DHSHX Main Menu Introduction: What's Digital Shakespeare? An explanation of why this book exists. Learning Goals & This Book The learning goals that this book will address Where to Start in this Book A List of Primary Paths Available in the Book "DH" | Digital Methods for Literary Study An opening Page containing paths for learning about digital methods & the study of Literature/Shakespeare Shakespeare: The Basics Shakespeare: The Digital Path for how digital technology enhances the study of Shakespeare's works Units on Specific Works Home Page for Paths with Specific Plays & Poems "DH" Assignments Assignments that make use of digital texts, tools, or both

Digital Assignment: Comparing Shakespeare's Venus & Adonis to Other representations

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Shakespeare's representations of the principle characters in Venus and Adonis are distinct from those by other writers and artists, even (or especially) the story as Ovid tells it in Book X of The Metamorphoses. How different? Well, take a look for yourself...

The sheer number of works depicting Venus and Adonis is evidence that the story was compelling to artists contemporary with Shakespeare. You may have seen some of them before; others, like the painting by Cornelis van Haarlem (1562-1638) may be new to you. For this assignment, you'll use various websites to explore the two characters as they are portrayed together and apart.  

1) Browse the pieces contemporary with Shakespeare's that depict Venus and Adonis together in any of the following museum sites:(If any of the links above don't work, search the collection on your own, using a date-range between 1500 and 1800 and the phrase "Venus and Adonis" as well as "Venus" and "Adonis" searches)  

2) Browse the same sites using just one name at a time: search for "Venus" and see what other representations you can find; then search as well for "Adonis" to see what representations you can find. If you're having trouble finding Adonis on his own or without Venus, conduct an image search on Google using "Adonis" and "art" or "painting" as search terms.

3) Choose one or two representations of both figures together as well as one or two images of Venus without Adonis or Adonis without Venus. Making sure you've copied over the citation information, insert the image(s) into a document. Then type up some notes about what you see. Consider the following:4) Now return to Shakespeare's poem. Do the depictions you see in other forms of art share features of characterization and character? Find specific lines that exemplify his sense of these figures and determine the extent to which Shakespeare's representations are working within or against established or conventional frameworks.

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  1. Venus and Adonis Kristin Denslow

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  1. "DH" Assignments Olga Valbuena

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