Since this lecture was published (_Quarterly Review_, April, 1906) two
notable editions of _Antony and Cleopatra_ have been produced. Nothing
recently written on Shakespeare, I venture to say, shows more thorough
scholarship or better judgment than Mr. Case's edition in the Arden
series; and Dr. Furness has added to the immense debt which students of
Shakespeare owe to him, and (if that is possible) to the admiration and
respect with which they regard him, by the appearance of _Antony and
Cleopatra_ in his New Variorum edition.
On one question about Cleopatra both editors, Mr. Case more tentatively
and Dr. Furness very decidedly, dissent from the interpretation given in
the last pages of my lecture. The question is how we are to understand
the fact that, although on Antony's death Cleopatra expresses her
intention of following him, she does not carry out this intention until
she has satisfied herself that Octavius means to carry her to Rome to
grace his triumph. Though I do not profess to feel certain that my
interpretation is right, it still seems to me a good deal the most
probable, and therefore I have not altered what I wrote. But my object
here is not to defend my view or to criticise other views, but merely to
call attention to the discussion of the subject in Mr. Case's
Introduction and Dr. Furness's Preface.