Venus and Adonis

The Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare (1594)

The Rape of Lucrece is another long narrative poem by Shakespeare. It was published in 1594, just one year after Venus and Adonis, and like that poem, it was also popular during Shakespeare’s lifetime. At 1,855 lines, it is longer than the earlier poem by about one-third, and it employs seven-line rather than six-line stanzas. Also, its subject is more serious. If Venus in the earlier poem is a lustful goddess, Lucrece is a heroine for her honor and chastity. She is a married woman who is raped by Tarquin, a Roman soldier. She tells her husband the name of the man who committed the crime and then dies by suicide. As a result, an angry populace banishes Tarquin and his family. The poem is based on a story in Roman history which may or may not have historical truth.