Ovid's Influence in Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis and The Rapes of Lucrece - Essay Example

Order 402142 Topic: Ovids influence in Shakespeares "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rapes of Lucrece" The brilliant amongst the brilliant authors are influenced by the ideas and narration styles of other authors. They may own the idea, modify it and present in a style that will surpass the beauty and talent of the original author. History has enough examples where the disciple has surpassed the skills of the teacher in many areas. Ovids influence in Shakespeares “Venus and Adonis” is one such example. Shakespeare has succeeded in presenting the stunning results on the original concept. About Ovids brilliance and Shakespeares capacity to adaptability Bate writes, “ Ovid was the epitome of poetic stylishness: What better model for the ambitious young Elizabethan writer? The title-page of Venus and Adonis, the first work which Shakespeare saw into print, was adorned with an epigraph from the Amores, a proclamation of the poems affiliation.”(p.2) Once someone realizes the ultimate truth in any discipline, be it spirituality, music, literature—the ultimate viewpoints will be identical, though the language in which it is expressed may vary. To repeat the same—the variations effected by the brilliant authors will produce brilliant results. Read Shakespeare, how easily he does it as if a bird takes to the wings to fly in the blue sky! The wise people versatile on the subject of love say—love is a bird with colorful wings that remains in the heart of the lover ever caged. It moves there with tantalizing speed to make one a bard! Love in the sixteenth century was thoroughly unconventional. Open discussion about the physical aspects of love in literature or in any form was unthinkable and not socially acceptable. Societys views on sex and desire were orthodox and a behind-the-curtain subject. Not according to Shakespeare, who was deeply influenced by Ovid, when he created Venus and Adonis. How sex can be separate from love? The logical conclusion of love is culmination in sexual acts. There is nothing ugly about the erotic forms. Sex is natural and beautiful with all the beings created by God. Nothing improper or distasteful about it. Love can not be restrained and why should one do? Love transcends reason and therefore it can be equated with the spiritual experience, when one crosses the mind barrier. Love is fated, and it occurs not due to human endeavor. Shakespeare builds his story of Venus and Adonis on Ovids Venus and Adonis myth. It is just like two master artists creating the same painting! Its all about platonic love. Even when established on the highest citadel of love, Shakespeare doesnt miss the spiritual essence of human life. He was bold enough to draw a female goddess in confrontation of love in front of a human being. This was shocking description about love and sex in its time. When Adonis is killed at the end of the story, the issue becomes confusing. What led him to the fatal choice? The female Venus or his male friends? ...here intervenes his destiny and the spiritual context. Adonis extreme desire for hunting ultimately led him to the doom, for which he had to make the final sacrifice—his life itself!Shakespeare goes from the one extreme to the other and one must appreciate and congratulate him for taking such a big leap. Extraordinary love on the one side and the extraordinary option about life on the other side! From love, his theme moves to desire for death. Ovids myth of Venus and Adonis is heavily on the mind of Shakespeare, when he creates such sudden, violent death scenes! Shakespeare was further emboldened to experiment with a poem like “Venus and Adonis,” because he sensed the mood of the Elizabethan England, especially of the younger generation, as Ovids fifteen-book work, was accepted as a fundamental tool in the school syllabus as well. The meaning within the tales caught the imagination of the students. The lessons of moral, political and philosophical flavor were to the liking of the students and they were exposed to new ideas. That interaction opportunity to Metamorphoses was the greatest gift to the school system. Shakespeares “Venus and Adonis” need to be interpreted in this context. The students learn t how to judge the different sides of social issues and that strengthens their thinking process and mental faculties. As for Shakespeare, “ Ovid is claimed as Shakespeares route to the castalian spring on the side of Parnassus, which is to say as his source of inspiration and his guarantor to high cultural status, his way of rising above the vulgus.(2) Good literature doesnt mean that it has to accept the social values of the time. The ancient myth of Ovid, provided opportunities to giants of literature like Shakespeare to voice their opinion on social disagreements,no matter how revolutionary the ideas were, as compared to the then obtaining social values. The myths had their own respectability and it was easy for the authors to build new castles on the solid ancient foundation. Bates observes, “ Shakespeare enjoyed Ovid hugely, but also found in him a source of disturbance. The coexistence of vitality, enjoyment, and disturbance is apparent above all inn the matter for which Ovid was best known in the Renaissance, that of human desire and sexuality.”