“The end of the 22 Boock, entreatinge of Sorrow,” lead-
ing to speculation that an immense EPIC had originally
existed. Recent studies, however, have demonstrated
that the titles were a ploy by Raleigh intended to please
the queen. Otherwise, most critical studies focus on
political interpretations of Raleigh’s poems, as well as
its contribution to the studies of PATRONAGE.
See also “LIE, THE”; “NYMPH’S REPLY TO THE SHEPHERD,
THE;” “SIR WALTER RALEIGH TO HIS SON”; “WHAT IS OUR
LIFE?”.
FURTHER READING
Lacey, Robert. Sir Walter Ralegh. 1973. Reprint, London:
Phoenix Press, 2000.
Raleigh, Sir Walter. The Letters of Sir Walter Raleigh. Edited
and translated by Agnes M. C. Latham and Joyce A. You-
ings. Exeter, U.K.: University of Exeter Press, 1999.
RAPE OF LUCRECE, THE WILLIAM SHAKE-
SPEARE (ca. 1593) This is a long narrative poem
composed of seven-line STANZAs in RHYME ROYAL, with
the rhyme scheme of ababbcc. Although the poem
comes complete with its own plot summary (“The
Argument”), virtually every educated person of the
16th century knew the story of the virtuous Roman
wife Lucretia (Lucrece). In “Publishing Shame: The
Rape of Lucrece,” Coppelia Kahn even calls it “a found-
ing myth of patriarchy,” a social structure in which
men had virtually total control over women. The
Roman social structure was patriarchal, and patriarchy
existed, in a somewhat modifi ed form, in early modern
England.
The poem’s action centers on events that occurred
around 509 B.C.E., when Rome was still only a city-
state ruled by a tyrant named Tarquinius Superbus
(Tarquin the Proud). His son, Tarquinius Sixtus, raped
Lucretia, the wife of Collatinus (Collatine in Shake-
speare), who was his friend and kinsman. Lucretia
revealed her rape to her family, demanded they revenge
her honor, named Tarquin the rapist, and committed
suicide. Lucrece’s kinsmen brought her body to the
Roman Forum to show the citizens, and Lucius Junius
Brutus, a nephew of the king and friend of Collatinus,
led a revolt against the Tarquins. They were exiled, and
the Roman people began a republican government,
ruled by a senate and elected consuls.
This story was important in early modern England
for two reasons: It provided historical justifi cation for
the expulsion of an unjust ruler and the foundation of
a new government (in this case the Roman republic),
and, it provided an EXEMPLUM (example) of the correct,
chaste behavior all wives in a patriarchal society should
practice. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’s concise version of the
tale, however, focuses primarily on the rape and its
aftermath, as well as on Lucrece’s behavior.
The poem can be broken down into the following
sections: (1) Tarquin’s journey to Rome, his refl ec-
tion upon Lucrece’s beauty and chastity, the decrip-
tion of events after he arrives (ll. 1–189); (2)
Tarquin’s thoughts before the rape, his entering Luc-
rece’s bedchamber, and his view of the beautiful,
sleeping Lucrece (ll. 190–448); (3) Lucrece’s discov-
ery of Tarquin, her pleas to be spared, Tarquin’s the-
oretical justifi cation of his actions, the rape, and his
departure (ll. 449–749); (4) Lucrece’s lament, her
blaming of Night, Time, and Opportunity for the
crime, and her refl ection on whether her honor has
been compromised (ll. 750–1211); (5) Lucrece’s
writing to Collatine to demand his immediate return
(ll. 1212–1365); (6) Lucrece’s refl ection upon the
painting of the fall of Troy (ll. 1366–1582); (7) Coll-
atine’s arrival, Lucrece telling her tale and commit-
ting suicide, her kinsmen avenging her death, and
the exile of the Tarquins (ll. 1583–1855). Despite
the focused nature of the tale, it does raise many
issues regarding what constitutes chastity and how
and when a woman’s honor is compromised.
To understand these issues, we need to consider the
nature of the society Shakespeare presents in Lucrece.
While ancient Rome was clearly not 16th-century
En gland—and we therefore cannot assume Roman cul-
tural mores were English ones—Rome was often used
as a metaphor for England. Early modern English writ-
ers could be arrested for sedition if the government
decided their political critiques were too harsh. As a
result, they often set poems or plays in a country other
than England so as not to risk arrest. A generic “Rome”
was often chosen to symbolize England, so we can con-
sider the “vision” of Rome presented in literary works to
be actually a picture of England. Since both ancient
Rome and early modern England were patriarchal socialRAPE OF LUCRECE, THE 337