From 1608 onward, when the King’s Men began occupying the indoor Blackfriars playhouse (as a winter house, meaning that they only used the outdoor Globe in summer?), Shakespeare turned to a more romantic style. His company had a great success with a revived and altered version of an old pastoral play called Mucedorus. It even featured a bear. The younger dramatist John Fletcher, meanwhile, sometimes working in collaboration with Francis Beaumont, was pioneering a new style of tragicomedy, a mix of romance and royalism laced with intrigue and pastoral excursions. Shakespeare experimented with this idiom in Cymbeline and it was presumably with his blessing that Fletcher eventually took over as the King’s Men’s company dramatist. The two writers apparently collaborated on three plays in the years 1612–14: a lost romance called Cardenio (based on the love-madness of a character in Cervantes’ Don Quixote), Henry VIII (originally staged with the title “All Is True”), and The Two Noble Kinsmen, a dramatization of Chaucer’s “Knight’s Tale.” These were written after Shakespeare’s two final solo-authored plays, The Winter’s Tale, a self-consciously old-fashioned work dramatizing the pastoral romance of his old enemy Robert Greene, and The Tempest, which at one and the same time drew together multiple theatrical traditions, diverse reading, and contemporary interest in the fate of a ship that had been wrecked on the way to the New World.
The collaborations with Fletcher suggest that Shakespeare’s career ended with a slow fade rather than the sudden retirement supposed by the nineteenth-century Romantic critics who read Prospero’s epilogue to The Tempest as Shakespeare’s personal farewell to his art. In the last few years of his life Shakespeare certainly spent more of his time in Stratford-upon-Avon, where he became further involved in property dealing and litigation. But his London life also continued. In 1613 he made his first major London property purchase: a freehold house in the Blackfriars district, close to his company’s indoor theater. The Two Noble Kinsmen may have been written as late as 1614, and Shakespeare was in London on business a little over a year before he died of an unknown cause at home in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616, probably on his fifty-second birthday.
About half the sum of his works were published in his lifetime, in texts of variable quality. A few years after his death, his fellow actors began putting together an authorized edition of his complete Comedies, Histories and Tragedies. It appeared in 1623, in large “Folio” format. This collection of thirty-six plays gave Shakespeare his immortality. In the words of his fellow dramatist Ben Jonson, who contributed two poems of praise at the start of the Folio, the body of his work made him “a monument without a tomb”:
And art alive still while thy book doth live And we have wits to read and praise to give… He was not of an age, but for all time!
SHAKESPEARE’S WORKS:
A CHRONOLOGY
1589–91 ? Arden of Faversham (possible part authorship)
1589–92 The Taming of the Shrew
1589–92 ? Edward the Third (possible part authorship)
1591 The Second Part of Henry the Sixth, originally called The First Part of the Contention Betwixt the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster (element of coauthorship possible)
1591 The Third Part of Henry the Sixth, originally called The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York (element of co-authorship probable)
1591–92 The Two Gentlemen of Verona
1591–92;
perhaps
revised 1594 The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus (probably cowritten with, or revising an earlier version by, George Peele)
1592 The First Part of Henry the Sixth, probably with Thomas Nashe and others
1592/94 King Richard the Third
1593 Venus and Adonis (poem)
1593–94 The Rape of Lucrece (poem)
1593–1608 Sonnets (154 poems, published 1609 with A Lover’s Complaint, a poem of disputed authorship)
1592–94/
1600–03 Sir Thomas More (a single scene for a play originally by Anthony Munday, with other revisions by Henry Chettle, Thomas Dekker, and Thomas Heywood)
1594 The Comedy of Errors
1595 Love’s Labour’s Lost
