Antony and Cleopatra Part 2 - The Language
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Description
Part 2 explores the play’s varied and conflicting perspectives on its leading characters. From the Roman point of view, Antony and Cleopatra are figures who fall from greatness, and their story is a tragedy or even, at times, farce; but from other points of view, Antony and Cleopatra represent a kind of success that could scarcely be achieved or even conceived of in Rome. The episode analyzes the play’s characters, language, and mythic archetypes to ask how the play makes so many viewpoints compelling, and where these competing perspectives leave the audience when the play comes to its end.
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Part 3 features close-readings of three key scenes in which Antony and Cleopatra articulate their cosmic self-conceptions in language so transcendent that it helps transform their vision into reality. Speeches and Performers:  Enobarbus, Act 2, “The barge she sat in …” (Andrew Woddall) Antony,...
Published 07/28/22
Published 07/28/22
Antony and Cleopatra, the last of Shakespeare’s Roman plays, is an epic story that begins with the material of politics and history but expands into the realm of romance, poetry, and myth. Following the events of Julius Caesar – Caesar’s assassination and the triumph of Mark Antony and Octavius...
Published 07/28/22