Rebecca Ridenour as Venus and Matthew Kerrigan as Adonis in Shaking the Tree Theatre's 2016 production of Venus and Adonis
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Surrounding History of Venus and Adonis
Surrounding History of Venus and Adonis
What is the influence behind Shakespeare's first work? Is Shakespeare's Venus true to the goddess? In this section, I looked into the history surrounding the poem, the time period in which it was written, the ancient poems that inspired Shakespeare's work, and the mythology behind the woman.
History of the Poem
History of the Poem
Thought to be the first publication of William Shakespeare, "Critical opinions of Venus and Adonis have varied greatly over the years, especially because earlier critics invested less energy in what was long considered a minor Shakespearean work" (Venus and Adonis: Historical Context). This fact is one that is hard to imagine considering the popularity of the narrative poem in today's literature circles. It is even harder to imagine when Venus and Adonis "was printed almost twice as many times as his most successful play Henry IV Part 1, and was in fact the most popular work of vernacular poetry in the entire period" (Hooks). Yet, just like any famous piece of literature it is subject to criticism centuries after its publishing, "some critics have lamented that the poem itself seems unsure as to whether it wishes to be comedic or tragic" (Venus and Adonis: Historical Context).
Completing his manuscript of the poem in 1593, Shakespeare then took his work to a childhood acquaintance, "Richard Field, a printer with an outstanding reputation for workmanship," where the poem was published in London (Cummings). "The poem became highly popular, and Field reprinted the book in 1594, 1595, and 1596. By 1640, twenty-four years after Shakespeare's death, the poem had gone through sixteen printings" (Cummings).
Only Remaining Copy of the First Edition Venus and Adonis
The Source and the Inspiration
The Source and the Inspiration
The source for William Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis is an ancient collection of poems by Ovid called The Metamorphoses.
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō, known in English as Ovid, was a Roman poet who lived from 43 BC to 17 or 18 AD. "Comprising 11,995 lines, 15 books and over 250 myths, the poem chronicles the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar within a loose mythico-historical framework" (Metamorphoses). Ovid's collection contains what is considered to be the "most poetic and complete ancient version of Venus and Adonis’ myth" allowing it to serve as a clear inspiration for Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis (Chaliakopoulos).
Originally published in 8 AD, the Latin narrative poem is much more expansive and detailed in the story of the two lovers, including the family history of Adonis and how Venus came to "love" him.
The Story of Venus and Adonis
The Story of Venus and Adonis
The story begins with a focus on Myrrha, Adonis' mother and daughter of the King and Queen of Cyprus. Myrrha suffered from an incredibly moral burden and "Ovid brilliantly describes the existential angst of Myrrha, who was unlucky enough to be cursed into loving her own father" (Chaliakopoulos). Myrrha contemplates taking her own life, but her nurse intervenes and reluctantly agrees to help Myrrha make this "unholy union take place as long as Myrrha did not commit suicide" (Chaliakopoulos). The nurse approached Cinyras, Myrrha's father, and told him of a young woman that loved him and arranged a meeting for the two in complete darkness. Myrrha "left the room impregnated by her father, bearing impious seed in her fatal womb, carrying the guilt she had conceived" and fled, traveling thousands of miles to escape the consequences of her sin. Yet, she could not escape the guilt. "Tired, pregnant, and scared, she prayed to the gods for mercy. Myrrha was then transformed into a tree which became known as the Myrrha tree" (Chaliakopoulos). The story of Myrrha, and Adonis' beginning, is one of incredible sadness and could possibly serve as to why Adonis does not engage in romantic acts.
After the birth of Adonis from the Myrrha tree, the story turns to Venus. According to Ovid, "Venus was kissing Cupid when an arrow slipped from his quiver and injured Venus’s breast" (Chaliakopoulos). Cupid, or Eros, has the ability to make people fall in love with his arrows, and the gods were no exception. After being hit by one of Cupid's arrows, Venus spots Adonis and fell madly in love with him.
It is clear that Shakespeare based much of his poem on Ovid's telling of the myth, but left out points that served as backstory for the characters. In Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis, Adonis' family history is never mentioned and Venus' "love" for Adonis is explained much the same as in Ovid's poem, but with no mention of Cupid.
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (43 BC - 17 or 18 AD)
Page from the edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses published by Lucantonio Giunti in Venice, 1497
The Birth of Adonis (1690) painted by Marcantonio Franceschini
Shakespeare's Poem and the Time Period
Shakespeare's Poem and the Time Period
How come Shakespeare chose Ovid's Metamorphoses as inspiration for a work? Well, much like Shakespeare is studied across the world today, Ovid's poems were highly popular and studied in schools of Shakespeare's time. And "Although Shakespeare was no doubt familiar with Ovid's original Latin rendering of the text, he probably relied more heavily on the English translation of it by Arthur Golding (1536-1606), published in 1567" which would have been circulating only a few years after Shakespeare's birth (Cummings).
There are several aspects of Venus and Adonis that can be explained by the era in which the poem was written, including the difference between love and lust, the inspiration behind Venus, and the idea of sexuality.
Lust and Love - What's the Difference?
Lust and Love - What's the Difference?
During the Elizabethan era (1558 to 1603), the words "love" and "lust" had "yet to receive wholly distinct connotations, such that lust is often referred to positively," whereas today "lust" is seen as a negative feeling and is considered to be one of the Seven Deadly Sins (Venus and Adonis: Historical Context). "Lust" in Shakespeare's time "had perfectly positive connotations, as associated and coupled with virtuous 'true love.' The years afterward witnessed a gradual shift, such that 'by the mid-seventeenth century the term had acquired a primarily sexual and strongly pejorative meaning'" (Venus and Adonis: Historical Context).
