Shylock Essay

would benefit both people to show mercy. Mercy does not always have to be at the detriment of the person showing it, but it can help both people, even if only one is at a disadvantage. Portia , the person talking in the quote, is asking mercy of Shylock, the other party, comparing it to “the gentle rain from heaven”. Later she says “it becomes the throned monarch better than his crown”, which is comparing mercy to the suiting of a crown, and how mercy is greater than it in that respect. Those with

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Said, Winston Churchill, former prime minister of the UK. Throughout the year we have read and learned about many people that showed courage throughout their life. The characters in the novels The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Pianist, and the Shakespeare play, The Merchant of Venice all show great amounts of courage. In The Absolutely True Diary of

Gift giving is a long thread that proves to weave the characters of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice together. French anthropologist, Marcel Mauss, proposes that gift giving, although seen as a generous offer, is actually guised as formal and social deception (pg 1). The formal and social deception that Mauss speaks about is what we colloquially express as “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” In the Merchant of Venice, there is a consistent back and forth of gifts given under the pretense

is regarded as the greatest English playwright of all time and has written many magnificent plays over the course of his lifetime. Shakespeare’s plays are still significant today as they cover many issues that we continue to face, such as racism (Shylock in Merchant of Venice), love (Romeo and Juliet), and the mysterious supernatural (The witches in Macbeth). His plays will continue to remain timeless, as these issues will continue to exist in society as long as it exists. Macbeth is a tragic hero

The portrayal of servants in Shakespeare’s and Jonson’s plays is contrasting. In Jonson’s city comedies servants are depicted as unethical, manipulating their masters’ greed and egocentrism in order to fulfill their own plans and goals. On the other hand, in Shakespeare’s pastoral comedies servants are portrayed as loyal, devoted, reliable and helpful to their masters. To be more specific, in Jonson’s city comedy “Volpone” the city is portrayed as a dog- eat-dog, antagonistic competitive world which

Mistaken Identity in Merchant of Venice, Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night and As You Like It   The ploy of mistaken identity as a plot device in writing comedies dates back at least to the times of the Greeks and Romans in the writings of Menander and Plautus. Shakespeare borrowed the device they introduced and developed it into a fine art as a means of expressing theme as well as furthering comic relief in his works. Shakespeare's artistic development is clearly shown in the four comedies

Angelo in Measure for Measure       Within Measure for Measure, the character of Angelo can be seen as a case study of will over moral nature. Angelo, a deputy, is given the Dukes authority to act in his behalf while the Duke is away. The story unfolds as Angelo uses the agency he's been given in ways that many men in authoritative positions have done. It is interesting to follow his line of thought and to realize that this is a man who is not unlike many others. The main conflict between Isabella

almost obliterated Marians: it had finished off the demolition of my temporary emotional structure” (Hartley 212). Following this, he became paranoid and scared, getting into his head, that Marian would tell everyone about how childish he is and a shylock. In contrast, Dolores Haze, has a different kind of relationship with the adult character, Humbert. They have a physical sexual relationship. Humbert is a mentally

The portrayal of servants in Shakespeare’s and Jonson’s plays is contrasting. In Jonson’s city comedies servants are depicted as unethical, manipulating their masters’ greed and egocentrism in order to fulfill their own plans and goals. On the other hand, in Shakespeare’s pastoral comedies servants are portrayed as loyal, devoted, reliable and helpful to their masters. To be more specific, in Jonson’s city comedy “Volpone” the city is portrayed as a dog- eat-dog, antagonistic competitive world which

I have always been interested in names. At one point in my life, I would spend hours researching them on various websites, saving my favorites for future use in one of the many books I planned on writing. I’m sure my parents, if they had seen my browser history – babynames.com, babycenter.com, bump.com – would have been very concerned. Nevertheless, the existence of these websites is a testament to the fact that I was not the only one who was obsessed; in recent years, interest in names has