Transforming Plutarch into Shakespeare

This paper examines the transformational aspects of Shakespeare’s Antony & Cleopatra and Plutarch’s Lives. It explores how Shakespeare utilized Plutarch’s Lives as a framework to build the Antony and Cleopatra play. The paper discusses the similarities between both plays, including the use of personification and borrowed phrases. It also highlights the differences in the target audience and the purpose of the two documents.

Running Head: TRANSFORMING PLUTARCH INTO SHAKESPEARE 1
Transforming Plutarch into Shakespeare
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Transforming Plutarch into Shakespeare
The Antony & Cleopatra play is one Shakespeare’s prominent love stories. The tragedy
of love and duty begins with Antony’s interest in the Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra. However,
surrounding scandals and gossip limit their love, leading to battles and murder. The play relates
to the translation of Plutarch’s Lives, which also explains the love affair between Mark Antony
and Cleopatra from the Sicilian revolt to her ultimate suicide during the war. Further, Plutarch
Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans examines the moral values and failings of prominent men
during the second century AD. The influence of Plutarch Lives is evident on the play, especially
on Antony's life. This paper examines transformational aspects of Shakespeare’s Antony &
Cleopatra and Plutarch’s Lives.
In the play, Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare use Enobarbus to describe the beauty of
Cleopatra when she first met Antony in Act II Scene 2. The masterpiece here shows that
Shakespeare commits an innocent act of plagiarism (Alulis, 2012). Also, Thomas North’s
translation of the Plutarch describes the first encounter between Mark Antony and Cleopatra. In
this way, both plays detail the historical encounter between the two lovers.
Notably, Shakespeare utilizes Plutarch’s Lives as a framework to build the Antony and
Cleopatra play; this is because Thomas North was primarily the most reviewed historical
document during that period. Shakespeare copies phrases from Lives, and almost use the word-
to-word description of Cleopatra. Examples of phrases include “pavilion, cloth-of-gold tissue”,
and “the poop was beaten gold.” According to (Peyré, 2017) Shakespeare copies of the work
while creating the play. However, the two documents have a different target audience. Plutarch’s
Lives is a historical document with Plutarch himself being a Greek historian, and it aims at

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creating an account of events occurring during the time. However, Antony & Cleopatra is a play,
and it targets the intellectual and social spectrum that could not read and write. In this way, the
play aims to educate the general illiterate public on issues affecting them.
Another similarity between both plays is personification. Shakespeare utilizes
personification aspects borrowed from Plutarch’s Lives efficiently. For instance, from Thomas
North writes, “there came a wonderful sweet savor of perfumes that perfumed the wharf’s side,”
while Shakespeare writes “A strange invincible scent hits the sense of the adjacent wharves."
The two statements allow the audience to relate the wharves and sweet perfume in both articles.
Another example of personification is the description of air. For instance, Shakespeare suggests
that Antony sat “whistling to the air…and made a gap in nature “when he saw Cleopatra moving
to the river (Termizi, 2015). Therefore, personification is one aspect of the transformation of
Plutarch into Shakespeare.
Shakespeare utilizes the prose, phrases, and concepts from Plutarch's Lives as
frameworks to create the play, Antony & Cleopatra. Further, he utilizes words and sections from
Plutarch as an “innocent example of plagiarism.” In this way, Shakespeare transforms North’s
Lives to show the romance, poetry, and humanity in the rise and fall of Marc Antony and
Cleopatra.

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References
Alulis, J. (2012). The Tragedy of Politics: Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. Perspectives on
Political Science, 41 (4), 190-194.
Peyré, Y. (2017). Homeric voices in Antony and Cleopatra. Classical Receptions Journal, 9 (1),
36–54.
Termizi, A. A. (2015). “Un-Romanticized” Love in Anthony and Cleopatra and The Taming of
the Shrew. Journal of Language Studies, 15 (2).