Passion, desire, power, jealousy—The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra has got it all in spades. It's Empire, Scandal, and House of Cards, all rolled into one history play. Though not often taught in high school, this overlooked work could certainly prove to be an engaging play for the right class. Where it's awesome is the fact that even though all of the action occurred before Christ was rambling around on the earth, the emotions and feelings these two people go through are so fundamental to human beings that you could easily picture the two lovers on the covers of modern supermarket tabloids. In fact, one of our activities is based on this premise.

The play, however, can have its challenges: longer than most other Shakespearean plays, a cast of thousands (and while we seldom use hyperbole, in this case it's just barely a stretch), the Roman names, and so on and so on. In short, it can be a challenge to know where the action's taking place and who all these characters are. It may be helpful to orient the class to this challenge and have them keep a list of the different characters, separated under one of two headings: Rome and Egypt. That will help to keep everything straight. One important thing to note right from the beginning for students is that the Caesar in this play isn't our friend Julius—oh no. He was already carved up and put to rest. This is his grand-nephew and adopted son; he inherited the title upon Big Julies' death.

The other thing that'll be helpful for you as you teach the play is to determine a point of view on how to approach it. Sounds odd, we know, but it will help. Antony and Cleopatra could fall under a wide range of different categories or types: Romance/Love Story, Tragedy, or History. You just need to have a handle on how you want to approach it: