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Encyclopedia > The Rape of Lucrece
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The Earl of Southampton, painted in 1594, aged 21, the year that Shakespeare dedicated The Rape of Lucrece to him
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The Earl of Southampton, painted in 1594, aged 21, the year that Shakespeare dedicated The Rape of Lucrece to him

The narrative poem The Rape of Lucrece is the "graver work" promised by English dramatist-poet William Shakespeare in his dedication to his patron, Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, in Venus and Adonis. Unlike the humourous role-reversals of Venus and Adonis, this poem treats the public and private consequences of the rape of the Roman matron, Lucrece. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (684x1185, 642 KB)The Earl of Southampton, patron of William Shakespeare, painted in 1594, aged 21, the year that Shakespeare dedicated The Rape of Lucrece to him. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (684x1185, 642 KB)The Earl of Southampton, patron of William Shakespeare, painted in 1594, aged 21, the year that Shakespeare dedicated The Rape of Lucrece to him. ... Events February 27 - Henry IV is crowned King of France at Rheims. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton (October 6, 1573 - November 10, 1624), one of Shakespeares patrons, was the second son of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, and his wife Mary Browne, daughter of the 1st Viscount Montague. ... Venus and Adonis is one of Shakespeares longer poems. ... Venus is the Roman goddess of love, equivalent to Greek Aphrodite and Etruscan Turan. ... Jump to: navigation, search A 19th-century reproduction of a Greek bronze of Adonis found at Pompeii A Syrian dying-and-reborn annual vegetation god imported into Greek mythology but always retaining aspects of his Semitic Near Eastern origins, Adonis was one of the most complex cult figures in classical... Jump to: navigation, search Ancient Rome was a civilization that existed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 753 BC and its downfall in AD 476. ...



This poem draws on the story described in both Ovid's Fasti and Livy's history of Rome. In 509 BCE, Sextus Tarquinius, son to Tarquin, the king of Rome, raped Lucretia (Lucrece), the wife of Collatinus, one of the king's aristocratic retainers. As a result, Lucrece committed suicide. Her body was paraded in the Roman Forum by the king's nephew, Lucius Junius Brutus. This incited a full-scale revolt against the Tarquins and resulted in the banishment of the royal family and founding of the Roman republic. Jump to: navigation, search Engraved frontispiece of George Sandyss 1632 London edition of Publius Ovidius Naso (Sulmona, March 20, 43 BC â€“ Tomis, now Constanta AD 17) Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid, wrote on topics of love, abandoned women, and mythological transformations. ... Bust of Livy Titus Livius (around 59 BC - 17 AD), known as Livy in English, wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab urbe condita, from its founding (traditionally dated to 753 BC). ... Jump to: navigation, search Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (also called Tarquin the Proud or Tarquin II) was the last of the seven legendary kings of Rome, son of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, and son-in-law of Servius Tullius. ... Lucretia Lucretia is a mythical figure in the history of the Roman Republic. ... Jump to: navigation, search Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life; it is sometimes a noun for one who has committed or attempted the act. ... Lucius Junius Brutus was the founder of the Roman Republic and traditionally one of the first Consuls in 509 BC. Prior to his accession, Rome had been ruled by kings. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century) The Roman Republic (Latin: Res Publica Romanorum) was the republican government of the city of Rome and its territories from 510 BC until the establishment of the Roman Empire, which sometimes placed at 44 BC the year of Caesar...


Shakespeare retains the overall plot, although it is significant that he adds the detail that Tarquin's lust for Lucrece springs from her husband's own praise of her, before he ever saw her. This relates to Cymbeline, in which Imogen is symbolically raped by Giacomo as a result of Posthumous' praise of her virtues. Like Shakespeare's other raped women, Lucrece also gains symbolic value. Through her suicide, her body is metamorphosed into a political symbol that serves as a form of eloquence her speech could not attain. The Mythical British King Cymbeline is identified with Cunobelinus Cymbeline is a play by William Shakespeare. ... Imogen was the daughter of King Cymbeline, in Shakespeares play, Cymbeline. ... Giacomo, a thoroughbred race horse trained by John Shirreffs, won the 2005 Kentucky Derby in 2:02. ... Posthumous means after death. ...


External links

Wikisource
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
The Rape of Lucrece
The works of William Shakespeare
Tragedies: Romeo and Juliet | Macbeth | King Lear | Hamlet | Othello | Titus Andronicus | Julius Caesar | Antony and Cleopatra | Coriolanus | Troilus and Cressida | Timon of Athens
Comedies: A Midsummer Night's Dream | All's Well That Ends Well | As You Like It | Cardenio (lost) | Cymbeline | Love's Labour's Lost | Love's Labour's Won (lost) | Measure for Measure | The Merchant of Venice | The Merry Wives of Windsor | Much Ado About Nothing | Pericles, Prince of Tyre | Taming of the Shrew | The Comedy of Errors | The Tempest | Twelfth Night | The Two Gentlemen of Verona | The Two Noble Kinsmen | The Winter's Tale
Histories: King John | Edward III (attributed) | Richard II | Henry IV, part 1 | Henry IV, part 2 | Henry V | Henry VI, part 1 | Henry VI, part 2 | Henry VI, part 3 | Richard III | Henry VIII
Other works: Sonnets | Venus and Adonis | The Rape of Lucrece | The Passionate Pilgrim | The Phoenix and the Turtle
See also: Shakespeare on screen | Titles based on Shakespeare

  Results from FactBites:
 
GradeSaver: Rape of Lucrece Essay: Masculine Honor and the Fetish of Chastity in Shakespeare's "Rape of Lucrece" (3279 words)
After Tarquin rapes Lucrece, it is as if she has lost the entirety of her appeal; he has satiated his desire, committed the ultimate act of power, and has nothing left to prove.
Lucrece relates to the figure of Hecuba in the tapestry depicting the fall of Troy, because "In her, the painter had anatomized / Time's ruin, beauty's wrack, and grim care's reign; / Her cheeks with chops and wrinkles were disguised, / Of what she was no semblance did remain" (1450-1453).
Lucrece's commodity value in the masculine economy is determined by the male gaze, and despite her misgivings, she finds solace in knowing that her value will rise when the men see her dead body.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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