Sequel and aftermath: tragic structure and dramatic continuity in Shakespeare’s "Julius Caesar" and "Antony and Cleopatra"

Abstract

In this paper I shall discuss some possible relations between two of Shakespeare’s tragic dramas, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra (1). These plays were probably written and perhaps staged at a distance of seven years from each other (Julius Caesar almost certainly written by, and staged in, 1599, and Antony and Cleopatra perhaps written by the end of 1606); but they deal with periods of ancient Roman history effectively continuous with one another. I shall consider, first, the notion of ‘sequel’, as it might be relevant to possible interconnections between Shakespearean dramatic units, and the related but distinct notion of ‘aftermath’. Here I shall refer to a text by the contemporary English novelist and essayist Rachel Cusk, Aftermath (2012). Secondly, I shall consider applications of these notions within the fields of Shakespearean comedies, English Histories, and tragedies. In my third and final section I shall argue, both that, in relation to Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra may be considered a sequel, and that the lines along which, in the later play, the roles of Anthony and of Cleopatra are presented and developed can fruitfully be understood in terms of ‘aftermath’.