Shakespeare and the Scriptures: The Intertexuality between Venus and Adonis and Josephs Story

Zusatztext

I first conceived the idea of the analogy between Shakespeares Venus and Adonis and Josephs story in the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran when I was a masters 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 Venuss seduction to Adonis with Josephs 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 Josephs story while reading Shakespeares poem and listening attentively to the interpretation of the professor. At first, I did not know that the main events of Josephs story are presented in the Bible like the ones are in the Quran. As a result, I started investigating Josephs 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 Shakespeares poem.

Autorenportrait

S.K.M. Al-Kamal is a writer and a researcher. He is the author of The Orientalism of Edgar Allan Poe. Bachelor English (2011), University of Baghdad. master's degree in English (2015) from United States of America. He is currently an English instructor at Al-Karkh University of Science. Phone No.: 00964-7732380901, E.mail: sohaib89@kus.edu.iq.

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