Shakespeare's 'Venus and Adonis'

Cleocima | 19:16 Mon 28th Jan 2008 | Arts & Literature

5 Answers

Line number 95 of Venus and Adonis: 'O, pity,' 'gan she cry, 'flint-hearted boy!
Does the 'she' here simply mean 'her', or am I missing something?

book title

dtgk 26.01.08

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Quizmonster

Venus has been begging Adonis for some sign of his love and he has just - apparently - offered to kiss her. However, he turned away at the last moment. The line you quote refers to her reaction...ie she started to cry and accused him of having a heart of stone.

Cleocima

Question Author

Thank you, I can see all that, but it would then appear that the line means: 'O, pity' began HER cry,,,,, Does this mean that 'she' in Shakespeare's time could be used for 'her'?

Quizmonster

"(Be)gan she (to) cry"...is what the phrase means. The missing 'be' from the start of 'began' and the missing 'to' are what seem to be confusing you.

Quizmonster

I meant to add above that "she began to cry" would be the modern equivalent, but in Shakespeare's day - or even in verse generally - different word-order was/is common.

Cleocima

Question Author

Thank you very much. The missing 'be' was not a problem, but the missing 'to' most definitely was.

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