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"Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch / Of the ranged empire fall! Here is my space." As war and rebellion threaten Rome from inside and out, triumvir Mark Antony remains in Alexandria with his lover Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. When he returns, he is forced to marry Octavia. Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare.

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"Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch / Of the ranged empire fall! Here is my space." As war and rebellion threaten Rome from inside and out, triumvir Mark Antony remains in Alexandria with his lover Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. When he returns, he is forced to marry Octavia. Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare.

Author Biography

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, he was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and glove-maker, and Mary Arden, a woman from a wealthy family. Likely educated at the King's New School, he would have studied Latin in his youth. At eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, then twenty-six. Together, they raised three children—Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. By 1892, several of his early plays had appeared on stage in London. These works, including Richard III and Henry VI, show the influence of Elizabethan dramatists Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe. He then found success with a series of comedies, such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night. By the late 1590s, Shakespeare wrote two of his finest tragedies, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar, proving his talent and thematic versatility. The beginning of the 17th century marked a turn in his work, ushering in an era often considered his darkest and most productive. Between 1600 and 1606, he produced such masterpieces as Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear, all of which are undoubtedly some of the finest works ever written in the English language. In addition to his 39 plays, many of which were performed by his own company at the legendary Globe Theatre, Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets and three long poems, many of which continue to be read around the world.

Long Description

Antony and Cleopatra (1607) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Inspired by Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives --a series of biographies on influential figures of the ancient world--Shakespeare wrote Antony and Cleopatra sometime between 1599 and 1601. Often considered a sequel of sorts to his earlier play Julius Caesar , Antony and Cleopatra has served as source material for countless film and television adaptations. "Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch / Of the ranged empire fall! Here is my space." For his wit and wordplay alone, William Shakespeare is often considered the greatest writer to ever work in the English language. Where he truly triumphs, however, is in his ability to portray complex human emotions, how these emotions contribute to relationships, and how these relationships interact with politics, culture, and religion. As the Roman Republic faces threats both foreign and domestic, Mark Antony--a triumvir alongside Lepidus and Octavius--abandons his duties to remain in Alexandria with his lover, Queen Cleopatra of Egypt. When the demands of state become impossible to ignore any longer, he returns to Rome. There, he is encouraged to marry Octavia, the sister of his fellow ruler. At the risk of rupturing their fragile relationship, he consents, enraging Cleopatra. As conflict with Octavius forces Antony out of the triumvirate, he returns to his lover to rule over Egypt. But Rome and revenge are never too far away. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

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