Dramatic Significance and Theatrical Appeal are two very important topics that are mentioned in essay bquestions for English Literature examinations, but the explanations for what these actually are, are extremely vague, and finding any sort of examples or explanations of it is near impossible.
Shakespeare is dealing with history, so he can make events seem fated, but the Soothsayer and his dire predictions are taken from Plutarch. The use of the soothsayer underscores the theme of destiny, which in a play based on historical events can be viewed in different ways. To us, the defeat of Antony is inevitable, fated, because it has already happened. The soothsayer's presence adds a sinister inevitability to a historical event playing out before us. Historical forces become conflated with less rational conceptions of destiny and fate. Because of the soothsayer's presence, history itself takes on a supernatural element, being beyond the control or explanation of men.
