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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Venus asks Adonis "Is thine own heart to thine own face affected?" whose story is she alluding to (157)?

2. What does Venus compare Adonis to in line 8?

3. Which is the most reasonable interpretation of Venus's characterization of Adonis as having a "mermaid's voice" (line 429)?

4. What techniques are used in lines 25 and 26, "With this she seizeth on his sweating palm,/ The precedent of pith and livelihood"?

5. How does Adonis view romantic love?

Short Essay Questions

1. Throughout the first 36 stanzas, how is Adonis depicted?

2. What does Venus tell Adonis will "buy" her heart (line 514), and how does she propose that he "seal" the bargain (line 516)?

3. How does the mare react to the stallion at first, and how does her reaction change?

4. What does Venus tell Adonis he can learn from his horse?

5. What does Venus tell Adonis would happen if their positions were reversed?

6. As Adonis vacillates "’Twixt crimson shame and anger ashy pale" (line 76), what is the speaker saying Venus feels in lines 77 and 78, "Being red she loves him best, and being white, / Her best is better’d with a more delight"?

7. What plan does Adonis share with Venus just as she is finally about to let him leave her, and how does Venus react?

8. What happens when Adonis tries to get back on his horse and leave?

9. Explain the comparison made between Adonis's mouth and a "red morn" (line 453).

10. What does Venus convey in the speech about her senses that begins in line 433, "Had I no eyes but ears"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How would you characterize the speaker of this poem? Is the speaker educated or uneducated? Confident or tentative? Emotional or reserved? Does the speaker seem to have kind intentions toward the characters, to identify with them, and express sincere sympathy--or does the speaker stand at a remove, passing judgment? How closely do you imagine this speaker's voice mimics the voice of the audience that Shakespeare is trying to reach with this poem? Write an essay in which you consider Shakespeare's purposes in writing Venus and Adonis and how these purposes might have influenced the voice of the poem's speaker. Support your arguments with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from throughout the poem, making sure to cite any quoted language and outside sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

You are aware that Shakespeare borrowed from Ovid and that Ovid borrowed from Ancient Greek stories in order to tell the tale of Venus and Adonis. But did the Ancient Greeks also borrow from other sources? Do some research into the Sumarian figures of Dumuzi and Inanna, the Babylonian figures of Tammuz and Ishtar, and the Phoenician figures of Adon and Astarte. What elements of the story stay the same, and what elements change over time? What do you suspect causes the changes in the story as it spreads from society to society? What light does this shed on Shakespeare's choices and the society that he was living in? Write an essay in which you take a position about how the gradual changes in this very old story shed light on the cultures that tell the story--including the culture of Elizabethan England. Support your assertions with evidence from Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis, Ovid's Metamorphoses, and your online historical research. Cite all sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

In Western literature, red is traditionally associated with beauty, and white is traditionally associated with virtue. Shakespeare uses these colors and their traditional symbolic meanings in many of his works. Does he do so in Venus and Adonis? What statement is this poem making about virtue? Is it related to beauty in any way? Where do the colors red and white occur in the poem, and what does each seem to be associated with? Write an essay in which you take a position on whether the colors red and white represent beauty and virtue in Venus and Adonis. Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the poem; cite any borrowed language in MLA format.

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