Additionally, during this period "marriage frequently had little, if anything, to do with the degree of love shared by the partners in question" yet most of society held the same opinion that "without love—and sex—the human race would cease to exist" (Venus and Adonis: Historical Context). This opinion was so widely held by Elizabethan writers that some "came to adopt 'anti-love' standpoints, which better accorded with contemporary religious views touting the virtues of chastity," meanwhile, Shakespeare, ever the rebel, saw that humans could enjoy physical love and wrote about this in many of his works (Venus and Adonis: Historical Context).
The Woman Behind Venus
The Woman Behind Venus
During William Shakespeare's time, female characters in literature were not portrayed as powerful or manipulative. But, this period is also highlighted by one of the most influential and powerful women in English history: Queen Elizabeth I. And it is not a very hard search to realize that this powerful woman served as an example of this personage and for Venus.
In Venus and Adonis, Venus is the one in charge. She is the one who pushes for what she wants from Adonis and does everything she can to achieve her goals. Queen Elizabeth I was much the same way; she had to be fierce and hard in order to earn the respect from her court and country. As she is still known today as one of England's finest rulers, it is clear that this strategy worked for her.
Was Adonis Queer?
Was Adonis Queer?
During the Elizabethan era, there was no terminology for homosexual or queer individuals. It is because of this mentality (or lack thereof) of queerness and the dedication of the narrative poem to the Earl of Southampton that many "scholars have speculated that Shakespeare intentionally depicted him in a way that left his sexuality in question" (Venus and Adonis: Historical Context). Within the poem itself, Adonis, a young, healthy male, remains unaffected by Venus's advances and is "is repeatedly described not merely as an attractive or powerful male but as a beautiful male. His blushing shyness, in turn, is more typically a feminine trait" (Venus and Adonis: Historical Context). Additionally, it is argued that Adonis embodies an androgynous and ambiguous sexual desire, and that he, among other Shakespeare characters, represent "not an exclusive sexual taste, but an inclusive one. To use the categories of our own day, these poems are bisexual fantasies" (Venus and Adonis: Historical Context).
Queen Elizabeth I (1600) painted by Unknown English artist
The Mythology behind the Myth
The Mythology behind the Myth
Venus
Venus
As part of the 12 Roman Gods, also known as the 12 Olympians in Greek mythology, Venus (Aphrodite in Greek) is the goddess of love, beauty, sex, and fertility (or procreation). Venus was considered the most beautiful amongst the gods and was usually followed by Cupid (Eros), her son (Chaliakopoulos).
Venus' most famous affairs are those among the Olympians. Venus was married to Vulcan (or Hephaestus) the god of fire and blacksmithing, but held a long-term affair with Mars (Ares), the god of war and spirit of battle. "Nevertheless, none of these love-stories surpassed the intensity with which Venus loved Adonis" (Chaliakopoulos).
The birth of Venus is a story that has forever been memorialized in the paint strokes of Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus. As the myth goes, "Venus was born as a fully-grown woman. She was conceived when the Titan Cronus castrated his father, the god Uranus. The severed genitals fell into the sea, fertilising it" (Burdis).
Adonis
Adonis
A god in his own right, Adonis has roots in the heavens as "The Canaanite god Adon was just like Adonis, a god of beauty" (Chaliakopoulos). Because of this connection, it is safe to "assume that Adonis is no more than Adon transferred to Greece with a Hellenisized name" (Chaliakopoulos).
Additionally, Adonis has been linked to a plethora of gods from a variety of mythologies and civilizations, including "Mesopotamian mythologies, [where] Adonis appeared as a couple with goddess Astarte. It is evident right away that Astarte in this context can be none other than the equivalent of Venus. Truly the two goddesses have many in common such as being goddesses of fertility and renewal" (Chaliakopoulos). It is clear to see that no matter where the character of Adonis appears, regardless of time, civilization, or myth, the character of Adonis is forever cursed to be involved with a goddess as the myths are similar to Adonis'.
Gregory Doran (Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company) with the puppets from the RSC's Venus and Adonis
Sara Rankin Weeks (left) as Water Venus, Nathan Hinton (middle) as Adonis, and Erin Ryan (right) as Earth Venus in Undermain Theatre's 1991 production of Venus and Adonis
Works Cited
Works Cited
Burdis, Shauna. “Beauty and Myth: The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli.” HeadStuff, 5 June 2019, headstuff.org/culture/visual-arts/the-birth-of-venus-botticelli/.
Chaliakopoulos, Antonis. “The Myth of Venus and Adonis: From Incest to Beauty.” TheCollector, 27 Mar. 2021, www.thecollector.com/venus-adonis/.
Cummings, Michael J. “The Venus and Adonis Study Guide.” VenusStudyGuide, The Shakespeare Study Guide, 2020, shakespearestudyguide.com/VenusStudyGuide.html#Composition_and_Publication.
Hooks, Adam G. “Venus and Adonis, First Edition.” Shakespeare Documented, 8 June 2020, shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/resource/document/venus-and-adonis-first-edition.
“Metamorphoses.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Nov. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphoses.
“Venus and Adonis: Historical Context.” Encyclopedia.com, Encyclopedia.com, 25 Oct. 2021, www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/venus-and-adonis#HistoricalContext.
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