Biography Essay"He was not of an age, but for all time." So wrote Ben Jonson in his dedicatory verses to the memory of William Shakespeare in 1623, and so we continue to affirm today. No other writer,...
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The English playwright, poet, and actor William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is generally acknowledged to be the greatest of English writers and one of the most extraordinary creators in human history.The ...
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Considered by critics, scholars, and the theater-going public the most important dramatist in the history of English literature, William Shakespeare occupies a unique position in the pantheon of great...
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"He was not of an age, but for all time." So wrote Ben Jonson in his dedicatory verses to the memory of William Shakespeare in 1623, and so we continue to affirm today. No other writer, in English or ...
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William Shakespeare's reputation is based primarily on his plays. With the partial exception of the Sonnets (1609), quarried since the early nineteenth century for autobiographical secrets allegedly ...
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In the essay that follows, Truax discusses the painting that Lucrece describes immediately before her suicidea painting that depicts the Trojan war, launched in order to revenge the rape of Helen.
Mid...
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In the essay below, Bromley claims that, as a figure of her time, Lucrece successfully represents honor and integrity, rather than symbolizing a passive submission to the will of others.
Lucrece prese...
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In the following essay, Roe discusses the internal conflicts that precede Lucrece 's suicide, and claims they are drawn from the paradoxical nature of the ideal of chastity and link her to the ...
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Below, Vickers examines the rhetoric of The Rape of Lucrece as depicting male political struggles enacted on the female body.
When, in Sonnet 106, Shakespeare's speaker alludes to "the b...
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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.
There is a great difference, ...
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In the essay below, Kramer and Kaminsky consider the "apparent dualities " that govern the structure of Lucrece, and claim that the poem has been too quickly dismissed as a flawed and ov...
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In the following essay, Bowers argues that Shakespeare demonstrates Lucrece's virtue by employing rhetorical techniques and an omniscient narrator which emphasizes "the violence of rape ...
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In the essay that follows, Crewe examines Shakespeare's representation of rape in The Rape of Lucrece.
.. . In more than one sense, Shakespeare is repeating history when he rewrites the narrati...
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In the following essay, Muir briefly describes the structure of The Rape of Lucrece, connects the poem to such later Shakespearean plays as Measure for Measure, and reviews the scholarly responses to ...
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In the following excerpt, Roe looks at the range of interpretations—from Christian to feminist—of The Rape of Lucrece, cites several sources for the poem, and assesses Shakespeare'...
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In the following essay, Berry asserts that Lucrece is not simply a victim of patriarchal power, but that she more importantly functions as a strong voice for action and political change.
Recent femini...
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In the following excerpt, Cousins argues that Tarquin and Lucrece can be seen as parodies of Petrarchan lovers and that Lucrece's husband, Collatine, is a braggart who unwittingly turns Tarquin...
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In the following essay, Stimpson demonstrates that Shakespeare's portrayals of rape in works such as The Rape of Lucrece indicate his sympathy towards women; nevertheless, Stimpson concludes th...
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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 rev...
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In the following essay, Carter argues that once Tarquin has defined Lucrece in traditional, patriarchal terms by raping her, she redefines herself by placing her consciousness within the painting of T...
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In the following essay, Dubrow observes that the invasion or destruction of public and private dwellings occurs repeatedly as an image in The Rape of Lucrece; she notes that this imagery is particular...
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In the following essay, Washington contends that Tarquin, understood to be the poem's villain, serves to emphasize a complex pattern of meaning at work in The Rape of Lucrece. Through both Lucr...
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In the following review, Stodder offers an analysis of the 1990-91 Shakespeare Society of America's Globe Playhouse production of The Rape of Lucrece, directed by Theresa Shiban and produced by...
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In the following essay, Montgomery studies Shakespeare's abundant use of formal, patterned rhetoric in The Rape of Lucrece, maintaining that through this extravagant rhetoric Shakespeare shifte...
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In the following essay, Williams analyzes the rapes of both Lucrece in The Rape of Lucrece and Lavinia in Titus Andronicus, and concludes that although little resolution may be reached regarding Shake...
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In the following excerpt, Camino studies the lengthy soliloquy that follows Lucrece's rape, demonstrating the ways in which Lucrece uses language to successfully dismiss Tarquin's argume...
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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,...
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In the essay below, Belsey studies the treatment of the issues of marriage and rape in The Rape of Lucrece, and demonstrates the ways in which the poem's treatment of these subjects reflects Re...
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In the following excerpt, Burrow provides an overview of The Rape of Lucrece, focusing on the poem's sources, political implications, and its treatment of the topic of rape. Burrow takes issue ...
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In the following essay, Kietzman analyzes the character of Lucrece and her role as a female complainant—a poetic trope that originated in classical verse. The critic argues that Lucrece uses he...
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In the following review, van Gelder offers an assessment of the Willow Cabin Theater Company's production of Lucrece, a play adapted from Shakespeare's poem The Rape of Lucrece, noting t...
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In the following excerpt, Soellner examines the similarities between The Rape of Lucrece and several works written or inspired by French writer Robert Garnier. The critic emphasizes the manner in whic...
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In the following essay, Dubrow contends that The Rape of Lucrece contains an implicit criticism of the values and conventions of the complaint poem style.
Scholars typically dismiss both Venus and Ado...
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In the following essay, Woodbridge examines the subject of bodily violation as a symbol for military invasion and conquest in The Rape of Lucrece, Titus Andronicus and Cymbeline. Woodbridge asserts th...
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In the following essay, Quay explores the patriarchal social constructs implicit in The Rape of Lucrece and examines how they “promote and permit” rape.
The notions of integrity and clos...
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In the following excerpt, Camino draws parallels between The Rape of Lucrece, Renaissance practices of mapmaking, and colonial conquest. The critic contends that the poem can be viewed as an expressio...
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Shakespeare's poem "The Rape of Lucrece" tells the historic story of Lucrece's rape by Tarquin, a member of the royal family of Rome. However, the actual action of rape receives little emphasis in t...
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William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
