Other editions of book Caesar and Cleopatra a History

*This book is Annotated (It contains a biography of the Author).* Caesar and Cleopatra, a play written in 1898 by George Bernard Shaw, is a fictionalized account of the relationship between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. It was first performed in a single staged reading at Newcastle upon Tyne on 15 March 1899, to secure the copyright. The play was produced in New York in 1906 and in London at the Savoy Theatre in 1907.

This book is an illustrated version of the original Caesar and Cleopatra by Bernard Shaw. Caesar meets the young Cleopatracrouching at night between the paws of a sphinx, where—having been driven from Alexandria—she is hiding. He returns her to the palace, reveals his identity, and compels her to abandon her girlishness and accept her position as coruler of Egypt (with Ptolemy Dionysus, her brother). Caesar and Cleopatra was extraordinarily successful, largely because of Shaw’s talent for characterization.

• The book includes 10 unique illustrations that are relevant to its content.George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950) was one of the most well known playwrights of the 20th century and a voluminous writer who lent his skills to journalism, music, literary criticism, and more. Shaw addressed society’s issues, on topics such as education, marriage, and religion, but his work also contained a veneer of comedy and drama that made his work more popular and consumable for the masses. Despite his many abilities, Shaw is still best remembered for his dramas, much of which comprised the nearly 60 plays he wrote. Shaw was able to work social commentary into his 1898 play Caesar and Cleopatra, retelling the famous tale of Rome’s most famous man and history’s most famous woman. This story takes place when Caesar has occupied Egypt. Cleopatra wants to steal the throne out from under her brother and realizes that Caesar has the power to give it to her. The lengths she goes to in order to gain Caesar's favor or even stand in his presence are zany. She even goes so far as to roll herself up in a carpet that's to be delivered to him.

The play has a prologue and an "Alternative to the Prologue". The prologue consists of the Egyptian god Ra addressing the audience directly, as if he could see them in the theater (i.e., breaking the fourth wall). He says that Pompey represents the old Rome and Caesar represents the new Rome. The gods favored Caesar, according to Ra, because he "lived the life they had given him boldly". Ra recounts the conflict between Caesar and Pompey, their battle at Pharsalia, and Pompey's eventual assassination in Egypt at the hands of Lucius Septimius.In "An Alternative to the Prologue", the captain of Cleopatra's guard is warned that Caesar has landed and is invading Egypt. Cleopatra has been driven into Syria by her brother, Ptolemy, with whom she is vying for the Egyptian throne. The messenger warns that Caesar's conquest is inevitable and irresistible. A Nubian watchman flees to Cleopatra's palace and warns those inside that Caesar and his armies are less than an hour away. The guards, knowing of Caesar's weakness for women, plan to persuade him to proclaim Cleopatra—who may be controllable—Egypt's ruler instead of Ptolemy. They try to locate her, but are told by Cleopatra's nurse, Ftatateeta, that she has run away.(The film version of the play, made in 1945, used the Alternative Prologue rather than the original one.)