In the essay that follows, Fineman examines the imagery and rhetorical movements of The Rape of Lucrece and in particular considers the significance of time in the poem.

In the following essay, Breitenberg examines the ways in which honor, publication, and desire serve as the bases for Shakespeare's depiction and criticism of masculinity in The Rape of Lucrece, and emphasizes that this exploration is undertaken within the context of early modern rhetoric concerning the nature of masculinity.

In the following essay, Newman remarks that on first examination, The Rape of Lucrece appears to be a poem about the patriarchal victimization of women. However, Newman proposes that a closer look reveals the poem's subtext of Philomela's violent revenge against her rapist—a story which presents an independent response from women to the male society that dominates them.

In the poem The Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare, the emphasis is more on the results of the rape than on the rape itself. Shakespeare uses literary techniques such as irony to convey the psychological aspects of the story. The poem is analyzed as a study on the effects of rape.