Shakespeare and the Scriptures: The Intertexuality between Venus and Adonis and Joseph’s Story

I first conceived the idea of the analogy between Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis and Joseph’s story in the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran when I was a master’s student at Missouri State University. In Shakespeare class, the professor interpreted critical and thematic elements of the poem. Focusing all my attention on the speech of the professor, I started connecting the scenario of Venus’s seduction to Adonis with Joseph’s story. Giving my opinion of the close parallel that attracted my attention, the professor unhesitatingly agreed with my opinion saying that the poem can be interpreted by being compared with a religious text. As a Muslim reader being aware of the Quranic stories, I immediately put in my mind Joseph’s story while reading Shakespeare’s poem and listening attentively to the interpretation of the professor. At first, I did not know that the main events of Joseph’s story are presented in the Bible like the ones are in the Quran. As a result, I started investigating Joseph’s story in the Bible— in the book of Genesis in particular. I was astonished to see that the story is found in the Bible and is analogous to Shakespeare’s poem.