act ii. Sc. 2.Age cannot wither her, nor custom staleHer infinite variety.Antony and Cleopatra. Act ii. Sc. 2.I have not kept my square; but that to comeShall all be done by the rule.Antony and Cleopatra. Act ii. Sc. 3.He wears the roseOf youth upon him.Antony and Cleopatra. Act iii. Sc. 13.Mens judgments areA parcel of their fortunes; and things outwardDo draw the inward quality after them,To suffer all alike.Antony and Cleopatra. Act iii. Sc. 13.I am dying, Egypt, dying.Antony and Cleopatra. Act iv. Sc. 15. I haveImmortal longings in me.Antony and Cleopatra. Act v. Sc. 2.

There have been nearly a dozen film adaptions of Anthony and Cleopatra. Notable versions include:The first, a 1908 silent film, as well as silent adaptions in 1913 and 1914;A lavish, 1973 film version starring Charleton Heston and Hildegard Neil;A 1975 television adaption starring Richard Johnson and Janet Suzman.The timeless appeal of the tragic romance of Antony and Cleopatra has also been adapted into classical music, opera, and ballet.

A Nutsy The Squirrel ProductionCopyright 2012 Oak Hills Media CenterAll Rights Reserved.

Bibliographyhttp://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/antony/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_and_Cleopatrahttp://www.imdb.com/find?q=Antony+and+Cleopatra&s=allhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Antonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra_VIIhttp://www.youtube.com

MUSICPrelude, The Ruins, The Red Sea and Childhood Bernard Herrmann; The Egyptian, 2007

Prelude/The Ruins/The Red Sea and ChildhoodBernard HerrmannThe Egyptian, track 1,2,32007Soundtrack333843.53