Essay Questions

How does the treatment of women in the poem lead to an understanding of Lucrece's decision to kill herself?

The question of Lucrece's suicide opens this poem to a feminist critique of the position of women in this period, and specifically the question of women as defined by their virtue. Lucrece chooses to kill herself out of the belief that she is no longer clean/worthy, and the poem in fact emphasizes this by praising her decision. These details paint suicide as the only option, and indeed the preferred option, for a woman in Lucrece's position, thereby emphasizing the importance of female virtue and chastity in determining female value. Lucrece's response to her rape is violently cleansing, but is directed inward rather than outward to her attacker. Thus, the burden of blame falls on Lucrece in the aftermath of her assault.

What does the characterization of Lucrece's suicide say about her own society, as well as the society in which Shakespeare wrote?

Interestingly, Lucrece's suicide is characterized as a positive act within the poem because it appears as an attempt to preserve her honor. However, during Shakespeare's time the act of suicide was considered a mortal sin and abhorrent to god, so it is difficult to reconcile these two perspectives. This means that there must be a reason that Shakespeare would characterize Lucrece's suicide as positive, a reason which could connect Lucrece's time with Shakespeare's in their views of women. This connection comes in the form of honor and female virtue, a highly prized value which was in many ways just as restrictive in Shakespeare's time as in Lucrece's. This value ensures that just as Lucrece's suicide was seen as the correct course of action in the histories dating from its original time period, it is also seen as a laudable course of action in Shakespeare's time, making the story more powerful to his contemporary audiences because of these connecting values.

Lucrece's suicide appears as an attempt to regain self-control, the only option for her as a woman to do so. How does Tarquin, by contrast, interact with the issues of power and control, particularly considering self-control or a lack thereof?

Tarquin's position in the poem is characterized both by power and control: He has a prominent position in the army, and his assault on Lucrece is a direct assertion of power and control over a female body. Ironically, Tarquin's assertion of control over Lucrece is spurred by a lack of control over his own self. Tarquin attempts to restrain himself from acting on his desires but is unable to, which leads to Lucrece's death and the eventual revocation of his power. The argument in Tarquin's story is not necessarily that controlling and dominating others is bad, but that a lack of self-control is the easiest road to destruction. Where Lucrece is viewed as a martyr because of her decision to control her fate in the only way possible, suicide, Tarquin is reviled for his lack of control over his own actions, revealing the value that society places on the quality of self-control.