27 pages 54 minutes read

William Shakespeare

Venus and Adonis

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1593

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Themes

Love Unrequited, and Love Versus Lust

On the evidence of the poem, the relationship between Venus and Adonis must be one of the most one-sided ever recorded. Venus is completely smitten by the young man she admires so much, but he cares not a whit for her. He is not interested in having a love affair with anyone, and certainly not with Venus. In spite of this, she is extremely persistent, and she fails to understand why she is putting him off when all she wants to do is reel him in. The fact that her love is unreturned brings her great sorrow. For his part, Adonis dismisses her claims to love him and makes it clear why: He thinks she is simply lusting after him, and lust, he believes, has no connection to true love. Indeed, love is the opposite of lust, in the view of this idealistic young man.

The lustful nature of Venus becomes apparent early in the poem, when “desire doth lend her force / Courageously to pluck him from his horse” (Lines 29-30). In medieval times, the word courage had the additional meaning of lust, and here “courageously” means “lustfully.” (The word is so used in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Merchant’s Tale, just to give one example.

Related Titles

By William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

All's Well That Ends Well

William Shakespeare

All's Well That Ends Well

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

A Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Antony and Cleopatra

William Shakespeare

Antony and Cleopatra

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

As You Like It

William Shakespeare

As You Like It

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Coriolanus

William Shakespeare

Coriolanus

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Cymbeline

William Shakespeare

Cymbeline

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Henry IV, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Henry IV, Part 2

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part 2

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Henry V

William Shakespeare

Henry V

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Henry VIII

William Shakespeare

Henry VIII

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Henry VI, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Henry VI, Part 3

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 3

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Julius Caesar

William Shakespeare

Julius Caesar

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

King John

William Shakespeare

King John

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

King Lear

William Shakespeare

King Lear

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Love's Labour's Lost

William Shakespeare

Love's Labour's Lost

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Macbeth

William Shakespeare

Macbeth

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Measure For Measure

William Shakespeare

Measure For Measure

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Much Ado About Nothing

William Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing

William Shakespeare