William Shakespeare's historical tragedy "Antony and Cleopatra" was written in 1606–07 and first performed around 1607. It was published in 1623 in the First Folio, under the title, "The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra." The play is about the love affair between Mark Antony, a Roman military leader and triumvir, and Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt. Antony is needed in Rome, but he lingers in Egypt with Cleopatra. The play is set in the entire Roman Empire and is based on the well-documented history of Mark Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavius Caesar. The play was first performed by the King's Men at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre.
The plot is based on Thomas North's 1579 English translation of Plutarch's Lives (in Ancient Greek) and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony from the time of the Sicilian revolt to Cleopatra's suicide during the War of Actium. It is difficult to classify Antony and Cleopatra as belonging to a single genre. It can be described as a history play (though it does not completely adhere to historical accounts), as a tragedy (though not completely in Aristotelian terms), as a comedy, as a romance. According to McCarter, it is problem play.
Many critics have noted the strong influence of Virgil's first-century Roman epic poem, the Aeneid, on Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.Janet Adelman observes, "almost all the central elements in Antony and Cleopatra are to be found in the Aeneid. The principal source of the play was Sir Thomas North’s Parallel Lives (1579), an English version of Plutarch’s Bioi parallēloi.
In the first act, after the death of Julius Caesar, the Roman Empire is ruled by three men: Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar, and Lepidus. Mark Antony commands the eastern Mediterranean and lives in Egypt. He has also become infatuated with Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. The second act elicits, Octavius Caesar expresses, "A sister [Octavia] I bequeath you whom no brother--/Did ever love so dearly," and declares the marriage proposal of his sister with Antony. Enobarbus refuses to believe that Antony will desert Cleopatra and tells his Roman friends about the Egyptian court. The ruler, Lepidus, makes peace with the rebellious king, Pompey. Pompey entertains them and doesn't allow his men to murder, Roman king, Lepidus.
In the act three, Cleopatra becomes rage and jealous by getting the news of Antony's marriage, although she realises that Octavia offers no real romantic challenge. By Pompey's attack on Caesar, Antony sends Octavia back to Rome to try to renew peace. Antony himself goes on to Egypt to raise an army with Cleopatra. Octavius furiously shows, "No, my most wrongèd sister. Cleopatra hath nodded him to her." and soony declares the war against Antony and Cleopatra. In spite of Enobarbus's advice, Antony decides to fight at sea at Actium. In the battle, Cleopatra's ships flee from the Roman fleet, and Antony is defeated.
Humiliated by his love for Cleopatra, Antony eventually chooses to fight Caesar on land. His army begins to lose faith in their leader after many portents of Antony's supposedly inevitable defeat. Antony's close friend, Enobarbus, gets palpitation for his leaving from Antony, and he dies. Cleopatra's warrior flee, and Antony becomes on her. By knowing Cleopatra is dead, Antony kills himself, and outs, "I am dying, Egypt, dying. Give me some wine, and let me speak a little.." In the fifth act, Cleopatra cannot bear the thought of being a prisoner of the Romans. She has a countryman bring her poisonous snakes in a basket. When Caesar discovers them, he orders that Antony and Cleopatra be buried together.
Throughout the play, Antony and Cleopatra’s relationship transgresses the bounds of traditional gender roles. The love between Antony and Cleopatra is based on power. The lovers could have stayed together in disgrace, or run off, but the real basis of their love for each other is the power each of them holds. Without that power, and the honor implied by it, their relationship means nothing. It also deconstructs the logic of colonialism, whereby a conquering power eclipses another culture sets of values. It is a backdrop for a dramatic exploration of love, lust, deceit, and moral degradation.
To conclude, Shakespeare's play "Antony and Cleopatra" is based on the true story of the rivalry between Antony and Caesar. In a logical period, Rome is viewed as structured, moral, mature, and essentially masculine, while Egypt is viewed as chaotic, immoral, immature, and feminine. Antony's loss to Caesar at Actium and his subsequent loss of self-respect is the climax of the play. It dramatizes events from 40 BCE to 30 BCE.In reference, some scholars have focused on the connections between Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra and John Dryden's seventeenth-century version of the play, All for Love (1677).
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