The Merchant Of Venice By William Shakespeare

Throughout the education system, there seems to be an unofficial consensus that pieces of literature that are deemed “controversial” should not be taught in school. The Merchant of Venice falls into this category due to the Anti-Semitism which exists within the play making it “controversial” therefore, banned. On the contrary, this play should not be considered controversial and it should not be banned due to the learning experiences and knowledge that can be gained by reading this play. The contrastive style of literature will provide students and teachers alike who read this play the chance to expand their horizons when it comes to their English skills. With this in mind, The Merchant of Venice written by William

Antonio’s money is all tied up with a number of trade ships and tells Bassanio that he will be the loans guarantor. Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, offers to lend Bassanio three thousand ducats with no interest. Shylock creates a contract stating that should the loan go unpaid, Shylock will be entitled to a pound of Antonio’s own flesh. Antonios ships are lost and the debt cannot be paid. A trial is called to collect the debt and Shylock ignores all pleas to Antonio’s life. Shylock responds by reasoning that he has no reason. He blames his hatred of Antonio on “affection, Mistress of passion,” who is known to affect men and their moods in unexplainable ways (4.1.49–50). When the Duke of Venice is called in as the judge, he seeks a legal advisor. Portia being disguised as a young law clerk, examines the contract and, declares that Shylock is entitled to the merchant’s flesh, but that he must do so without causing Antonio to bleed. Making Shylocks distain towards Antonio even more apparent. This turn in the trial causes Shylock to accept Bassanio’s money and turns into a trial against Shylock for conspiring against the life of a Venetian citizen, stripping Shylock of everything he holds

In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, in Act 5 Scene 1, lines 33-57, Prospero’s speech shows his redemption by giving up his book, the oak tree, and his power over water. At this point in the play, Prospero is about to get his revenge on the people who have caused him pain. However, as he is giving the soliloquy, he seeks redemption and attempts to reject his powers and revenge. Though he has been living for the past twelve years with wrath and a desire for revenge, he turns away from that path and seeks to become a better person. Shakespeare shows the complete reversal of Prospero’s character through the breaking or giving up of things that are symbolic of his power.

Shakespeare 's complex play Othello holds numerous pressing issues within its intricate layers that seem to leap out to modern society. One such issue seen by many is the representation of women. Women within the play can be characterized as submissive possessions and temptresses. This ideology, though commonplace in this time period, appears controversial to the modern eye as we deconstruct the characters of this play. This dominate patriarchal society present within the setting merely conditions this belief further as it is prevalent within the characters dialogue.

William Shakespeare’s 16th century play Othello is a duplicitous and fraudulent tale set alternatingly between Venice in act 1, and the island of Cyprus thereafter. The play follows the scandalous marriage between protagonist Othello, a Christian moore and the general of the army of Venice, and Desdemona, a respected and intelligent woman who also happens to be the daughter of the Venetian Senator Brabantio. Shakespeare undoubtedly positions the marriage to be viewed as heroic and noble, despite Othello’s hamartia and subsequent downfall that inevitably occurs. Their marriage is then sabotaged by the jealous Iago, Othello’s ensign and villain of the play. While Iago’s ostensible justification for instigating Othello’s demise was his failure to acquire Othello’s position as lieutenant, Iago’s motives are rarely directly articulated and seem to derive from an obsessive, almost aesthetic pleasure in manipulation and destruction. Through the genre of the play, being a Shakespearean tragedy, and the structural devices employed by Shakespeare such as plot development, exposition, foreshadowing, dénouement, dramatic excitement, and catharsis, the key ideas of jealousy, appearance vs. reality and pride are developed and explored.

William Shakespeare’s Othello would not be a dramatic tragedy if the smiling villain, Iago, were a deaf mute. There is no doubt that the destruction of each character can be blamed on jealous Iago. The theme of jealousy helps propel the plot naturally and demonstrates the consequences of being morbidly jealous. The circumstantial evidence Iago provides acts like a lethal poison, which surrounds Othello in suspicion and envy but also turns him into an inhuman murderer. Jealousy is the ‘monster’ that unresonably conducts the great suffering in the story.

