The Rape of Lucrece is more serious. It tells the story of Lucretia, an aristocratic Roman matron who is raped by Tarquin, the son of the Roman king. He steals into her bedroom determined to have his way with her, and the first half of the poem is told from his point of view as she begs to be spared. Nothing moves him. He tells her:

The last half of the poem is told from her point of view, and focuses on the terrible experience she has just endured. Despite her distress she proclaims, “I am the mistress of my fate,” and she decides to tell everyone what has happened to her before she kills herself. She tells her husband, father, and his lords what has been done to her and demands vengeance. Then she stabs herself in the heart to allow her soul to escape, and her bloody corpse is paraded through the streets of Rome. Tarquin is banished, and according to legend, the political fallout of the rape ended the rule by kings and led to the establishment of the Roman Republic.