Identity in Venus and Adonis

While initially I set out to write a lengthy post full of academic jargon discussing identity in relation to inheritance and family in Titus Andronicus, I was so struck by Shakespeare’s characterization of Venus in Venus and Adonis that I will instead turn the focus of this post to her. In doing so, I will walk the border between the topics of identity and sexuality, as the aspect of the poem that most struck me was Shakespeare’s bold reversal of contemporary perceptions gender roles.

Rather than describing Venus as she is typically depicted: the platonic essence of femininity, coyly posed on the half-shell awaiting a mate, Shakespeare depicts an entirely different character. Shakespeare’s Venus is in contradiction not only with her typical mythological manifestation, but she is also very different than the typical 16^th century woman. She is more masculine and powerful than the meek Adonis, while still entirely embodying sexuality and the battle for power that it entails. 

As I have mentioned previously in this blog, gender is very much part of one’s identity, including both components that are biological and fixed as well as ones that are fluid, performative, and influenced by culture. One would think that a figure such as Venus, whose identity is preconceived in the minds of most as the Roman goddess of love, beauty, and sex, has an entirely fixed identity that is wholly feminine. Shakespeare does not accept this: in depicting his Venus as older, stronger, less attractive, and more assertive than the more typically feminine youth Adonis, Shakespeare questions not only the identity of Venus the goddess, but gender identity as a whole. 

Courtly poetry of Shakespeare’s time is wrought with men seeking the affections (and sex) of a female beloved, and praising her beauty. Venus and Adonis does the opposite. Venus refers to Adonis as “Trise fairer than my selfe”, and proceeds to attempt to seduce him, despite his protests. This reinforces the idea that one’s identity is largely determined by how those surrounding them perceive their physical attractiveness, but questions the notion that beauty is more valuable in a woman than in a man that would have been even more prevalent in Shakespeare’s time than it is today.

This emphasis on the physical continues (it is a poem about a seduction, after all), in the form of Venus describing her own physical merits, and consequentially questioning how Adonis could not return her attraction:

 “Thou canst not see one wrinkle in my brow;

Mine eyes are grey, and bright, and quick in turning:

My beauty as the spring does yearly grow,

My flesh is soft and plump, my marrow burning,

My smooth moist hand, were it with thy hand felt,

Would in thy palm dissolve, or seem to melt.”

    Again, Shakespeare turns the courtly poetry of his time on its head. Venus' beauty is described, but by herself rather than a male admirer. Our own physical appearance, sexuality, and power dynamics largely shape who we are, both as determined by ourselves and others -- and Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis is a prime example of gender and sexuality shaping identity in atypical ways, using Ovid and classic mythology as a vehicle.