ghetto, and were treated as inferior to the rest of the city. William Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice exhibits the prejudicial attitudes of his era. Antonio, a Christian merchant, makes a deal with Shylock, a Jewish moneylender. Shylock uses it as an opportunity to exact revenge by demanding a pound of Antonio’s flesh if he does not meet his end of the bargain. By pitting the majority of his characters against Shylock, Shakespeare portrays Shylock in a way that discriminates against all Jews
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
William Shakespeare 's comedy The Merchant of Venice uses contrasting religions to draw out major themes through the ethnic divides that are exemplified. The play expresses the extreme cultural divide between the Jews and Christians through a legal contract between two men. The rivalry between the two men, Shylock and Antonio is clear from the beginning of the play and only intensifies as it continues on. Modern day readers most likely take away a slightly different message from the play than what
fundamentalist Americans. The ills of money-lending from the Eastern perspective have been fodder for Western literature for centuries, replete with illustrations that mirror the differences and similarities in East-West cultural norms. In William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, money-lending has gone awry. In Act I, Scene iii, the Italian Antonio seeks to borrow 3,000 ducats from the Jewish Shylock, and Shylock intends to charge him interest, which is against Jewish economic-religious principles (Bate
peaked with the expulsion of Jews from Spain. They were forced out of their homes and alienated, living on the edges of society in another country. These circumstances carried on as commonplace during the Renaissance. Shylock in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice clearly illustrates the conditions that Jews had to suffer through and the views that Christians had on Jews. These anti-semitic views continued to have a strong presence
As I finished reading Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare, I realized that the struggle of the play gyrates around whether justice is truly served and is morality advocated or manipulated by those in authority. The struggle between the principles of justice have caused many readers to question the interaction between the definition of morality and justice. The bond that causes readers to take a closer look throughout the play originates from Shylock’s desire for vengeance and Antonio’s desire
William Shakespeare has written many plays with tragic endings, happy endings, and everything in between. One of his plays, Merchant of Venice, is considered a comedy for its resolve of marriage, fortune, and wellbeing of its main characters. Except for one. This character, Shylock, is the sole force pushing the play as a conflicted characters, and he is depicted as the villain of the play. The events that take place in the story leave Antonio with a happy ending, but a much more grim, destructive
Nikki Vietz Ms. Seibel Honors English 12 1 May 2015 Was Shakespeare Prejudice? The premise of William Shakespeare comedy, The Merchant of Venice, is the hostile relationship between Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, and Antonio, a Christian trader. The two gentlemen have a deep history of hatred due to personal injuries and Antonio’s refusal to collect interest on loans. This hatred comes to a climax when Antonio’s friend, Bassanio wishes to borrow three thousands ducats from Antonio so he can travel
and a villain in the story. The victim is forced to overcome obstacles and is often hurt physically and emotionally while the villain is the one who wreaks havoc and tries to stop the victim from achieving their goal. In the play Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare there is a character so elaborate and confusing that an argument could be made that he is both. This character, Shylock, suffers from persecution and humiliation for being a Jew as well as attempting horrendous actions in hopes of
“The devil can cite scripture for his purpose, an Evil soul producing holy witness with a smiling cheek.” hose famous words of Shakespeare’s Protagonist Antonio in the Merchant of Venice revolve around a long history of people in power using religious outlines as a basis for legal principle. President Widodo is a leader and a devout Muslim who believes that the death penalty will solve many of the problems of his country. On the 17th of April 2005 a group of Australians who are known as the “Bali