The participants in the lesson, who compel viewers' eyes, are shown as indifferent to their own beauty, a complexity of the work which invites moral reflection. The opera was first performed in Whitehall, London. At the time, it may be noted incidentally, the Whitehall ceiling featured little cupids painted by Rubens. The opera libretto tells of Venus and Adonis, their passion, and Adonis' call to slay a rampant wild boar, which in the end slays him. While Adonis is away at the hunt, Act II presents a domestic scene to the audience.
Cupid impatiently awaits the lesson which Venus prepares to teach.
She sings it to him, and he, in turn, sings to the little Cupids, as though in the role of student teacher. Take some affected wanton she, As faithless and as wild as he. The little Cupids then echo Cupid's last phrase. If there is no malice implied in the prescriptions, there is clearly an exaltation of Cupid's power over rationality. Ironists may delight in seeing the smallest, youngest of the gods as most powerful.