The Distance that Separates us from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice

The merchant of Venice is a drama and romantic play, by William Shakespeare. Regarding the test for the suitors and the final part of the book, the author is inspired by a fourteenth-century Italian novel of Giovanni Fiorentino, called “Il Giannetto”, (Bullough, 1957). The merchant of Venice is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. It is contained on the First Folio, in the contents of Comedies, sharing certain aspects with others plays. That one traditionally ends with the positive return to order expected from the genre, it also has some characteristics of a tragedy, in particular with regard to the punishment and the oppression that are suffered to Shylock Jew. The peculiarity is the title of this book, “The Merchant of Venice”, in fact, it refers to the character Antonio, and not Shylock, a moneylender, which has a pivotal role in this play. One possible reason is that by calling “The Merchant of Venice”, Shakespeare wanted to focus the attention of the readers, on the

In ‘The Merchant of Venice’ Shylock is very strong minded and is singled out of the play because he is a mean Jew that charges interest. Shylock is very stubborn and determined to keep to his bond; a pound of flesh of Antonio.

In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, several characters cross the boundaries of societal and ethical standards in the name of gaining love. As seen in Antonio and Bassanio’s relationship as well as Jessica and Lorenzo’s, love causes people to become desperate for their lovers’ affection, making them more likely to go against their cultures’ and their own codes of conduct. Love enables transgression of even the traditionally fixed bounds of gender, sexuality, and religion. These relationships further suggest that love necessitates transgression because love requires giving up oneself completely, including one’s morals and normal behavior.

In The Merchant of Venice, Grudges and Personal Rivalries in the trial scene has clearly been expressed with Shylock and Antonio. The central part and the twist of this novel are primarily caused by the rivalries between Shylock and Antonio. The “merry bond” that Antonio signed to help his dearest friend, Bassanio, was the main reason of the trial scene. According to Antonio, “Content in faith. I’ll seal to such a bond, and say there is much kindness in the Jew” (1.3.163-164) The bond which Antonio had willingly accepted was that if he failed to pay back 3 thousand ducats in 3 months, Shylock had the right to cut a pound of flesh from his body. As Antonio was a rich merchant and had plenty of ships coming in, with 9 times the money of the loan, he found no difficulty in accepting the bond. However, times were unfortunate for

Shylock is a character famously known as being the antagonist of Shakespeare’s play merchant of Venice. In this play, Shakespeare portrayal of Shylock the moneylender is one of anti-Semitic stereotype. Shylock is depicted as a typical bloodthirsty Jew who lives a life void of any depth or meaning. His sole purpose for living seems to be to amass wealth and vengeance as seen from his adamant claim for his “pound of flesh”. Despite Shakespeare’s attempts to humanize Shylock at points in the story, it appears that his primary focus is to steer the audience against Shylock, painting him as being a cruel, bitter and inaffable figure. It is clear that in both Shakespeare’s merchant of Venice and Grace Tiffany’s Turquoise Ring, Shylock exposes

This scene is about the trail between Shylock and Antonio. The trail has been called has Antonio hasn’t been able to pay the 3000 ducats so has bond says he has to give up a pound of flesh to Shylock. Shylock should be able win the case yet he doesn’t because of the biased laws of Venice. The first quote in this scene that I would like to mention is from Antonio’s lawer.

In contrast, The Merchant of Venice generates another embodiment of justice through Shylock’s desire in search of a fair treatment from Antonio. Antonio is in need of money for Bassanio; yet, Shylock is willing to “lend” him “thus much money,” but first Shylock tells Antonio how unjust he has been to him, “…you spet on me on Wendesday last; You spurned me such a day; another You called

“There is no doubt that Shylock is a cunning and vengeful man, but nothing can justify the treatment he receives at the hands of the Christians.”

Pay him six thousand, and deface the bond (3.2.298) This section is an instance were the word bond as the agreement between Shylock is confronted by another strong character in this play. Portia playing a strong masculine role for her house hold and new husband Bassanio. She shows her power and authority by wanting to deface the bond and pay more than the original sum, to free Antonio and help out Bassanio. This shows that even though the agreement between Antonio and

Shylock distinctly chastises others and reveals he can be incredibly bigoted, such as when he proclaims towards Antonio:

In every confrontation with Shylock, the other characters attack him with insults that make him appear even viler than his cruel demeanor portrays. There is a common trend throughout the play of demonizing Shylock. In Act 1, scene 2, Antonio counters a legitimate argument that Shylock makes to support his usurping by stating that "the devil can cite scripture for his purpose!" (1, 3, 107) In Act 2, scene 2, Lancelet Gobbo identifies Shylock as "a kind of devil", "the devil himself", and "the very devil incarnation." (2, 2, 24-28) Solanio identifies Shylock as "the devil . . . in the likeness of a Jew" (3, 1, 20-22) and Bassanio identifies Shylock the same way, as "cruel devil." (4, 1, 225) This repeated characterization is certainly driven hard into the minds of the audience

William Shakespeare’s comedy The Merchant of Venice tells the story of Antonio, a merchant, who borrows money from Shylock a Jewish moneylender to help his friend, Bassanio, marry a woman. The play highlights the tension between Jews and Christians in society through the interactions between Shylock and the Christians. In contrast, the play also highlights the positive aspects of both religions. The main point of The Merchant of Venice is to critique society’s treatment of religion.

Shylock isn't a character for whom we can feel much sympathy for because he always seems to be thinking about himself and his money rather than other people around him. Through most of the play he seems selfish, and it seems in some parts of the play as though he doesn't care about his daughter. He also has a very strict religion, which also sometimes makes him seem as an uptight character.

Shakespeare characterised Shylock in such way that he highlights the inequalities of him, them being ungrateful, vengeful, and religious intolerance. As each is explored Shylock is directed towards a harmful act to deem his vengeance upon his greatest rival, Antonio. Shakespeare’s idea in the play tells us mercy is preferable to revenge. In Act 1, Scene 3

When Antonio first emerges, he is walking through a mob of Christians as they berate the Jews for their usury profession. He's wearing a large crucifix around his neck, which serves as a compelling visual link between Antonio and the church. Antonio is being beckoned to in a friendly, welcoming tone by Shylock who then reaches his hand out to greet Antonio. He responds quickly, by spitting in Shylock’s face. This action creates an immediate question of fairness with the viewers. By adding this specific opening scene, the audience becomes aware of the key characters, Shylock and Antonio, as well as the mistreatment of Jews. Having the film open with cruel, anti-Semitic behavior is a deliberate tactic by Radford used to address the harsh subject of the film from the onset. Radford also utilizes this scene to create a more relatable character in Shylock before beginning the actual storyline. In the play Shylock is more overtly portrayed as a villain, where Radford reconstructs Shylock to embody both villain and victim.