(15) Theories of Myth in Literature Time doesnt fly always—at least as for ancient myths of literature that say about the fundamental aspects of human life that are highly valued at all times, like love, valor, sacrifice etc. Societal issues do not always drastically change. Repeated use of the myths was due to the simple reason that they appeared at the times that they shed light upon—they referred to the social and cultural values of the time. Shakespeare was aware of this and he exploited the situation at the time when he wrote Venus and Adonis. Societal disputes and controversial issues create good literature from the point of view of the reader. The myth may be used in more than one context, and its import may vary within the contexts of the stories in which it is used. Theme variations, within the overall context is possible. What was true in Victorian period could as well be true in Elizabethan England. Venus and Adonis by Shakespeare does not resemble the earlier creations on the subject, but they are true to the original myth—both made the statement about homosexuality as per their own style. The topics of love, lust and sex are evergreen topics, whether their level of description in literature is socially acceptable or not. Shakespeare makes use of the themes of love and sex, directly and also through the example of stallion and jennet. He brings the love and emotions of these animals on par with the love of human beings, and one feels as if the two lovers are strolling in the field hand in hand. Shakespeare uses the animals to symbolize companionship and love, that is used in Ovids myth. So, the myth of Venus and Adonis, upon which Shakespeare based his epic poem, finds its roots in the Metamorphoses. English poets like Shakespeare found a convenient literary ground to play through Ovids witty fables. The affairs of the rich and powerful were put to microscopic examination through such adopted versions. By employing these myths, writers and poets gave clear message to the society that how corrupt are the rich and the powerful. They should not be given differential treatment and should be punished, and law should take its normal course. Shakespeare used Ovidian myth as a solid foundation fort some of his highly erotic stories. Using Ovid as the anchor, Shakespeare played with the conventions of poetry and the subject of eroticism with impunity as for the content as well as the structure of the poem. The bold and the beautiful Shakespeare found ways and means in his poem Venus and Adonis, to discuss sex explicitly, explain love at its ultimate level, and dealt with homosexuality. In a poem that has the absolute tragic end, he maintained a sense of humor when needed in earlier parts of the poem. All through the lines of the poem, Ovidian influence is seen. In Shakespeares tales one find the true imitation of Ovids myth, but with differences of emphasis. In the changed context, Shakespeare scores over Ovid, as for its dramatic effect on the minds of the readers. In both the poems Adonis is not perturbed by Venus attraction towards him. But in Shakespeares version, he shuns her affection. This looks strange. Shakespeare avails the opportunity of presenting a woman more in love than the man she loves. This anti-thesis is intriguing for the reader. It leaves a telling effect on the mind of the reader, he is made to accept with wonder, what ordinarily does not happen in the game of love. In Ovids myth Adonis is a carefree, simple teenager, directionless and destination-less in the matter of love, but Shakespeare creates a bold character genuinely wishing to spurn Venus advances and his passion is only about hunting with his male friends. In the original story, Adonis dies alone, not in Shakespeares! By tendering a new state of mind of Adonis and by showing repulsion for the female love over preference for his male companions, Shakespeare drives home the issue of homosexuality. Readers do feel sympathy for Venus and condemnation for Adonis for his harsh attitudes....and Shakespeare succeeds in his game of writing by creating such tricky situations! Ovids version does not throw any hint on this aspect. “The Ovidian Venus and Adonis myth as the foundation for his epic poem named for the lovers provided Shakespeare with a compelling storyline and a witty style with which he could play, giving him free rein to write his creative masterpiece. Venus and Adonis makes "ingenious use of fables which had been central to the Elizabethan literary scene from the 1560s onward" (Maslen 28–29). The freedom Shakespeare found through Ovids tale allowed him to experiment and toy with convention, resulting in a highly sexual story with multiple levels of meaning.”(Search....)In fine, what Shakespeare elucidates in certain terms is the tragedy of desire. He follows the theme emphatically—desire is death. Ovids influence in Shakespeares “The Rapes of Lucrece.” Shakespeare owes a great debt of gratitude to Ovid in literature. But this debt is twice-blessed. It blesses the giver as well as the receiver. The third beneficiary is the reader, who enjoys the best of both the worlds in the form of their talents. Shakespeare had deep love for the classics of Ovid. He had it right from the beginning of his writing career. Bate writes, “ Shakespeare got a good enough education for him to be able to base his Lucrece on a story in Ovids Fasti, which was not published in an English translation until well after his death.”(13) In 1598 Francis Meres in Palladis Tamiawrote: "the sweete wittie soule of Ovid lives in mellifluous and honey-tongued Shakespeare, witness his Venus and Adonis, his Lucrece, his sugred sonnets among his private friends, etc." The early 20th century delineator of classical mythology, R. K. Root, says that the whole character of Shakespeares mythology is essentially Ovidian and that "Shakespeare himself has shown that he was proud to be Ovids successful ape."