Monthly Archives: September 2013

“…young boys and girls/Are level now with men; the odds is gone,/And there is nothing left remarkable/Beneath the visiting moon.”

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Antony and Cleopatra Act Four, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ——————————————– From Tony Tanner: “As well as being a history play, Antony and Cleopatra contains within it the traces of the outlines of a morality play – for by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Four, Antony, Antony and Cleopatra, antony cleopatra, Auntie Mame, battle of actium, Cavafy, Cleopatra, Comedy, drama, Egypt, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, fairie queene, Hamlet, Hercules, language, literature, Mark Antony, morality play, Nile, Octavius, Octavius Caesar, politics, Rome, Shakespeare, tony tanner, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing | 2 Comments

“I am dying, Egypt, dying; only/I here impórtune death a while, until/Of many thousand kisses the poor last/I lay upon thy lips.”

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Antony and Cleopatra Act Four, Part One By Dennis Abrams —————————————————- Act Four: His challenge of single combat turned down (not surprisingly) by Octavius, Antony prepared for a decisive second battle. Although the omen are not promising – his soldiers … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Four, Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra, Comedy, drama, Egypt, Enobarbus, entertainment, Falstaff, Hamlet, history, Julius Caesar, language, literature, Mark Antony, Octavius, Octavius Caesar, politics, Pompey, Rome, Shakespeare, Tiber, William Shakespeare, writing | Leave a comment

“Come, Let’s have one other gaudy night!”

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Antony and Cleopatra Act Three, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————————— From A.C. Bradley: “The political situation and its development are simple. The story is taken up almost where it was left, years before, in Julius Caesar. There Brutus and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A.C. Bradley, Act Three, Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra, Comedy, drama, Egypt, Elizabethan theater, Enobarbus, entertainment, Falstaff, history, Julius Caesar, language, literature, Mark Antony, Nile, Octavius, Octavius Caesar, politics, renaissance humanism, Rome, Shakespeare, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing | Leave a comment

“Since my lord/Is Antony again, I shall be Cleopatra.”

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Antony and Cleopatra Act Three, Part One By Dennis Abrams ———————————- Act Three: Rome’s campaign against the Parthians has been a success, but the calm is shattered when Antony, on the way to Athens with his new wife, criticizes Caesar’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Three, Antony, Antony and Cleopatra, antony cleopatra, Cleopatra, Comedy, drama, Egypt, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, Falstaff, Hamlet, history, language, Lepidus, libya, literature, Nile, Octavius, Octavius Caesar, politics, renaissance audience, Rome, sea assault, Shakespeare, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing | 3 Comments

“I saw her once/Hop forty paces through the public street;/And having lost her breath, she spoke, and panted/That she did make defect perfection,/And, breathless, power breathe forth”

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Antony and Cleopatra Act Two, Part Three By Dennis Abrams —————————————— From Mark Van Doren: “Once [Cleopatra] fails to see through [Antony], but that is when he is acting for men only and she does not catch the style. As … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Two, Antony and Cleopatra, antony cleopatra, Cleopatra, Comedy, drama, Egypt, Elizabethan theater, Enobarbus, Falstaff, Hamlet, infinite variety, language, Lepidus, literature, Mark Antony, Mark Van Doren, Octavius Caesar, politics, Pompey, Rome, Shakespeare, Tiber, tragedy, W.H. Auden, William Shakespeare, writing | 2 Comments

“The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne,/Burned on the water; the poop was beaten gold,/Purple the sails, and so perfumed, that/The winds were love-sick with them”

Posted on September 15, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Antony and Cleopatra Act Two, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ——————————– From Harold Bloom: “Antony is a man upon whom the sun is going down; his genius wanes in the presence of Octavius Caesar. A swordsman, Antony is hopelessly outclassed … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Two, Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra, Comedy, drama, Egypt, Elizabethan theater, entertainment, Hamlet, history, history play, language, literature, Marc Antony, Mark Antony, Nile, Octavius Caesar, politics, Pompey, Rome, Shakespeare, Tiber, William Shakespeare, writing | Leave a comment

“Age cannot with her, nor custom stale./Her infinite variety.”

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Antony and Cleopatra Act Two, Part One By Dennis Abrams ————————————— Act Two: At Pompey’s camp, the news that Caesar has assembled an army is not exactly well-received. Antony has returned. Meanwhile, Rome’s three rulers (the triumvirate) are locked in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Two, Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra, Comedy, drama, Egypt, Elizabethan tragedy, Hamlet, history, Jan Kott, language, Lepidus, literature, Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar, politics, Pompey, Rome, Shakespeare, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing | 2 Comments

“These strong Egyptian fetters I must break,/Or lose myself in dotage.”

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Act One, Part Three By Dennis Abrams ————————————— To continue with Mark Van Doren, discussing the Mediterranean world of the play, and the fact that “There is no terror because there is so much light.” “When Iras says The … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged act one, Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra, drama, Egypt, Elizabeth I, Elizabethan theater, flowing streams, Hamlet, Jacobean, language, literature, Mark Antony, Mark Van Doren, mediterranean world, Octavius Caesar, politics, Rome, Shakespeare, the Nile, tragedy, Vanessa Redgrave, William Shakespeare, writing | Leave a comment

“Take, but good note, and you shall see in him/The Triple pillar of the world transform’d/Into a strumpet’s fool: behold and see.”

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Antony and Cleopatra Act One, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————– A couple of observations: 1. G. Wilson Knight called Antony and Cleopatra “probably the subtlest and great play in Shakespeare,” adding “This is the high metaphysic of love which … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged act one, Antony and Cleopatra, antony cleopatra, Apolloian, Brutus, Cassius, Cleopatra, Comedy, Dionysian, drama, Egypt, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, Enobarbus, entertainment, Falstaff, G. Wilson Knight, Hamlet, history, Julius Caesar, language, literature, lyric intensity, Mark Antony, Octavius, politics, Rome, sensuous delight, Shakespeare, Spencer, The Fairie Queene, W.H. Auden, William Shakespeare, writing | Leave a comment

Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch/Of the ranged empire fall. Here is my space.”

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Antony and Cleopatra Act One, Part One By Dennis Abrams ————————————- MAJOR CHARACTERS Mark Antony, a triumvir (one of three co-rulers) of Rome Octavius Caesar, triumvir Lepidus, triumvir Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt and Antony’s lover Domitius Enobarbus, companion to Antony … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged act one, Antony and Cleopatra, armor, armour, Cleopatra, cleopatra queen of egypt, drama, Egypt, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, history, language, literature, lust, Mark Antony, melt, Octavius Caesar, politics, Rome, Shakespeare, the Nile, Tiber, William Shakespeare, writing | Leave a comment