Category: Lucrece

Thank you to Robin Hizme for returning once again to offer her introduction to “Lucrece.”

Robin Hizme teaches English and Humanities at Queens College, CUNY, where she also directs the collaboration between Queens College and Townsend Harris High School. When stressed, she recites Shakespearean insults to an imaginary audience; when serene, she composes poetry with her magnetic Shakespeare’s Love Kit.

Many thanks to my friend Joey Bianco of Whim Wham for the animated video elements.

Here are some helpful resources to enhance your experience of “Lucrece”:

• The Folger Shakespeare Library offers a good written introduction to “Lucrece,” including information about Shakespeare’s sources.
• The Shakespeare Study Guide offers brief introductory material to the poem.
• The complete audio version of Richard Burton reading “Lucrece” is on YouTube.
• View a Royal Shakespeare Company performance of “To Kill Myself,” adapted from “Lucrece.” You can find other videos in the series here.

Enjoy these different takes on the story of Lucrece, some inspired by Shakespeare and some predating him.