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Soliloquy
Style
Explanation and Analysis:
Stylistically, Caesar and Cleopatra is distinguished from its sources of inspiration—namely, Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra—by the sheer number of stage directions. While stage directions do feature in Caesar and Cleopatra's Shakespearean predecessors, they are generally sparse and contain less direct communication of authorial tone. Shaw, on the other hand, takes care to describe not only set design and actor placement but also character motivations and various satirical elements. In drama, stage directions are one of the few tools authors have with which to establish tone. Shakespeare does not take full advantage of this, whereas Shaw does.
Antony and Cleopatra also features stylistic elements that are not present in Shaw's sequel. Namely, much of the earlier play is written either in blank verse or some combination of poetry and prose. Shaw chooses not to imitate this element of Shakespeare's writing, opting to use only prose. This choice better suits the genre of Caesar and Cleopatra: intended as a comedy, blank verse would feel less appropriate and more antiquated to an early-20th-century audience. Shaw also chooses not to mimic Shakespeare when it comes to act structure. Notably, he does not divide his acts into scenes—and, aside from characters' travels to Alexandria, he does not shift rapidly between scenes taking place in a large number of geographically distant locations. This stylistic decision makes the play feel more centralized than its predecessor.
