As Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra was first staged, much of Renaissance Europe was engaging in a debate around artistic production. Painting and poetry were set against each other to determine which could produce the best representation of nature or surpass it altogether. What we see with theater, however, is that it occupies a unique position in the world of artistic production because it is capable of presenting the two, seemingly opposite forms of representation: the verbal and the visual. Examining the discourse around art production in early modern England reveals how the construction of Antony and Cleopatra’s famous scenes reflects debates around representational mediums. Shakespeare’s interchange between verbal and visual representation produces shifting characterization of the play’s iconic figures. Since the two mediums work simultaneously to produce different images, the characters are often paradoxical and unpredictable. From here, it is possible to trace how Antony and Cleopatra’s distinctive characterization has become a cornerstone of its legacy. By looking at the production history of the play, it is apparent that its critical reception relies on a production’s awareness of shifting artistic mediums, complex representational choices, and paradoxical figures.
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