Primary Sources
Lucas Cranach the Younger
Lucretia
1. Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Legend of the Good Women.” The Complete
Poetry and Prose of Geoffrey Chaucer. Ed. John H. Fisher. New
York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977. 648-651. Print.
This is a re-telling of the story of Lucrece by Geoffrey Chaucer. It has been included in with his legends of “Good Women” which is of interest to this resource page about Lucrece as a good woman and a good wife.This is a useful source to gain another sense of the woman Lucrece was.
2. Ellis, Havelock, ed. “The Rape of Lucrece”. The Best Plays of the Old
Dramatists; Thomas Heywood. London: Vizetelly & Co. 1888. Print
This is an original play written by play-write Thomas Heywood. Heywood was a popular play-write and actor during the end of the Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre era. He was delving into theatre life alongside of Shakespeare and these artists usually wrote on similar topics. So it is not a surprise that they would both have an interpretation of the tragic story of Lucrece. This version of the ancient story was written in play form in the year of 1607. It is often compared to Shakespeare’s 1594 version of the tale, which was written in poem form. This is a great source for a resource page about Lucrece because it provides another example of how Lucrece was characterized during the renaissance period. It is useful for a comparative analysis with Shakespeare’s interpretation of the play and provides another account of how Lucrece was depicted as a wife. This play includes a lot more background information for the story. The audience also learns a great deal more about the characters through their dialogue. This text includes a lot of lines spoken by Lucrece giving the audience more insight into the type of woman that she was.
3. Livius, Titus. The History of Rome. 25-27 b.c.e. Perseus Digital Library. Web.
18. April .2013.
This text is not from the period of Shakespeare but it is important to the resource page as a first hand account of the story from the perspective of Roman citizen.This text includes the greatest moments of the history or Rome and the fact the story of Lucrece is present within the moments proves its importance to history. This resource will provide background information and at a glance at the foundation of the culture that Lucrece is from. This is important to the study of Lucrece as woman and as wife. As we study who Lucrece was in these roles we will need to know what the society that created and placed her in these roes was like
4. Sices, David., James B. Atkinson, ed. “The Mandrake.”The Comedies of Machiavelli. Hanover:
University Press of New England, 1985. 153-176. Print.
This is a satirical play that basically tells the story of the rape of Lucrece but he changes it a little bit for entertainment purposes. This play, performed in 1518, is about a woman name “Lucrezia” who is tricked by another man named “ Callimaco” to disregard her marriage vows and sleep with him. This is an interesting depiction of this story and takes a different approach to the story and would be an interesting comparison to Shakespeare’s version.
5. Shakespeare, William. “The Rape of Lucrece”. The Norton Shakespeare. 2 ed.
Eds. Stephen Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, and Katherine
Eisamen Maus. New York: W.W. Norton &Co., 2008. 669-710. Print.
This is the main focus of the resource page and the most important resource to this site. This is Shakespeare’s poetic re-telling of the story of when Lucrece was raped and the government of Rome was changed dramatically. This text will be analyzed to reveal the type of the character that Shakespeare portrayed Lucrece as, specifically in the society role that she filled of wife and woman. This will be the primary text used throughout the resource page to determine who Lucrece was and how she acted within her roles. Through this resource, Lucrece will be examined as the ideal good wife, one who will make the ultimate sacrifice for her husbands honor.
6. Van Rijn , Rembrandt. Lucricia. 1666. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis.
This is a popular painting by the Dutch painter Rembrandt Van Rijn. Rembrandt is usually considered to be one of the greatest artists of European art history. Rembrandt was especially known for life-like portraits and narrative paintings. There were many paintings of lucrece most of them depict the actual rape scene with usually Sextus Tarquin in a dominating position over Lucrece or the scene where lucrece commits suicide, such as the one cited here. I included a painting by Rembrandt of the suicide scene because it is her greatest act as woman and as wife, which is the focus topic of this resource page.
Poetry and Prose of Geoffrey Chaucer. Ed. John H. Fisher. New
York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977. 648-651. Print.
This is a re-telling of the story of Lucrece by Geoffrey Chaucer. It has been included in with his legends of “Good Women” which is of interest to this resource page about Lucrece as a good woman and a good wife.This is a useful source to gain another sense of the woman Lucrece was.
2. Ellis, Havelock, ed. “The Rape of Lucrece”. The Best Plays of the Old
Dramatists; Thomas Heywood. London: Vizetelly & Co. 1888. Print
This is an original play written by play-write Thomas Heywood. Heywood was a popular play-write and actor during the end of the Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre era. He was delving into theatre life alongside of Shakespeare and these artists usually wrote on similar topics. So it is not a surprise that they would both have an interpretation of the tragic story of Lucrece. This version of the ancient story was written in play form in the year of 1607. It is often compared to Shakespeare’s 1594 version of the tale, which was written in poem form. This is a great source for a resource page about Lucrece because it provides another example of how Lucrece was characterized during the renaissance period. It is useful for a comparative analysis with Shakespeare’s interpretation of the play and provides another account of how Lucrece was depicted as a wife. This play includes a lot more background information for the story. The audience also learns a great deal more about the characters through their dialogue. This text includes a lot of lines spoken by Lucrece giving the audience more insight into the type of woman that she was.
3. Livius, Titus. The History of Rome. 25-27 b.c.e. Perseus Digital Library. Web.
18. April .2013.
This text is not from the period of Shakespeare but it is important to the resource page as a first hand account of the story from the perspective of Roman citizen.This text includes the greatest moments of the history or Rome and the fact the story of Lucrece is present within the moments proves its importance to history. This resource will provide background information and at a glance at the foundation of the culture that Lucrece is from. This is important to the study of Lucrece as woman and as wife. As we study who Lucrece was in these roles we will need to know what the society that created and placed her in these roes was like
4. Sices, David., James B. Atkinson, ed. “The Mandrake.”The Comedies of Machiavelli. Hanover:
University Press of New England, 1985. 153-176. Print.
This is a satirical play that basically tells the story of the rape of Lucrece but he changes it a little bit for entertainment purposes. This play, performed in 1518, is about a woman name “Lucrezia” who is tricked by another man named “ Callimaco” to disregard her marriage vows and sleep with him. This is an interesting depiction of this story and takes a different approach to the story and would be an interesting comparison to Shakespeare’s version.
5. Shakespeare, William. “The Rape of Lucrece”. The Norton Shakespeare. 2 ed.
Eds. Stephen Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, and Katherine
Eisamen Maus. New York: W.W. Norton &Co., 2008. 669-710. Print.
This is the main focus of the resource page and the most important resource to this site. This is Shakespeare’s poetic re-telling of the story of when Lucrece was raped and the government of Rome was changed dramatically. This text will be analyzed to reveal the type of the character that Shakespeare portrayed Lucrece as, specifically in the society role that she filled of wife and woman. This will be the primary text used throughout the resource page to determine who Lucrece was and how she acted within her roles. Through this resource, Lucrece will be examined as the ideal good wife, one who will make the ultimate sacrifice for her husbands honor.
6. Van Rijn , Rembrandt. Lucricia. 1666. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis.
This is a popular painting by the Dutch painter Rembrandt Van Rijn. Rembrandt is usually considered to be one of the greatest artists of European art history. Rembrandt was especially known for life-like portraits and narrative paintings. There were many paintings of lucrece most of them depict the actual rape scene with usually Sextus Tarquin in a dominating position over Lucrece or the scene where lucrece commits suicide, such as the one cited here. I included a painting by Rembrandt of the suicide scene because it is her greatest act as woman and as wife, which is the focus topic of this resource page.