William Shakespeare, born in the mid sixteenth century, is a well-known poet and playwright from England. The topics of his plays range from history and comedy, all the way to tragedy, and focus on universal themes and relationships between characters to express these themes to the general public. Betrayal, incest, jealousy, and love are all common themes in his works. Although one of Shakespeare’s more popular tragic dramas, Othello, at first glance seems to mainly center around the characters Othello and Desdemona and their relationship, the play in reality focuses more so on the evil villain, Iago, and his insecurity which instills in him a hatred of Othello. Iago provides some dark humor to the audience, as he is self-possessed and intelligent, making it obvious when he is lying to another character and making himself seem honest and truthful. The play is one of jealousy, manipulation, and the cunning work of Iago, all combined to bring ruin to Othello. Although Shakespeare’s Othello is considered by some to be a commentary on race, Shakespeare is truly addressing the dangers of blind trust as well as the overwhelming power jealousy can have over even the most respectable mind; he addresses these themes by evolving the characters’ personalities and using dramatic irony to intensify and contrast the characters’ relationships with each other from the beginning to the end of this tragic drama.

Throughout Othello by William Shakespeare, Othello makes numerous poor decisions due to his jealousy. Hitting Desdemona, trusting Iago, and killing Desdemona are among a few of the poor decisions that he makes. The word jealous can be defined as feeling or showing suspicion of someone's unfaithfulness in a relationship. Othello feels suspicious of Desdemona’s and Cassio’s relationship because of the lies that Iago tells him. Many people try to tell Othello the truth but he only believes the words of Iago. Even Emilia, Iago’s wife, tells Othello that Desdemona and Cassio are not having an affair and their interaction is business only, however; he does not trust her. Without Othello’s jealousy he would not have made these horrible decisions.

In Tempest, Caliban and Prospero are of contradictory natures. Their characteristics are notably different as well as other characters have different opinions and attitudes to them. However, both of them have the same master and savior Prospero.

Shakespeare’s retirement play ‘The Tempest’ mainly focuses on the used of power; the will to control over others. Power seems to be the main theme throughout the play as it is manifested by different characters either in a good way or as the case may be, bad. The protagonist Prospero is the main character that holds majority of the power, both magical and political. Tempest, which was written in the early 1600s, shows how characters like Prospero, Antonio and even Caliban plus others exert power over the weak and the willing. The significance of the different elements of power; Political power, Magical powers and most of all, the Power of Love is examined in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Desdemona, son of a Venetian senator, grew up as any privileged young girl would in the seventeenth century: obedient and submissive. Her mother and father, both loyal to each other, were her only exemplars of marriage and love. Thus, when she is swept off her feet by the valiant Moor of Venice, Othello, she naively dreams of an immaculate matrimony in which quarrels, dominance, and violence are absent. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Desdemona’s imprisonment by her domestic life gives rise to damaging innocence, causing her to be blind to guilt and desire a perfectly requited yet unrealistic love; she submissively forgives Othello’s every insult until her dying breath as a result.

In William Shakespeare’s Othello, the newlywed couple was truly and madly in love at the time they’re married the couple were unable to consummate the marriage. Perhaps it is because there were a few moments for the pair to be alone together. However when a chance did arrive for the couple to finally have a “honeymoon”, some unfortunate event would happen and the immediate moment was lost. It is for this reason of this unconsummated marriage that Desdemona’s virginity is a key factor in the fall of their marriage. M. D. Faber states that “Then too, there is nonstrousness in the fact that Desdemona is placed in the posture of the sinful mortal when she is in reality not only innocent but the one character in the play who is from an

Othello is a play about love, hate, jealousy, betrayal, and much more. In Othello, Othello gives a handkerchief to Desdemona, his wife, that he received from his mother as a gift. This sacred cloth was more than a gift for Desdemona; it was their forever. The handkerchief was white with red strawberries. The white portraying purity, and the red strawberries symbolizing beauty (Hasnain, Ahsh p.1). Unfortunately, Othello was so attached to this handkerchief and its “spell”, that it brought him to kill himself and his lover. This piece of cloth is extremely important to the play, and its significance varies between Othello, Desdemona, and Iago.

Evil, those who contain an evil heart always appear to have a talent or hunger for destroying anything

Women, especially Desdemona but Emilia as well, are obviously targets of male violence in Othello. For some reason Shakespeare’s play often put the emphasis on the role of the female characters and their influence on the main male characters. For instance, the result of the passionate love of Romeo for Juliet, the effect of Ophelia’s insanity had on hamlet, and so on. In Othello, Shakespeare made Desdemona and the other women in the play no different; Othello’s jalousie and love made the play a tragedy. Shakespeare made Desdemona the faithful wife of Othello. She was such a kindhearted and wished to make everything work even when the situation where she lost her handkerchief she tried to fix the situation and calming Othello. However, her innocent sympathy towards Cassio made lago’s lies more credible. Overall, one can say that her naïve nature causes her to become a target for the men in the play.