Literary Criticism Of William Shakespeare 's ' The Merchant Of Venice '

Without a doubt, Shylock of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice has been a subject of much controversy and debate for scholars and critics worldwide. Specifically, an element of his character that has been thoroughly reviewed is the harshness with which he proposes his bond with Antonio. As contemporary readers of the pound of flesh story we are naturally mortified by the fact that Shylock would call for such barbarous terms. What many of us do not realize is that while we might feel horror about the idea of the bond, the same is not necessarily true for an Elizabethan audience. This story has been a major source of misunderstanding for many of its readers, as

Feminist literary theory assumes that a text is not simply a work of fictional literature that is separated entirely from the physical world. In this lens, the boundaries are non existent. The circumstances of how a work was written influence its criticism and analysis. The location, gender and class of the author and characters are vital to a feminist criticism (Feminist Literary Theory 1) .

When on the topic of feminist writing, understanding the time period in which the author’s writing takes place persists as vastly important. Historically speaking, western culture follows a model thoroughly dominated by men. That commonality remains

As a result of the abuse female characters have faced, it has become an objective for authors to prevent this. There have been clear strides recently, putting women as the protagonists, and not in a manner that has them dealing with persecution. The amount of strong, female characters is a large stride in the right direction to end the conflict regarding women’s roles in literature. However, this sudden influx of women in literature may lead to the reversal of the issue; the absence or abuse of men. While certainly literary equality is the end goal, to flip the issue would be just as bad and lead to sexism on the opposite spectrum. To truly mend the rift between genders, there must be no discrimination, the idea that an author is trying to use sexist undertones by not writing the lead as a female should not have to be an idea that readers think about when analyzing modern books. While even still there are issues of gender inequality in literature, there must be moderation from both ends for a resolution to be possible. The only way for equality to be achieved is with the absence of sexist ideals from all

American Literature has always been about men and for men. In this essay, we are going to analyze the women’s role in the book, as inferior and weaker gender.

Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is so alike to our financially afflicted world. The rules of law and commerce are subject to deceptive manipulation, fear of "the other" overwhelms respect for a common humanity, duplicity is the norm, sexuality is a vehicle for ambition, and money drives and wraps almost every action. It is a classic tale that includes important details of the financial crisis in the United States during 2007-2009. Shakespeare’s Venice, like the New York of his time - and the financial capitals of ours - is a city based on borrowing, on market speculation and greed masquerading as wealth and sophistication. Behind the curtains of the practice of lending and borrowing money in Shakespeare’s play lay the transition to capitalism: the rise of banking system; the scarcity for credit in developing industrial enterprises; and the growing dispute of default facing both aristocratic landlords and, above all, small, independent early entrepreneurs on trading ventures. Even though almost 600 years apart from each other, both Shakespeare’s tale and the financial crisis in the United States during 2007-2009 have a similar financial dilemma, each has its unique Shylock, Bassanio and Antonio- people who were responsible for causing the meltdown of their days.

Marvin Carlson’s article argues about whether plays are better experienced purely through text or through performance. He discusses the conflict theorists dealt with when they wanted to perform Shakespeare’s plays. Some theorists believed that Shakespeare’s texts were a magnificent work on their own and that any performance needed to be as close to the text as possible. This caused theorists to regard performance as unnecessary since it had the potential to ruin the text. This type of theory carried on past the romantic period and some theorist continue to believe that plays should keep to the original script as much as possible. Carlson cites Charles Lamb commenting on how performances of Hamlet diminish the quality of Shakespeare’s work. Marvin then explains how

Analyzing different works of literature is beneficial, especially since one can learn multiple life lessons. Personally, I enjoy analyzing and watching different film versions of plays. In addition, in high school and college, I was taught that a film version of a work of literature could never replace the text itself; however, I disagree, to a certain extent. Yes, reading the text is crucial, but a film version serves as a visual—this is helpful. When it comes to analyzing different plays, I enjoy watching film versions, especially since it helps me get a better understanding of the meaning of the text as a whole. In this writing prompt, I will compare and contrast the film version and text of A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare.

The Merchant of Venus, is a play written by William Shakespeare and is a majority of the time remembered for its scene with Shylock and Antonio. As intricate as the play wove itself, the word that seemed to occur a majority of the time “bonds”, had multiple meanings occurring throughout the play. Oxford English Dictionary (OED) tells us that Bonds can mean the bondage of a marriage, the ways of which a thing is bound or tied down, agreement or engagement binding to him of which who makes it, and a deed, by which binds himself, his heirs, executors, or assigns to pay a certain sum of money. In this play, we see a strong connection between bonds and goods reoccurring from start to finish. The term “bond”, is

By tracing back the early roles of Shylock done in the Elizabethan stage, we are able to appreciate the complexity of Shakespear’s character, Shylock, and how he has the greatest impact than any other character.

William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is a perplexing story of dark humor, race, religion, identity, love, and justice. Generally, most people understand The Merchant of Venice as a comedy about a bitter and outcasted Jewish moneylender named Shylock who seeks revenge against a Christian merchant who has failed to pay his loan back. However, there are many different perspectives on whether The Merchant of Venice is a comedy or a tragedy depending on one’s views on the difference between race and religion. If one views the story as a comedy, it is a dark comedy full of many problems, especially the controversial subject matter of anti-Semitic attitudes of its Christian characters. If one views it as a tragedy, it is a tragedy that concludes with majority of its characters in a “happy ending”—that is if one agrees that Jessica’s decision of love over betraying her father and giving up her Jewish identity is indeed a happy ending.

This essay will discuss several literary criticisms of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. After skimming through several articles, I ended up with four peer-reviewed journal articles, each a different critical perspectives of the play: feminist, psychoanalytical/freudian, moral, and new historicism. My previous studies of Hamlet, as well as my rereading of the play this semester, has collectively given me a general knowledge of the text. My familiarity of the play made it easier for me to decipher the academic journals and see the connections each critic made with the play.

Few writers have managed to enter the world-wide public consciousness as well as Shakespeare; everyone knows his name and can terribly misquote his plays. Yet, for all his popularity, many of his critics have called him unlearned, saying his plays are entertaining but shallow. These same critics often point at the many inconsistencies of his writing, claiming that Shakespeare was not trying to convey anything but witticisms and beautiful sounds. Of course, even his harshest detractors acknowledge his plays and sonnets have influenced the world's literature on a scale that is intimidating; every writer of his era stood in his shadow, and modern literature stands on his

Feminist criticism scrutinizes the ways in which literature reinforces or undermines the economic, politic, social and psychological oppression of women. One of the tools used

1 scene 3 in a building in a street in Venice. The building in which