William Shakespeare 's A Merchant Of Venice Essay

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

Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ is an exceptional representation of tragedy and power in Elizabethan times, and displays various ways in which he ensures that the audience connects with the play. This includes may include soliloquies, in which the character openly expresses their thoughts, which significantly appeals with the audience. Metaphors can also exaggerate a scene to make the play enjoyable for the audience, as they evoke setting and describe characters. The specific characterisation that Shakespeare uses also interests the audience, and he also links the play back to the Elizabethan context. He discusses a variety of complex issues that are explored in the play, which can engage the audience, and makes them ponder about the consequences of the character’s actions.

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.

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

Literary devices are frequently used throughout acts four and five of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Some of the most prominent devices used on TMOF are dramatic irony, allusion and symbolism. These devices help further develop theme ingrained in the story such as marriage, deceive, wealth, and religion. The use of literary devices helps ensure the story transitions smoothly and is pleasant to the reader, it might also help in the comprehension of the story´s characters.

Along with this pattern are various aesthetics that provide support to the comedic and tragic elements of Shakespeare’s works. Grady argues that throughout the plays of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet, the interaction “between the sexes … humanity and nature, and between imagination and reality” (287) are essential to the thematic structure. Furthermore, by observing how these particular instruments of literature connect with one another, it becomes easier to understand the comedic actions involved in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and how it mirrors the same progression as Romeo and Juliet; primarily revolving around the characters of Hermia and Juliet, and their reception to the patterns and aesthetics illustrated.

Love triangles are complicated and messy scenarios that are caused by the indecision of the person in the middle or the inability of the others to move on. The same is seen in The Merchant of Venice, in which Antonio and Portia fight for Bassanio. Throughout the play we see many bonds or connections between both Antonio and Bassanio as well as Portia and Bassanio. To many, the main plot may seem to be the conflict between Antonio and Shylock, when in reality it’s the love that Antonio and Portia have for Bassanio that leads to everything. The main plot is moved forward by the bonds the two have with Bassanio and the rivalry they have with each other. Nearly everything that happens in the play has to do with their fight for

Artese claims that the flesh-bond plot in The Merchant of Venice resembles a folktale known as “A Pound of Flesh” (325). Artese supports his supposition with background context and parallels between the two story lines. Literary versions of the pound of flesh story circulated during the sixteenth century and were collected since the nineteenth century because of the plot’s longevity and populairity Shakespeare would have been familiar with pound of flesh stories (326). Human commodification is a central issue in both The Merchant of Venice and the folktale. When Portia states that Shylock cannot extract a drop of blood from Antonio and take no less or no more than an exact pound, this also alludes to the pound of flesh storyline (330-331). After establishing that The Merchant of Venice’s plot is based off of the pound of flesh storyline, the author explains that it was important for Shakespeare to use this specific plot because it shows the power dynamics between the Venetian Christian and the Jew.

states, "I hate him for he is a Christian," (I, iii, l. 35) and then

Some stories take what feels like forever to finally begin. A lengthy introduction, extra details or seemingly useless dialogue can make readers skip over what seems like a false beginning to a good story. But think about this: what if those seemingly lengthy, extra, useless words were actually important? For example, the opening 115 lines of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice are provide minimal support to the story at first glance. In these lines, Antonio and his friends are discussing the dynamics of happiness and sadness in order to find the root of Antonio’s sad mood. This portion of the play gives background information about Antonio’s ships which becomes relevant when Bassanio needs his help later, but other than that the

It is a recurrence with Shakespeare’s plays that the titles are reflective of the protagonists featured within. For example, the famous titles of Julius Caesar and Hamlet tell the tragedies of those respective characters. However, when it comes to William Shakespeare’s fourteenth play, The Merchant of Venice, it can be argued that Antonio, the merchant, is not who the play is about. In fact, there is not just one character, but instead multiple that fit the description of the protagonist. The main plot, or rather plots, of the play revolve around four different characters, each possessing the qualities of a protagonist. Antonio, Shylock, Bassanio and Portia are all profound and interesting characters, are essential to the plot and have a perpetual goal for the entirety of the play.

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.

that he is not to spill any blood, and that he must take only a pound

In the play “The Merchant of Venice” by William Shakespeare, many critical perspectives are brought up throughout the scenes. One of those being about a Jewish moneylender struggling with enormous core issues in his life. This Jewish moneylender named Shylock has a strained relationship with him and his daughter Jessica. His Jewish daughter wants to be a Christian boy even though this is forbidden between the Christians and Jews. Shylock will not accept such a relationship what so ever which is why Jessica decides to run away with the Christian boy while stealing her father’s money at the same time. She becomes very reckless with her father's money by spending it however she pleases soon after her departure. After her running away from home, she leaves Shylock heartbroken for he lost his wife in the past to death and now just lost his daughter to a Christian man. While on top of that he is treated like trash by many of the Christian people who look down on Jewish people. His life isn’t fair to him and he’s sick of it. All his anger is getting pent up inside of him and he doesn’t know how to handle these core issues in a reasonable way. Which is why he is so persistent on taking a pound of flesh from a Christian man, named Antonio, who owes him money. Shylock struggles greatly with his core issues in trying to figure out how to handle them. Shylock wants revenge for the loss of his daughter through the fulfillment of the bond between him and Antonio, along so many other issues. He has not been dealt the greatest hand at life and is tired of being treated like it; he wants his revenge no matter how gritty he gets.

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