Chastity and Roman Virtue

One of the central themes of the poem is chastity, specifically embodied in the character of Lucrece. Lucrece is frequently called “the chaste” throughout the poem, attaching this virtue to her like a classical epithet (7). Chastity, as a virtue, was enormously important in ancient Rome. Women’s chastity was seen as the feminine analogy to masculine virtus, which was the principle expectation about how citizens would behave in Roman public life. It was not just a personal concern between a woman and her husband. It was a woman’s duty to her entire society to remain a chaste wife and a symbol of Roman social values.

Understanding these social expectations is critical to understanding the plot of the poem and how the characters act within it. Because chastity and fidelity within marriage was not considered to be a private concern in Rome, Tarquin...