1595–97 Love’s Labour’s Won (a lost play, unless the original title for another comedy)
1595–96 A Midsummer Night’s Dream
1595–96 The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
1595–96 King Richard the Second
1595–97 The Life and Death of King John (possibly earlier)
1596–97 The Merchant of Venice
1596–97 The First Part of Henry the Fourth
1597–98 The Second Part of Henry the Fourth
1598 Much Ado About Nothing
1598–99 The Passionate Pilgrim (20 poems, some not by Shakespeare)
1599 The Life of Henry the Fifth
1599 “To the Queen” (epilogue for a court performance)
1599 As You Like It
1599 The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
1600–01 The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (perhaps revising an earlier version)
1600–01 The Merry Wives of Windsor (perhaps revising version of 1597–99)
1601 “Let the Bird of Loudest Lay” (poem, known since 1807 as “The Phoenix and Turtle” [turtle-dove])
1601 Twelfth Night, or What You Will
1601–02 The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida
1604 The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice
1604 Measure for Measure
1605 All’s Well That Ends Well
1605 The Life of Timon of Athens, with Thomas Middleton
1605–06 The Tragedy of King Lear
1605–08 ? contribution to The Four Plays in One (lost, except for A Yorkshire Tragedy, mostly by Thomas Middleton)
1606 The Tragedy of Macbeth (surviving text has additional scenes by Thomas Middleton)
1606–07 The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra
1608 The Tragedy of Coriolanus
1608 Pericles, Prince of Tyre, with George Wilkins
1610 The Tragedy of Cymbeline
1611 The Winter’s Tale
1611 The Tempest
1612–13 Cardenio, with John Fletcher (survives only in later adaptation called Double Falsehood by Lewis Theobald)
1613 Henry VIII (All Is True), with John Fletcher
1613–14 The Two Noble Kinsmen, with John Fletcher
THE HISTORY BEHIND THE
TRAGEDIES: A CHRONOLOGY
FURTHER READING
AND VIEWING
CRITICAL APPROACHES
Adelman, Janet, The Common Liar: An Essay on “Antony and Cleopatra” (1973). Full-scale study, with much psychological insight.
Brower, Reuben, Hero and Saint: Shakespeare and the Graeco-Roman Heroic Tradition (1971), pp. 317–53. Powerful placing in terms of cultural tradition.
Brown, John Russell, ed., Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra: A Casebook (1969, rev. ed. 1991). Excellent anthology of older critical essays.
Charney, Maurice, Shakespeare’s Roman Plays: The Function of Imagery in the Drama (1961), pp. 79–141. Close attention to language.
Dusinberre, Juliet, “Squeaking Cleopatras: Gender and Performance in Antony and Cleopatra,” in Shakespeare, Theory, and Performance, ed. James C. Bulman (1996), pp. 46–67. Interesting on boy actors.
Jones, Emrys, Scenic Form in Shakespeare (1971), pp. 225–65. On dramatic shape.
Knight, G. Wilson, “The Transcendental Humanism of Antony and Cleopatra,” in his The Imperial Theme (1931, rev. ed. 1951), pp. 199–262. Expansive, gloriously hyperbolic reading of the play’s imagery.
Loomba, Ania, “The Colour of Patriarchy: Critical Difference, Cultural Difference and Renaissance Drama,” in Shakespeare, Feminism and Gender, ed. Kate Chedgzoy (2001), pp. 235–55. Reading informed by postcolonial thinking.
Miles, Geoffrey, Shakespeare and the Constant Romans (1996). Excellent account of Shakespeare’s critique of “Stoic” values.
Miola, Robert, Shakespeare’s Rome (1983). Lucid survey of the Roman pl
ays.
THE PLAY IN PERFORMANCE
Brooke, Michael, “Antony and Cleopatra on Screen,” www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/592136/. Overview of film and television productions.
Escolme, Bridget, The Shakespeare Handbooks: Antony and Cleopatra (2006). Student guide with particularly good insight into theatrical issues.
Madeleine, Richard, Shakespeare in Production: Antony and Cleopatra (1998). Excellent stage history.
Rosenberg, Marvin, The Masks of Anthony and Cleopatra (2006). Scene-by-scene survey with reference to performances through the ages.
RSC, “Exploring Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra,” www.rsc.org.uk/explore/plays/antony.htm. Interviews and other Web resources drawing on Gregory Doran’s 2006 production.
