The Rape of Lucrece [SEP] characters
The Rape of Lucrece
The Rape of Lucrece (1594) is a narrative poem by William Shakespeare about the legendary Lucretia. In his previous narrative poem, "Venus and Adonis" (1593), Shakespeare had included a dedicatory letter to his patron, the Earl of Southampton, in which he promised to compose a "graver labour". Accordingly, "The Rape of Lucrece" has a serious tone throughout.
The poem begins with a prose dedication addressed directly to the Earl of Southampton, which begins, "
) makes frequent use of the Philomela myth—most notably in his tragedy "Titus Andronicus" (c. 1588–1593) where characters directly reference Tereus and Philomela in commenting on rape and mutilation of Lavinia by Aaron, Chiron, and Demetrius. Prominent allusions to Philomela also occur in the depiction of Lucrece in "The Rape of Lucrece", in the depiction of Imogen in "Cymbeline," and in Titania's lullaby in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" where she asks Philomel to "sing in our sweet lullaby".