<P> The original 1677 production by the King 's Company starred Charles Hart as Marc Antony and Elizabeth Boutell as Cleopatra , with Michael Mohun as Ventidius and Katherine Corey as Octavia . All for Love ; also called , The World Well Lost is a tragedy by John Dryden , first acted and printed in 1677 . Dryden deals in this play with the same subject as that of Shakespeare 's Antony and Cleopatra . Whilst , however , the elder poet `` diffused the action of his play over Italy , Greece , and Egypt , '' Dryden laid every scene in the city of Alexandria . Moreover , he `` contents himself with the concluding scene of Antony 's history , instead of introducing the incidents of the war with Pompey , the negotiation with Lepidus , death of his first wife , and other circumstances which , in Shakespeare , only tend to distract our attention from the main interest of the drama '' ( Sir Walter Scott ) . Dryden , says Saintsbury , `` omits whatever in the original story is shocking and repulsive from the romantic point of view ... The best pieces of All for Love can not , of course , challenge comparison with the best pieces of Shakespeare ... but the best passages of this play , and , what is more , its general facture and style , equal , with certain time - allowance , the best things of Beaumont and Fletcher , and therefore the best things of almost any English tragedian save Shakespeare . '' The original cast included Hart as Antony , Mohun as Ventidius , Clarke as Dolabella , Goodman as Alexas , Griffin as Serapion , Mrs. Boutell as Cleopatra , Mrs. Corey as Octavia . The play was revived at Lincoln 's Inn Fields in February 1704 , with Betterton as Antony , Mrs. Barry as Cleopatra , Wilks as Dolabella , and Mrs. Bracegirdle as Octavia ; at Drury Lane in December 1718 , with Booth as Antony , Mrs. Oldfield as Cleopatra , and Mrs. Porter as Octavia . </P>
<P> The original 1677 production by the King 's Company starred Charles Hart as Marc Antony and Elizabeth Boutell as Cleopatra , with Michael Mohun as Ventidius and Katherine Corey as Octavia . All for Love ; also called , The World Well Lost is a tragedy by John Dryden , first acted and printed in 1677 . Dryden deals in this play with the same subject as that of Shakespeare 's Antony and Cleopatra . Whilst , however , the elder poet `` diffused the action of his play over Italy , Greece , and Egypt , '' Dryden laid every scene in the city of Alexandria . Moreover , he `` contents himself with the concluding scene of Antony 's history , instead of introducing the incidents of the war with Pompey , the negotiation with Lepidus , death of his first wife , and other circumstances which , in Shakespeare , only tend to distract our attention from the main interest of the drama '' ( Sir Walter Scott ) . Dryden , says Saintsbury , `` omits whatever in the original story is shocking and repulsive from the romantic point of view ... The best pieces of All for Love can not , of course , challenge comparison with the best pieces of Shakespeare ... but the best passages of this play , and , what is more , its general facture and style , equal , with certain time - allowance , the best things of Beaumont and Fletcher , and therefore the best things of almost any English tragedian save Shakespeare . '' The original cast included Hart as Antony , Mohun as Ventidius , Clarke as Dolabella , Goodman as Alexas , Griffin as Serapion , Mrs. Boutell as Cleopatra , Mrs. Corey as Octavia . The play was revived at Lincoln 's Inn Fields in February 1704 , with Betterton as Antony , Mrs. Barry as Cleopatra , Wilks as Dolabella , and Mrs. Bracegirdle as Octavia ; at Drury Lane in December 1718 , with Booth as Antony , Mrs. Oldfield as Cleopatra , and Mrs. Porter as Octavia . </P>
character of cleopatra in all for love by dryden
character of cleopatra in all for love by dryden
Elizabeth Boutell
Elizabeth Boutell