Venus and Adonis

A reader’s edition, modernized language ( you for thee, etc.) and glossary for unfamiliar words. Venus and Adonis was published early in Shakespeare’s career, establishing his reputation as a poet before that of playwright, as plays were not considered literature at the time. He draws on stories from Ovid to expound on his major theme: Love. In Shakespeare’s version, Venus is the aggressor, Adonis is a youth who resists. He was set for hunting the boar when interrupted by Venus. By the end of the longpoem, Venus catalogs the various ways that love affects people, changes them, torments them. The source of this poem, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a huge work, is currently available online for free at www.bandannabooks.com/ovid. Once illustrations are complete, the Ovid book will come out as The Changes. More than a dozen plays of Shakespeare can be found at http: //www.bandannabooks.com/drama.php, some of them in the form of Playbooks designed for directors and producers to keep tabs on all the elements that go into play production.