Venus de Milo Symbol
The title of the play, "Venus", is a symbol of the physical appearance and medical condition affecting the main character, Sarah Baartman. She suffers from steatopygia which is a condition that deposits abnormal amounts of fatty tissue around the buttocks and upper thighs of a woman who is otherwise regular sized, and who consequently appears out of proportion, reminiscent of Botticelli's "Venus de Milo".
Freakshow Symbol
The freak shows similar to the one in which Sarah Baartman appeared were a symbol of the insatiable appetite of the general public of the time for the shocking and the unexplainable. They were also a symbol of a lack of knowledge, in that anything that was not yet explained by science or research was dismissed as freakish of something to be gawked at rather than as something to be researched or treated with sensitivity.
Women as a Possession Motif
Throughout the play, we see that women were possessions of men rather than their equals. Sarah's case is somewhat extreme, but this is an era pre-suffragettes when a woman would think what her husband told her she thought and therefore had no need of a vote in any case. Sarah was a possession of Mother Showman, who purchased her, and then of Baron Docteur, who purchased her from Mother Showman. Similar to cattle a woman could be bought and sold according to her usefulness to the owner and buyer. We see this motif throughout the play.
Gonorrhea Symbol
Sarah contracted gonorrhea from her owner/lover Baron Docteur, which was a symbol of his lasciviousness and promiscuous nature and lifestyle. The fact she is his mistress, rather than his girlfriend or his wife, is also a symbol of this.
Hottentot Symbol
Sarah's "stage" name is Hottentot Venus, a term that symbolizes her Khoikhoi heritage and ethnicity. A Hottentot was someone descending from the Khoikhoi tribe, a nomadic people from the non-Bantu region of South Africa. The name when given to Sarah symbolized both that she was going to be a full figured African woman, and that the audiences watching her thought of her people in a derogatory manner.
