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The Rape of Lucrece

Genre
Poem
Written
1593–1594
Setting
Rome and Collatium, at the fall of the monarchy
Difficulty
4 / 5

Synopsis

Published in 1594 as a graver companion to Venus and Adonis (again dedicated to Southampton), this 1855-line poem retells a foundational Roman story from Livy and Ovid. Sextus Tarquinius, son of the tyrant king, is inflamed by the chastity of Lucrece, wife of his comrade Collatine. He rides to her house, is received as a guest, and rapes her at knife-point that night. Overwhelmed with shame, Lucrece summons her husband and father, reveals the crime, exacts their oath of revenge, and stabs herself. Her kinsman Brutus turns the outrage into revolution: the Tarquins are expelled and Rome becomes a republic. In grave rhyme-royal stanzas the poem dwells on the psychology of lust and guilt and on Lucrece's long laments. (The poem depicts sexual assault and suicide.)

Read

  1. The Rape of Lucrece

    Tarquin's lust, the rape of Lucrece, her laments and suicide, and Brutus's revolt that expels the kings and founds the Republic.

    1. Part 1 — Lines 1–210
    2. Part 2 — Lines 211–420
    3. Part 3 — Lines 421–630
    4. Part 4 — Lines 631–840
    5. Part 5 — Lines 841–1050
    6. Part 6 — Lines 1051–1260
    7. Part 7 — Lines 1261–1470
    8. Part 8 — Lines 1471–1680
    9. Part 9 — Lines 1681–1855

Characters

  • Lucrece protagonist

    The chaste wife of Collatine, renowned for her virtue. Raped by Tarquin, she reveals the crime, binds her kin to revenge, and takes her own life.

  • Sextus Tarquinius antagonist

    Son of the tyrant king Tarquinius Superbus. Inflamed by Lucrece's fame for chastity, he abuses his welcome as a guest and rapes her at knife-point.

  • Collatine supporting

    Lucrece's husband, whose boast of her chastity provokes Tarquin's desire; one of the avengers of her death.

  • Lucius Junius Brutus supporting

    Lucrece's kinsman, who turns her suicide into political revolt — expelling the Tarquins and founding the Roman Republic. Ancestor of Caesar's Brutus.

Cross-references