Places: All for Love

First published: 1678

First produced: 1677

Type of work: Drama

Type of plot: Tragedy

Time of work: First century b.c.e.

Asterisk denotes entries on real places.

Places Discussed*Alexandria

*Alexandria. All for LoveEgyptian port city in whose Temple of Isis all the play’s action is set. The temple is more like a palace or government building than a religious temple, in the capital city of Cleopatra’s Egypt. Actually, Egypt is a satellite state of Rome assigned to Mark Antony. In the Shakespeare play, based on the internecine warfare between Octavius, the future Augustus Caesar, and Antony, battle scenes and other grand events are depicted on stage; Dryden expresses all the conflict in one location and over a short period of time. This practice exhibits the power of the neoclassical rules of dramatic unity of place and time. The focus in setting also emphasizes the theme of the exotic and mysterious East in conflict with the aggressive and modern empire building of Rome.

*London

*London. Continually present to the perceptions of the audience due to the balanced verse and the elegant, courtly setting is the London court of Charles II, which is modeled on the French court of Louis XIV. The courtly culture also supports the neoclassical dramatic rules of unity by which generalized analogies from history can be used to explain current events. Dryden does not leave such analogies merely implicit, however, and includes several pieces of valuable prose along with the play, which make the connections to his own London clearly explicit.

Bibliography

Kirsch, Arthur. “All for Love.” In Twentieth Century Interpretations of “All for Love,” edited by Bruce King. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. Discusses the play’s relationship to heroic tragedy. Maintains that in the play, heroism is replaced by sentimentality and domesticity. The introduction by Bruce King is also illuminating.Milhous, Judith, and Robert D. Hume. “All for Love.” In Producible Interpretation: Eight English Plays, 1675-1707. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1985. Examines the play in terms of staging. Provides discussion that includes the nature of its tragedy, character analysis, rhythm, settings, time, costumes, casting, and effects.Novak, Maximillian E. “Criticism, Adaptation, Politics, and the Shakespearean Model of Dryden’s All for Love.” In Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture, edited by Roseann Runte. Vol. 7. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1978. Discusses the relationship of All for Love to Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Explores how, where, and why Dryden made his play different from Shakespeare’s.Waith, Eugene. “The Herculean Hero.” In Twentieth Century Interpretations of “All for Love,” edited by Bruce King. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. Examines Antony’s character. Claims that he is a “Herculean hero” because he is brave, generous, passionate, and indifferent to public opinion.