
Now available in beautiful World's Classics editions--with handsome, four-color covers and new low prices--The Oxford Shakespeare offers new and authoritative edions of Shakespeare's plays. In each volume, an introductory essay provides all relevant background information together with an appraisal of critical views and the play's performance history. In addition, the detailed commentaries pay particular attention to the language and staging. These editions are perfect for all readers, whether actors needing stage directions, students desiring comprehensive (yet inobtrusive) notes, or the reader of classic literature returning to the Bard's timeless writings.The most formally ambitious and poetically brilliant of Shakespeare's tragedies, Anthony and Cleopatra is also one of his most critically contentious plays in terms of the degree and nature of its success. Always alert to the play's theatricality and boldly experimental design, the wide-ranging introduction offers a fresh critical account of the play, exploring its paradoxical treatment of gender and identity as well as the rich complexity and tensions of its much-loved poetic language. With a generous appendix of Shakespeare's source materials, this edition also offers a full stage history.
The political and personal lives of Mark Antony and Cleopatra collide as their intense romantic entanglement threatens the stability of the Roman Empire. Antony, a triumvir of Rome, finds himself torn between his duty to the state and his overwhelming passion for the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra. As Octavius Caesar maneuvers to consolidate power in Rome, the lovers face mounting external pressures and internal conflicts that lead toward their inevitable downfall. The narrative unfolds through dramatic dialogue and soliloquies, capturing the shifting loyalties and grand scale of the conflict across the Mediterranean world.
Discussion often centers on the play's unique blend of epic historical scope and intimate character study. Readers frequently highlight the linguistic complexity of the verse, which is often cited as some of the most sophisticated in the Shakespearean canon. Critics often debate the moral ambiguity of the central figures, questioning whether their actions represent a grand romantic sacrifice or a catastrophic political failure. The play's experimental structure and rapid scene changes continue to generate analysis regarding its effectiveness as a piece of performance art. Many scholars emphasize how the text challenges traditional gender roles through the portrayal of Cleopatra's political agency.
Page Count:
388
Publication Date:
2001-10-18
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0192834258
ISBN-13:
9780192834256
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