Venus and Adonis (Vol. 33) | Lucy Gent (essay date 1974)
Lucy Gent (essay date 1974)
SOURCE: "Venus and Adonis: The Triumph of Rhetoric," in Modern Language Review, Vol. 69, No. 4, October, 1974, pp. 721-29.
[In this essay, Gent argues that the use of rhetoric in Venus and Adonis illuminates the central issue in the poem: the relationship between hyperbole and reality.]
Rhetoric in Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis is usually thought of as remarkably plentiful, and very well done—but rather tedious, and not relevant to our understanding of the meaning of the poem. I should like to explore its prevalence and how, as a critical guide, it leads us to what is perhaps the central issue: the relation between hyperbole and reality. Indeed, it structures the poem in a number of ways; for Shakespeare engages in a rhetorical contest with Marlowe's Hero and Leander, and also makes Venus engage in what amounts to a rhetorical contest with Adonis. These rivalries, within and...
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