「安東尼與克莉奧佩特拉」(Antony and Cleopatra)與「金瓶梅」兩部文學作品，在幾乎同一時代（十六世紀未，十七世紀初），卻不同的文化背景下載述了家喻戶曉的愛情故事。其中「金瓶梅」撰於明朝，而將故事背景置於宋末；而莎士比亞的「安東尼與克莉奧佩特拉」則寫於依麗莎白時代英國文藝復興時期，將故事場景置於古羅馬。這兩部作品的時代背景是本論文的討論要點，一般認爲「金瓶梅」的宋末歷史背景反映出當時朝代衰亡的危機；而莎士比亞的作品寫於依麗莎白英國輝煌年代反映出大英帝國的興起；「金瓶梅」以一個好色之徒西門慶及淫蕩之婦潘金蓮爲基礎；而「安東尼和克莉奧佩特拉」則鋪陳二位古羅馬執政官和埃及皇后在歷史上偉大的地位。更進一步探究普魯塔克(Plutarch)的史料會發現莎士比亞是以諾斯(North)的翻譯作爲寫作本劇的基礎，由此顯示安東尼與克莉奧佩特拉與西門慶及潘金蓮一樣放縱於色慾之中，因此有了歷史背緊形構出不同愛情故事的論點。
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA and CHIN P'ING MEI tell the story of famous lovers in different cultural contexts written at about the same time in history (late 16th, early 17th century). While the Chinese story was written in the Ming dynasty and set at the end of the Sung dynasty, ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA was written by Shakespeare during the renaissance of Elizabethan England and set in the time of ancient Rome. The time settings of the these two pieces are critical features in this paper as it is proposed that the Chinese story set during the last days of the Sung mirror the perils of the fall of the dynasty, while Shakespeare's novel set at the time of the ascendancy of Elizabethan England mirrors the rise of the British Empire. While CHIN P'ING MEI is predicated on the dissolute life of the debauchee Hsi-men Ch'ing and the evil courtesan Pan Chin-lien, Shakespeare's drama is predicated on the historical greatness of Antony, triumvir of Rome and the great Egyptian Queen Cleopatra. Further research into the historical writings of Plutarch on which Shakespeare based his play through North's translation, on the other hand, reveal that Antony and Cleopatra were in fact every bit as dissolute and debauched as Hsi-men Ch'ing and Pan Chin-lien. This yields credence to the thesis that historical circumstances shaped the orientation of these various love stories.
