All
For Love - John Dryden
The
main source of All For Love is borrowed from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra and another sources such as Daniel’s Tragedies of Cleopatra and Thomas May’s
The Tragedies of Cleopatra, Queen of
Egypt. The play has been entitled by Dryden All For Love, and its sub title, The World Well Lost. It
is a tragedy written in blank verse
In
a sentence, the theme of All For Love is
the conflict between love and honour. The play is a demonstration of some
heroic virtues- love, valour and honour. Everything is for love, the lovers are
prepared to lose the whole world for the sake of love, and at last they do lose
it for love.
The play begins with Serapion a priest of Isis, discussing
the fact that there have been many dark omens manifesting in the natural world
recently. Alexas, Cleopatra's eunuch, suggests that this is nonsense, and warns that Cleopatra's relationship
with Antony,
the Roman general, is on the rocks.
When Ventidius,
one of Antony's former generals, comes to fetch him, Serapion throws a feast in
honor of Antony's birthday. Ventidius wants to lure Antony back to Rome and
tells the mournful Antony that there is a legion waiting to fight with him in
Syria, but only if he is willing to leave Cleopatra behind and move on. Antony
is not taking any visitors, as he is trying to will himself to stop loving
Cleopatra, but Ventidius does not take no for an answer and eventually
convinces Antony to leave Cleopatra and join the Romans.
Cleopatra
is inconsolable when she learns that Antony is leaving her. She sends Alexas to
bring Antony a bracelet on her behalf. When he delivers the bracelet, Antony
has trouble fastening it, and Alexas tells him that Cleopatra ought to do it.
Antony goes to Cleopatra and when he sees her in person, is dissuaded from
leaving Egypt. She tells him that she refused an offer from Octavius, which
proves her love for him.
Ventidius tries yet again to get Antony to leave Egypt. He
brings both Antony's old friend, Dolabella,
as well as Antony's wife, Octavia,
and daughters, to convince him to come back to Rome. Antony previously banished
Dolabella for seeming to fall in love with Cleopatra, but Antony has forgiven
him upon his return. Octavia manages to convince Antony to return to Rome, and
Octavia and Cleopatra have a confrontation.
Antony
plans to leave Egypt and sends Dolabella to deliver the news to Cleopatra, as
he believes that Dolabella will be best suited to communicate his regret at
having to leave. When Dolabella goes to Cleopatra, Cleopatra and Alexas make a
plan to make Antony jealous: Cleopatra will attempt to seduce Dolabella, which
will lure Antony back to her.
When
Cleopatra attempts to seduce Dolabella, she has second thoughts and does not
pursue anything. However, Ventidius and Octavia see the interaction and tell
Antony that Dolabella is having an affair with the Egyptian queen. Antony is
heartbroken, but still wants to believe the best of Cleopatra, which offends
Octavia, who denounces him once and for all, and leaves him. Dolabella and
Cleopatra try and tell Antony that there was no affair, but he does not believe
them.
In
the final act, Antony leads his troops in battle against Caesar, but instead of
fight the Romans, they greet them as friends and turn against Egypt. Hearing of
Egypt's doom, Cleopatra attempts to flee, leaving Alexas behind. In order to
save his own life, Alexas tells Antony that Cleopatra killed herself. Antony is
heartbroken, and he and Ventidius kill themselves. Just as Antony is dying,
Cleopatra rushes on, having heard of Alexas' lie. After Antony dies in her
arms, Cleopatra asks Charmion and Iras, her attendants, to bring her aspics (small
snakes), so that she can get bitten by them and die. She and her two attendants
die from snake bites.
