Romeo and Juliet vs. Antony and Cleopatra: Concepts of Love in Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra

Why is Shakespeare?s Antony and Cleopatra so much neglected compared to Romeo and Juliet? If one looks at the plot, one can find an abundance of similarities, among which the most important is the climax of both dramas, i. e. the suicides the main characters commit for each other. Yet, the reception of the two works is rather different. While the love of Romeo and Juliet is still a synonym for eternal love, the true story of Antony and Cleopatra did not manage to attract the attention it could have deserved. This book is a comparison of the two tragedies that endeavours to find the reasons for the success of Romeo and Juliet and the controversial welcome of Antony and Cleopatra. The analysis is made through different aspects of the two dramas, like the background of the protagonists, matter of intimacy, conception of love, effect of love, and death. This book is mainly useful to university or college students learning English literature, but it can be an interesting reading to anyone fascinated by Shakespeare?s world.