Abstract This paper compares and contrasts William Shakespeare's "The Rape of Lucrece" with Thomas Nashe's "The Unfortunate Traveller", pointing out that, although Nashe's work was published after Shakespeare's, both contain a very brutal rape scene. The paper then attempts to identify what is both similar and different about each rape scene by comparing and contrasting the works in terms of motivation, plot, character and outcome.
From the Paper "In The Rape of Lucrece the motivation of Tarquin is more subtle. There is no evidence that he has done such a thing before, although he is guilty of an inflated case of pride. However, it is clear that he is an honorable soldier and friend, at least initially. His motivation comes from lust born of hearing about Lucrece's beauty. One could therefore say that this is not a case of habit or of greed, but of lust alone."