Rutter, Carol Chillington, Enter the Body: Women and Representation on Shakespeare’s Stage (2001). Attentive to text as well as performance.
Worthen, W. B., “‘The Weight of Antony’: Staging ‘Character’ in Antony and Cleopatra,” Studies in English Literature 26 (1986), pp. 295–308. Sophisticated consideration of dramaturgical questions.
AVAILABLE ON DVD
Antony and Cleopatra, directed for television by Jon Scoffield from Trevor Nunn’s 1972 RSC stage production (TV 1974, DVD 2004). With Janet Suzman as Cleopatra and Richard Johnson as Antony. Brilliantly acted, with strong use of close-up.
Antony and Cleopatra, directed by Jonathan Miller (BBC Television Shakespeare, 1981, DVD 2001). With Jane Lapotaire as Cleopatra and Colin Blakely as Antony. Ponderous, though Ian Charleson is interesting as a sternly moralistic Octavius.
Cleopatra, directed by Joseph Mankiewicz (1963, DVD 2006). Iconic performance by Elizabeth Taylor in a big screen epic: not Shakespeare’s version of the story, but central to the modern perception of it.
REFERENCES
1. See Richard Madeleine, Shakespeare in Production: Antony and Cleopatra (1998), p. 22.
2. Thomas Davies, “Antony and Cleopatra,” in his Dramatic Miscellanies (vol. 2, 1783, repr. 1973), pp. 333–70.
3. J. Doran, “Love for, and the Lovers of, Shakspere [sic],” The Gentleman’s Magazine, February 1856, p. 123.
4. Doran, “Love for, and the Lovers of, Shakspere,” p. 123.
5. Charles H. Shattuck, Shakespeare on the American Stage (vol. 1, 1976), p. 105.
6. Madeleine, Shakespeare in Production, p. 45.
7. London Times review, 24 October 1849.
8. London Times review, 24 October 1849.
9. London Times review, 24 October 1849.
10. The Athenaeum, 27 September 1873.
11. Madeleine, Shakespeare in Production, p. 61.
12. London Times, 4 January 1970, reprinted in Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra: A Casebook, ed. John Russell Brown (1969, rev. ed. 1991), p. 53.
13. Madeleine, Shakespeare in Production, p. 59.
14. James Agate, quoted in Madeleine, Shakespeare in Production, p. 86.
15. Madeleine, Shakespeare in Production, p. 87.
16. Ivor Brown, Observer, 22 December 1946.
17. London Times, 21 December 1946.
18. Eric Bentley, In Search of Theater (1953), p. 28.
19. Felix Barker, “Tradition at the St. James’s, 1948–1953,” in his The Oliviers: A Biography (1953), pp. 334–60.
20. Brooks Atkinson, New York Times, 21 December 1951.
21. Walter Kerr, “Cleopatra and Friends,” The Commonweal, 11 January 1952, p. 349.
22. George Rylands, “Festival Shakespeare in the West End,” Shakespeare Survey 6 (1953), pp. 140–46.
23. Rylands, “Festival Shakespeare in the West End,” p. 146.
24. Birmingham Sunday Mercury, 3 May 1953.
25. T. C. Worsley, “Love for Love,” New Statesman, 9 May 1953.
26. Madeleine, Shakespeare in Production, p. 93.
27. Worsley, “Love for Love.”
28. Kenneth Tynan, Evening Standard, 1 May 1953.
29. Peter Fleming, The Spectator, 8 May 1953.
30. Madeleine, Shakespeare in Production, p. 99.
31. London Times, 6 March 1957.
32. London Times, 29 March 1957.
33. Madeleine, Shakespeare in Production, p. 100.
34. Madeleine, Shakespeare in Production, p. 101.
35. Dan Sullivan, New York Times, 2 August 1967.
36. Sullivan, New York Times, 2 August 1967.
37. Tony Richardson, Time magazine, 20 August 1973.
38. Madeleine, Shakespeare in Production, p. 110.
39. John Peter, London Sunday Times, 12 April 1987.
40. Roger Warren, Shakespeare Quarterly, 38 (1987), pp. 359–65.
41. Bridget Escolme, The Shakespeare Handbooks: Antony and Cleopatra (2006), p. 120.
42. Michael Billington, Guardian, 22 October 1998.
43. Lois Potter, “Shakespeare Performed: Roman Actors and Egyptian Transvestites,” Shakespeare Quarterly, 50 (1999), pp. 508–17.
