Ovid's influence in Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis and The Rapes of Essay

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