(Ovidius....) Influence and accepting the influence in the concrete form and integrating the original skills in ones own writing are no ordinary efforts. Shakespeare accepted Ovid as master of his poetry. Ovidian influence is seen his writing throughout but it is emphatic in two narrative poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. In realty Shakespeare is more a poet, than a playwright and that is what one terms as Ovidian influence on Shakespeare. The Rape of Lucrece (1594) is the second and last of Shakespeares narrative poems. It contains many Ovidian elements but it is not as much successful adaptation of Ovid as in Venus and Adonis. “ Some of its literary antecedents, the dreary moralizing of the Mirror for Magistrates and the complaint tradition, are definitely non-Ovidian. The tragic mode of the story does not blend well with an Ovidian tone which should be of the mixed, serio-comic variety. Nevertheless there are some aspects of the poem which show Ovidian influence. Both Livy and Ovid (Fasti, II, 685-852) provide source material for Shakespeare.” (Ovidius...) Now lets examine “The Rapes of Lucrece” at some length. The Livy account is short and begins with the military campaign against Ardea. The action is precipitated from this point. The topic of talk in the military camps by Roman husbands is about the virtue of their wives. This statement is put to test. On verification, only Lucrece, Collatines wife is found at home spinning, like a true house-wife engaged in domestic chores. But Tarquin, inflamed with lust, rapes Lucrece the next night. She reveals the ghastly episode to her husband and her father and then kills herself. Tarquin is punished and banished and monarchy from Rome goes along with him. Ovid begins with a different note. He initiates the episode indicating Tarquins cunning disposition in his defeat of Gabbi taking the advice of his father before the campaign against Ardea. Ovid pays more attention to the aspect of temptation of Tarquin and to Lucreces reaction—these expansions provide scope for long stretches of Shakespeares poem. The common point amongst Shakespeare and Ovid is the rudeness of Tarquins approach to Lucrece in bed in her private chamber. The final version of both the texts is the same-- if she refuses, Tarquin will not only kill her but will put a dead male slave in her bed so she will be discredited as for her character, for ever. Shakespeare took his option of developi9ng the poem calculatedly and in a leisurely style. He transforms Ovids 170 line short and crisp account into a poem of 1855 lines. This shows Shakespeares interest about this story. He creates a full-fledged story out of a synopsis as if! He reveals the latent dramatic talent within him in the beginning of the story and uses the flash-back technique. The story begins abruptly with Tarquin rushing to the house of Lucrece, then swings back to the night before and describes the jovial, enthusiastic and challenging scene in the military camp, that ultimately ends in tragedy. The basic action remains the same as it is essentially in Livy and Ovid. The highlight of the Shakespeare stamp on the poem is the 272 line complaint of Lucrfece( longer than the original poem of Ovid) in which Shakespeare probes the depth of emotions of an extremely hurt woman, who is readying for the ultimate commitment of ending her life, unable to bear the indignities heaped on her by Tarquin. Shakespeare amplifies the core material of the story-- grief and sorrow of Lucrece--magnificently. Shakespeare “owes much of its mood to the complaints found in Ovids Heroides, particularly that of Ariadne deserted on Naxos by Theseus. Tarquins shifting thoughts, as he contemplates the rape of Lucrece, have an Ovidian analogue in the conflicting thoughts of Myrrha who sexually desires her father.”(Ovidius....) Conclusion: Bate observes, “ The fact of Shakespeares imitation of Ovid is beyond dispute; it is much more difficult to be sure of its implications.”(9)So much has been written, recorded and discussed about the influence of Ovid on the writings of Shakespeare, if both of them are to appear for an examination to critically review the contribution of Ovid on Shakespeares writings, they may find it difficult to cope up with the syllabus! Jonathan Bate in his book “Shakespeare and Ovid”, puts it beautifully and succinctly, “One aim of my book is to convince those who enjoy Shakespeare that they will also enjoy Ovid.”(p. xv) Adaptation and expanding ideas brilliantly is no ordinary task. How eminently suited was Shakespeare to work on the writings and themes of Ovid! Bate writes, “ We need stories to help us make sense of the world. Things change. Men and women are driven, powerfully if not exclusively, by sexual desire(men in more aggressive ways).Myth, metamorphosis, sexuality: doubtless Shakespeare knew something about them by instinct: as a young man who got an older woman pregnant and then married her, he must have known a good deal about one of them from experience; but much of his most profound and characteristic thinking about them was derived from his reading of Ovid.”(p.1) His literary genius and practical experience made a perfect blending for great literature to see the light of the day from his pen. ********** Works Cited: Bate,Jonathan. Shakespeare and Ovid-1993;Google Books. Ovidius Naso was the Man:" Shakespeares Debt to -The Rape of Lucrece department.monm.edu/history/faculty_forum/OVID.htm - Cached – Retrieved on February 17,2010. Search Results Venus and Adonis in Elizabethan England:Ovid’s Metamorphoses Transformed. Article by: By Laura Finarell – Retrieved on February 17,2010. Read More