44. Kristin E. Gandrow, Theatre Journal, 52 (2000), pp. 123–5.
45. Gandrow, Theatre Journal, p. 125.
46. Escolme, Shakespeare Handbooks, p. 148.
47. Charles Lewsen, London Times, 16 August 1972.
48. Don Chapman, Oxford Mail, 16 August 1972.
49. Shakespeare Survey 26 (1972), p. 141.
50. Spectator, 19 August 1972.
51. London Times, 16 August 1972.
52. Guardian, 16 August 1972.
53. Birmingham Post, 11 October 1978.
54. Ray Seaton, Express & Star, 11 October 1978.
55. B. A. Young, Financial Times, 12 October 1978.
56. Oxford Mail, 11 October 1978.
57. Guardian, 11 October 1978.
58. Guardian, 11 October 1978.
59. London Times, 15 October 1982.
60. Shakespeare Survey 37 (1984), p. 173.
61. Shakespeare Survey 46 (1994), p. 183.
62. Financial Times, 7 November 1992.
63. London Times, 7 November 1992.
64. Daily Telegraph, 9 November 1992.
65. Guardian, 9 November 1992.
66. Robert Smallwood, Shakespeare Survey 53 (2000), p. 247.
67. Financial Times, 25 June 1999.
68. Evening Standard, 24 June 1999.
69. Paul Taylor, Independent, 26 June 1999.
70. Ibid.
71. Times Literary Supplement, 6 August 1999.
72. Glasgow Herald, 30 June 1999.
73. Guardian, 25 June 1999.
74. Shakespeare Survey 56 (2003), p. 282.
75. Independent, 25 April 2002.
76. Daily Telegraph, 25 April 2002.
77. London Sunday Times, 28 April 2002.
78. Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph, 25 April 2002.
79. London Times, 25 April 2002.
80. Guardian, 25 April 2002.
81. Daily Telegraph, 25 April 2002.
82. Independent, 29 April 2002.
83. Observer, 23 April 2006.
84. Nicholas de Jongh, Evening Standard, 20 April 2006.
85. Daily Express, 21 April 2006.
86. London Times, 21 April 2006.
87. Evening Standard, 20 April 2006.
88. Evening Standard, 20 April 2006.
89. Daily Telegraph, 20 April 2006.
90. Mail on Sunday, 23 April 2006.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND
PICTURE CREDITS
Preparation of “Antony and Cleopatra in Performance” was assisted by a generous grant from the CAPITAL Centre (Creativity and Performance in Teaching and Learning) of the University of Warwick for research in the RSC archive at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded a term’s research leave that enabled Jonathan Bate to work on “The Director’s Cut.”
Picture research by Michelle Morton. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust for assistance with reproduction fees and picture research (special thanks to Helen Hargest).
Images of
RSC productions are supplied by the Shakespeare Centre Library and Archive, Stratford-upon-Avon. This Library, maintained by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, holds the most important collection of Shakespeare material in the UK, including the Royal Shakespeare Company’s official archives. It is open to the public free of charge.
For more information see www.shakespeare.org.uk.
His Majesty’s Theatre, directed by Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1906). Reproduced by permission of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Directed by Glen Byam Shaw (1953). Angus McBean © Royal Shakespeare Company
Directed by Trevor Nunn (1972). Reg Wilson © Royal Shakespeare Company
Directed by Peter Brook (1978). Reg Wilson © Royal Shakespeare Company
Directed by John Caird (1992). Malcolm Davies © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Directed by Steven Pimlott (1999). Donald Cooper © Royal Shakespeare Company
Directed by Braham Murray (2005). © Donald Cooper/photostage.co.uk
Directed by Gregory Doran (2006). Pascal Mollière © Royal Shakespeare Company
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