The New Hudson Shakespeare · William Shakespeare
VI. MANAGEMENT OF TIME AND PLACE
1. _Historic time._ Cæsar's triumph over the sons of Pompey was celebrated in October, B.C. 45. Shakespeare makes this coincident with "the feast of Lupercal" on February 15, B.C. 44. In the play Antony delivers his funeral oration immediately after Cæsar's death; historically, there was an interval of days. Octavius did not reach Rome until upwards of two months after the assassination; in III, ii, 261, Antony is told by his servant immediately after the funeral oration that "Octavius is already come to Rome." In November, B.C. 43, the triumvirs met to make up their bloody proscription, and in the autumn of the following year were fought the two battles of Philippi, separated historically by twenty days, but represented by Shakespeare as taking place on the same day. 2. _Dramatic Time._ Historical happenings that extended over nearly three years are represented in the stage action as the occurrences of six days, distributed over the acts and scenes as follows: Day 1.--I, i, ii. Interval. Day 2.--I, iii. Day 3.--II, III. Interval. Day 4.--IV, i. Interval. Day 5.--IV, ii, iii. Interval. Day 6.--V. This compression for the purposes of dramatic unity results in action that is swift and throbbing with human and ethical interest. 3. _Place._ Up to the second scene of the fourth act Rome is the natural place of action. The second and third scenes of the fourth act are at Sardis in Asia Minor; the last act shifts to Philippi in Macedonia. The only noteworthy deviation from historical accuracy is in making the conference of the triumvirs take place at Rome and not at Bononia. See note, p. 116. But there is peculiar dramatic effectiveness in placing this fateful colloquy in the city that was the center of the political unrest of the time.
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