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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. What technique is used in line 899, "Bids them leave quaking, bids them fear no more"?

2. What techniques are used in lines 1015 and 1016, "“O love!” quoth she, “how much a fool was I,/ To be of such a weak and silly mind"?

3. In line 1043, what is the speaker comparing to "a king perplexed in his throne"?

4. What do Venus's descriptions of the rabbit, fox, and deer have in common?

5. What does Venus say will die with Adonis?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the meaning of Venus's comments about veils and bonnets after Adonis's death?

2. What does Venus tell Adonis about the relationship between jealousy and her foreboding?

3. What does Venus tell Adonis about his beauty and the boar?

4. Explain the pun in lines 827 and 828, when after Adonis leaves, the speaker says of Venus, "Even so confounded in the dark she lay,/ Having lost the fair discovery of her way."

5. How does the construction of line 832, "Passion on passion deeply is redoubled," mimic the sense of what is happening in this passage?

6. How does Adonis contrast love and lust?

7. What does Venus suggest Adonis do if he insists on hunting on the following day?

8. What happens to Venus's eyes when she first sees Adonis's dead body?

9. What is conveyed by the personification and the simile in the passage where Venus runs through the brush toward the sounds of Adonis's hunting party?

10. What is ironic about the description of the colors around the boar's mouth?

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

Venus and Adonis ironically dismisses many of the religious values of Ancient Greece and Rome. But does it express the Christian worldview of Renaissance England in other ways, as well? What values and beliefs does the poem seem to endorse--either explicitly or implicitly? Does the poem contain any religious symbolism, allusions, metaphors, or similes? Write an essay in which you analyze the extent to which Venus and Adonis actively promotes the Christian worldview, as opposed to simply denying the Classical worldview. Support your arguments with evidence from throughout the poem, making sure to cite any quoted language and outside sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Shakespeare, like many Elizabethans, was very interested in the issue of the "natural" versus the "unnatural." How does his use of hunting symbolism in Venus and Adonis explore this issue? Is hunting presented as a natural or unnatural activity? For whom? How do his treatment of Artemis and his use of the stallion as a foil for Adonis support his perspective on who should engage in hunting? Why does Shakespeare omit the role of Cupid in Venus's desire for Adonis? Where are Cupid and his arrows actually mentioned in the poem, and how does Cupid's role as "hunter" figure into the poem's meaning? What does Adonis's manner of death communicate about hunting? Write an essay in which you analyze the messages about natural and unnatural behavior conveyed by the poem's hunting symbolism. Support your analysis with evidence from the poem, citing any quoted material in MLA format.

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