Contemporary Themes of The Merchant of Venice

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Contemporary Themes of The Merchant of Venice

One of the many elements that make up a classic, is that the book,

novel or play can be read in any generation, decade, century or in any part

of the globe at any time and have relevance to the reader. The themes of

the work should be universal, so that the reader can take something and

create a parallel to an event or situation in his or her own life.

The Merchant of Venice has elements that make it a classic. The Merchant of Venice

has many contemporary themes in it. In this essay I will provide you with

examples of themes that still hold true today, many years after

Shakespeare wrote this masterpiece. The re-occurring themes of love, anti-

Semitism and inter-racial marriages are a few examples of contemporary themes that

are manifest in The Merchant of Venice that are still issues that we

discuss, worry, and care about today.

A key theme in the book is love. There are many loving

relationships in this play and not all are the type that involves the love

that a man has for a woman, or vice versa. Bassanio and Portia, Jessica and

Lorenzo and Gratiano and Nerissa are all types of love that involve a man

and a woman, which are of course relevant to today's society. When one

looks deeply into these relationships, they would see parallels to the ones

of today. For instance, the concept that all three marriages will probably

not last, is a parallel to the number of divorces that are occurring today.

More and more divorces are happening and the increase from other years is

shocking! One of the main reasons why this is happening is that more people

are getting married too fast and leaving no time to realize that there are

not meant for each other. This is the same in two - and possibly three - of

the relationships. Gratiano and Nerrissa got married after knowing each

other for only several hours and Bassiano and Portia got marri ed before

they go to know each other (, but you can't fault Portia for this, for

strict policies were ordered onto her). Jessica and Lorenzo's marriage

might split for other reasons.

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