Poster for 2015 Short Film Adaption of Venus and Adonis
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Venus and Adonis (1593)
Venus and Adonis (1593)
Credited as William Shakespeare's first publication and the piece that launched him as a poet, Venus and Adonis is a narrative poem that retells and expands upon the Roman poet Ovid's Venus and Adonis in his narrative poem the Metamorphoses. Set in the woods, the poem, for both Shakespeare and Ovid, tells the story of Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, and her unrequited love and seduction of Adonis, a beautiful man who likes to hunt. The poem also tells of the death of Adonis which comes about thanks to Venus and a wild boar.
What's a narrative poem?
What's a narrative poem?
A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story. They contain all of the traditional aspects of a story, like a beginning, middle, and end with characters and plot, but the story is instead told through verse.
Venus and Adonis Summary by Good Tickle Brain
Venus and Adonis painted by Ferdinand Bol (1658)
2017 Puppetry Production of Venus and Adonis
Venus and Adonis' Dedication
Venus and Adonis' Dedication
Printed before Venus and Adonis, William Shakespeare dedicated his first published work to Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton (1573-1624) - he is also believed to be the inspiration behind Shakespeare's Sonnets 15-18.
Picture below, Henry Wriothesley is the only known patron of William Shakespeare.
Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton (1573-1624)
What becomes of Adonis?
What becomes of Adonis?
At the end of the narrative poem, Adonis dies in Venus' arms after being gored by a wild boar. In her despair, Venus begins to cry with her face against his pale, bloody body. But then, Adonis' blood mingles with Venus' tears and Adonis is turned into the flower known as the Anemone.
A patch of Anemone flowers
A group of Anemone flowers
"And in his blood that on the ground lay spilled
A purple flower sprung up, checkered with white,
Resembling well his pale cheeks and the blood
Which in round drops upon their whiteness stood." (1167-1170)
~ Daily Entries ~
~ Daily Entries ~
Annotations of Sonnets 15-18
Annotations of Sonnets 15-18
Annotation of Lines 186-204
Annotation of Lines 186-204
Adonis on Lust
Adonis on Lust
Venus on Night
Venus on Night
Whiteboard Analyses on Themes in Venus and Adonis
Whiteboard Analyses on Themes in Venus and Adonis
Hero and Leander (1598)
Hero and Leander (1598)
Reflective Statement
Reflective Statement
Book Cover for Venus and Adonis
William Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis has greatly confirmed what I already knew about how to treat someone in a relationship. For instance, I don't want to be compared to Venus and her ways with men: manipulative. In addition, our class got to dive more into the beginnings of Shakespeare's career, in which he wrote with a lot of flare in order to captivate the audience he was trying to win over.
This narrative poem matters to me because it contains a lot of allusions to Greek and Roman mythology - a subject I am very fond of. Additionally, this poem matters because it is the piece that pushed William Shakespeare onto the literary scene, resulting in the dozens of plays and sonnets that are still studied today.
When evaluating my performance as a learner, in and out of the classroom, I found that the readings and annotations helped me to further understand the material and get to know what put Shakespeare on the map. And the mythological aspects of the play allowed me to remain invested in the poem and played to my inner nerd.
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