ABSTRACT
The most conclusive evidence of support for the likelihood of Shakespeare's reading knowledge of the play comes, of course, from the verbal echoes of Dido in Antony and Cleopatra. The influence of Dido on Antony and Cleopatra, and, more generally, of Marlowe on Shakespeare, is both broader and deeper than a list of likenesses suggests, whether the items on the list are definite or only impressionistic. This chapter highlights one antithetical lesson, already glanced at, that Shakespeare could have gleaned from Dido or found support for in the play. In facing and outfacing life through art, Antony and Cleopatra shows Shakespeare both accepting and rejecting influences from Dido, Queen of Carthage but, ultimately, both to Marlowe's credit and discredit, making the haunt his. Both Marlowe and Shakespeare portray the problems that characters encounter extracting coherent meaning from other characters words and actions and forming a consistent, sustainable attitude toward them.
