The Merchant of Venice

Friendship and love is separated by a very fine margin. Choosing between the two is like choosing between being in Mr.Vidulin’s English class and his photography class (it is nearly impossible). However, when the choice between friendship and love is mentioned in the play, it seems as though the answer is obvious. When Bassanio was in the courtroom talking to Antonio, Bassanio makes a statement that shows that he is choosing the side of friendship when it comes to friendship vs love. Antonio says, ”But life itself, my wife, and all the world are not with me esteem’d above thy life; I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all here to this devil, to deliver you.” (IV, i, 291 - 294) Antonio states that he will give up himself, his wife and the world to Shylock if it means that Antonio survives. This shows that he cares more about his relationship with Antonio in comparison to his relationship with Portia. The message which is associated with the topic of friendship vs love is that a healthy balance of both friendship and love is needed to fulfill a person. In the example with Bassanio and Antonio, Bassanio indirectly shows Antonio that there would be no point to his life and hence the reason as to why he says he will sacrifice his own self. Another major topic touched on in this play is mercy. Mercy can be explained as the power found to show compassion in a state of power. Many of us lack the ability to show mercy, which is a key component of our society. Mercy is shown

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

William Shakespeare expresses Shylock and Hamlet’s emotional voices explicitly throughout both plays: The Merchant of Venice and Hamlet. The emotional voices in both texts were due to the tragic incidences each protagonist – Shylock and Hamlet - endured.

The first lines of The Merchant of Venice come from Antonio, who is lamenting over his present state of melancholy: "In sooth, I know not why I am so sad" (i, i, 1). "As the play opens, [Antonio] is marked as a man of complex feeling, not only sad but worried over 'What stuff [his sadness is] made of" and how it affects his ability to 'know' himself" (Patterson 20). His acquaintances Salarino and Solanio attempt to guess at the root or his sadness, first asking if it stems from business. After Antonio gives a short diatribe to dispel that idea, Salarino believes Antonio is in love. "Fie, fie!" (45) Antonio responds. But once Bassanio enters and is alone with Antonio, "Antonio is free to proceed to what is evidently uppermost in his mind" (Engle 23). And Engle, as well as other scholars, believe Bassanio's interest in Portia is the pressing issue within Antonio, and the reason for Antonio's sadness (Sinfield 124).

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.

One of the strengths of good theater is its ability to mirror the problems and conditions shaping its time. In The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare reflects two important aspects of Elizabethan society: the corrupting influence of prosperity and the increasingly vengeful nature of Venetian justice. To address the former issue, Shakespeare downplays the importance of wealth by associating its involvement in romance with superficial and insubstantial advantages. He characterizes prosperity as a deceiving agent, citing its ability to introduce shallowness into a relationship. Shakespeare reasons that genuine romance depends on sacrifice and emotion, not wealth. The problem with justice is equally striking. In the play, justice is

Even though love and friendship are regarded as two forms of relationships where no one seeks any pragmatical purpose, in fact they covertly embody different sorts of self-interest. The triangular relationship among Antonio, Bassanio and Portia in The Merchant of Venice and the friendship between Abigail Williams and the girls in The Crucible are both based on selfish motives. Bassanio asks Antonio for money in order to marry Portia. However, his motive for this marriage consists of not solely his love for Portia but mostly his desire to have Portia’s wealth and be able to pay his debts. He reveals this motive in Act 1, Scene 1 when he tells Antonio that he will be able to pay his debts when he marries Portia. Also Bassanio’s asking his friend, Antonio, for money contributes to the claim that friendship can be used for self-seeking economic purposes. Similarly, the indirect relationship between Portia and Antonio serves to an analogous purpose. Since Portia knows that her

This week’s Lecture was focused on the third play in the four comedies book named “The Merchant of Venice”. This play was known for being controversial but also very interesting play that captured the attention of the viewers. Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” is set in Renaissance Venice, with a few scenes in a town called Belmont. The setting is important – Venice was one of the wealthiest towns in Europe, as it was right on the sea, with excellent shipping facilities for trading with the east. During this time, there was a large population of Jew’s in Europe, although 16th-century Venice was more tolerant of foreigners than Elizabethan England, Jews in Venice were confined to ghettos at the time Shakespeare wrote “The Merchant of Venice”. If a person compares “The Merchant of Venice”, to the other Shakespeare’s plays that have been covered in this class already and also to the ones that have not be covered yet, such as “As You Like It” or “Much Ado About Nothing”, some common features can be found throughout each of these plays. Some of the common features are: Multiple plots, Dual settings, Games/Trials/Practical Jokes/Music, Love Vs. Friendships/Multiple Marriages, Different types of relationships and a comic villain. Each of these features will be explained in greater details.

Hatred was shown multiple times in the Merchant of Venice. The first example of hatred was when Antonio spit on Shylock shown by the quote, “ You call me

In comparison to the Merchants of Venice for example in which Different sorts of love is displayed. The love for a father for a young lady and here again there is a contrast in the way The Lord of Belmont presents his love for Portia and later on in the play the way Shylock behaves with Jessica. Jessica's elopement or the loss of his money when he says "My young lady! O my Daughter! O my daughter!

The Elizabethan era, an era filled with renaissance and was a flourishing time period in the arts of poetry, music, and literature. Shakespeare, arguably the most important writer of this time period captivated his audiences with innovative and provocative plays. A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice are two of Shakespeares’ most famous romantic comedies, the characters of these plays enchant audiences with their passion and love for one another and the conflict that creates in this time period. The conflict in both these plays arise from the character’s personal desires, and the pressure to conform to social norms. The plot in A Midsummer Night’s Dream that this conflict is most relevant in is between the love circle of Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena. In The Merchant of Venice Bassanio and Portia have their own agendas whether they are hidden or not the pressure of society and their own lust and desires lead to a conflict.

He declares, "I'm very glad of it. I'll plague him, I'll torture him, I am glad of it." (3, 1, 115-116) At the end of Act 3, scene 1, Shylock's true motive is revealed. Shylock says, "I will have the heart of him if he forfeit, for were he out of Venice I can make what merchandise I will." (3, 1, 125-127) All these comments clearly attempt to paint Shylock as a money-worshipping murderer and not as a person.

In the play The Merchant of Venice, there are many female characters who face injustice alone in society. Portia as many seemingly paradoxical identities. This makes her a memorable character in the play The Merchant of Venice. She has represented being dutiful towards her father, being an innocent young woman, a ‘mortal-breathing saint’ who posses ‘god-like amity’, a hard headed and calculating lawyer who is fully conversant with the tricks of the legal trade, and is advocate of mercy who ruthlessly destroys Shylock.

Throughout The Merchant, Shylock is a character with whom we both sympathise and despise. As a moneylender, he is already considered a sinner, both within the play, and as the spectators in Elizabethan times would have seen him. In the play, Shylock is the final option when Antonio needs to borrow money to fund Bassanio's trip to visit Portia in Belmont. Even though he is a Jew and is despised by everyone, Antonio still borrows money from him.

His hatred for Antonio is also obvious and it is so strong that he refuses all offers of money so that he can cut off a pound of his flesh. In Act 3 Scene 1 Shylock makes his famous “Hath not a Jew eyes?” speech, and it is probably at this point that the audience