Edinburgh University Press A Contextual Guide to Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra: History, Myth, Gender

This contextual guide to Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra highlights the ways in which the play was shaped by an interplay of political, cultural and social influences, existing in and beyond the playhouse Reveals how tragedy, comedy, history, and mythology are all contained within the play’s treatment of the well-worn story Shows us that the play still speaks to us today: about the making of art, the re-writing of history, the politics of empire, and the complexities of gender, love, and desire Offers a glimpse into the afterlives of Antony and Cleopatra on the British stage from the twentieth century to the present, reflecting the changing race and gender politics of late modernity and revealing the play’s relationship with popular culture and its appeal to new audiences Employing commentary on the play’s main themes, coupled with an editorial apparatus that connects selected primary texts (from Ovid to Montaigne) with Shakespeare’s great tragedy, Jyotsna G. Singh and Daniel Vitkus guide the reader through a series of fascinating readings that serve to reconstruct the intellectual and artistic world of Antony and Cleopatra through varied perspectives. This includes chapters on History and Prophecy; Myth; Geography; Gender, Desire, and Eroticism; Theatricality, Festivity, and Spectacle; and Emblematic Perspectives; followed by a Coda describing and analysing some 'Afterlives' of the play on the modern stage. Through their exposure to these thematic frameworks, readers will come to understand more clearly the interpretive possibilities offered by Antony and Cleopatra as a complex and masterful work of art.