Justice and Prosperity in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

The cycle of hatred and animosity are evident in The Merchant of Venice most clearly through Jessica’s deplorable treachery of Shylock (Blanchard). The theft of his money and jewels was considered by the Christians a credit to her integrity rather than the consummate maliciousness it truly is. She is absolved from any culpability for her betrayal of Shylock; she is praised for her ability to deceive and defraud her father in a culture that sanctioned paternal piety (Picker). She marries the Christian Lorenzo in hopes of improved egalitarianism; she soon discovers that this will not be the case. Her profound guilt and strict upbringing as a Jewish female are revealed in the conversation between herself and Lorenzo:

In Elizabethan Society during the time in which William Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice, many marriages were arranged by the parents of the betrothed couple to ensure the transfer of wealth as opposed to assuring true love. Once married, the woman was expected to be subservient to her husband and not control any matters of the estate. Although not necessarily written as a stance on women’s position in society, it is from this perspective that Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice laying down an underlying theme of marriage for wealth within the play. Love in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice is bartered like a tradable commodity in order to gain money, status, and resources.

Shakespeare engages a modern audience through the character Shylock. Shylock in The Merchant of Venice is the antagonist of the play and is subject to sequences of misfortune, much to the delight of the Elizabethan audience. However, in a modern context we show slight feelings of sympathy towards him as a result of today’s ideologies. Upon meeting Shylock we see that his religious standing puts him in an isolated position against the Venetian society. A line is recited

Many would perceive madness and corruption to play the most influential role in Hamlet. However, it could be argued that the central theme in the tragedy is Shakespeare's presentation of actors and acting and the way it acts as a framework on which madness and corruption are built. Shakespeare manifests the theme of actors and acting in the disassembly of his characters, the façades that the individuals assume and the presentation of the `play within a play'. This intertwined pretence allows certain characters to manipulate the actions and thoughts of others. For this reason, it could be perceived that Shakespeare views the `Elsinorean' tragedy as

Looking into Shakespeare’s work, the class and I got to view “The Merchant of Venice”. I

In a book or play, it is usually very easy to distinguish who the victim is and who the villain is. The villain usually causes all the problems in the story line and the victim is the one who suffers in result of the villain’s actions. In the play The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, we examine the life of Shylock as a victim. It is seen through three main events in the play. Shylock is ridiculed by his community and his family, he is betrayed by his daughter and the community he lives in, and he is forced to lose all his wealth.

The three caskets not only determine the fait of Portia’s hand in marriage but they become a symbol for the suitors who chose them. The men in line all hold different interpretations of the messages on the caskets and each character’s understanding becomes a symbol of their personality.

In this thesis, there will be dealt with honour in three of Shakespeare’s tragedies: Hamlet, Othello and Romeo and Juliet. The aim of this thesis is to deal with honour not as a positive contributor but as a destructive element. Because in the three tragedies we will analyse honour has been the triger towards vengeance. In the writing of this thesis consulting many Shakespearean scholars has been necessary and vital. One of the main ones is Harold Bloom. Bloom has a deep appreciation for Shakespeare (Bloom 1994, pp. 2–3) and considers him to be the supreme center of the Western Canon. (Bloom 1994, pp. 24–5). He has written numeral works regarding different aspects of Shakespeare as a playwright. In 1998 Bloom conducted a survey named “Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human.” In this survey Bloom provides a detailed analysis of each of Shakespeare's 38 plays, "twenty-four of which are masterpieces." (Bloom, 1998). Since it is written as a companion to the general reader and theatergoer, Bloom states that bardolatry "ought to be even more a secular religion than it already is. (Bloom,

While A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice have extremely different plots and storylines, there are some similarities that we can point to. In both plays, characters grapple with how to prioritize their friendships and their marriage relationships. One common theme that we can point to is the dominance of women by males. That being said, characters reacted very differently when the demands of the relationships come into conflict. When analyzing the two plays, it is crucial to take into consideration the culture of the era in which the plays were written. Shakespeare lived during the Elizabethan

William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice "The Merchant of Venice" by William Shakespeare features, Shylock a very controversial character due to his religion, profession and personal traits. Professionally Shylock lends money to people in debt, in order to gain interest and profit. Although, this is very much central to our modern way of life, in the Elizabethan period, money lending was not accepted as an acceptable profession. Throughout "The Merchant of Venice" Shylock is portrayed as menacing, inhumane and slightly eccentric, yet at times misunderstood and induces sympathy from the reader. His personal traits and beliefs evoke complex emotions.

The Merchant of Venice offers another unique perspective on crossdressing as it existed on the English Renaissance stage. Howard suggests that Portia’s crossdressing is “more disruptive than Viola’s” (Howard, p. 433) because Portia herself was an unruly woman to begin with. Portia has become the master of her own destiny with the passing of her father, for she is referred to as the Lord of Belmont now that no man exists to fill such a role. What remains of the patriarchal authority, particularly the casket trial by which Portia’s future husband must be chosen, is even subverted by Portia’s ability to guide her suitors to a proper or incorrect choice. Her seemingly innate guile and resourcefulness set the stage for her entry into the male arena and the inversion created by her crossdressing (Newman, pp. 26-28).

In Act 2 Scene 4 Jessica decides to leave her father and her home to elope with a Christian man Lorenzo. This strengthens the concept of Shylock being a heartless villain because his child feels she must leave without a word of her desires. This shows that Jessica knows that her father would not listen to or consider her feelings for Lorenzo so she must steal and run away from him. On the night she leaves she says with little remorse ‘Farewell; and if my fortune be not crost, I have a father, you a daughter, lost.’ This shows that her childhood was not happy and that she was ‘ashamed to be her father’s daughter’. This is further evidence of Shylocks heartlessness.

The Merchant Of Venice is structured partly on the contrast between idealistic and realistic opinions about society and relationships. The play tells us mercy is preferable to revenge. Shylock chose revenge over mercy against Antonio and how his choices affected him. The Court of Venice begging mercy of Shylock. Finally, Portia forgiving Bassanio for giving away his wedding band.

In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, one recurring pattern is male fixation with law and justice.

Can time and historical events affect the categorization of a literary piece? William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is a play that is difficult to classify in a specific genre. It is often referred to as one of his problem plays. This means that it does not easily fall into a single category. Most literary sources categorize The Merchant of Venice as a comedy because it fits the description by having a happy ending. There are those, however, that discuss the dark side of the play and insist that the play could also be classified as a tragedy. Due to the plays’ complexity and the events of history, it can be argued that