The Unrequited Desire of Venus and Adonis
In Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis, Venus’s unrequited desire is not merely a comic reversal of conventional courtship: it becomes a dark explanation for why human love so often feels disproportionate, frustrated, and uncontrollable. The goddess of love “loves, and yet she is not loved” (l. 610)—a paradox that strips desire of its presumed power to compel reciprocity.
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THE RAPE OF LUCRECE
Shakespeare adapts the ancient Roman story of Lucretia, chiefly known from Livy and Ovid. Tarquin is Sextus Tarquinius, son of Rome’s last king; Lucrece is the wife of Collatine. Following Tarquin’s violence, Lucrece reveals what has happened, dies by suicide, and her death becomes the immediate catalyst for the expulsion of the Tarquin monarchy and Rome’s transition to a republic.
About the Poem
Shakespeare’s The Rape of Lucrece is a long, grave narrative poem about sexual violence, shame, political tyranny, and the legendary event that leads Romans to overthrow their monarchy and establish the Republic. First printed in 1594, it retells the story of Lucrece (Lucretia), wife of Collatine, and Tarquin, the king’s son.
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