Presents Shakespeare's classic tragedy of romance and ambition in the story of Cleopatra and Marc Antony. For this second edition, David Bevington has included in his introductory section a thorough consideration of recent critical and stage interpretations of Antony and Cleopatra, demonstrating how the theatrical design and imagination of this play make it one of Shakespeare's most remarkable tragedies. An updated reading list completes the edition. List of illustrations viii Preface x List of abbreviations and conventions xii Introduction 1(80) Date and sources 1(12) The contrarieties of critical response 13(2) The ironic gap between word and deed 15(9) Transcending limits 24(5) Genre and structure 29(3) Style 32(7) Stagecraft 39(3) Antony and Cleopatra in performance 42(25) Recent critical and stage interpretations 67(14) Note on the text 81(5) List of characters 86(2) The Play 88 Supplementary note 270(1) Textual analysis 271(10) Reading list 281