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Love in the merchant of venice
Love in the merchant of venice
Relationships with merchants in Venice
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Shakespeare, provides a brilliant example of 'seeing the other' in his play The Merchant of Venice. Through the course of the play, Antonio's actions indirectly tell of his homoerotic love for Bassanio, and also creates a sense of question of the line between loving friends or lovers. Antonio helps Bassanio win Portia's love, through provisions of money, advise, and offering his life up, ironically meeting the inscription on the lead casket that must be chosen to win her hand: “Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all he hath”(2.7.19-20). The Merchant of Venice's other is Antonio, who “loves the world only for [Bassanio]”(2.8.52).
Antonio's support of Bassanio in courting Portia, with his monetary generosity, are to make Bassanio happy, even at the cost of his own happiness. This creates a fake impression that Bassanio returns Antonio's love, even though Bassanio states: “to you Antonio/I owe the most in money and in love” (1.1.129-130). Bassanio does not have romantic love for Antonio, only that of a friend as his eyes are set on Portia, he is simply asking Antonio for funds to w...
Antonio, in which he gets to cut off a pound of flesh from his body,
This is the only way out. Antonio devotedly loves a man who cannot return the affections with the same intensity. Bassanio's love which rightfully belongs to Antonio is shared with Portia, the wife. And who is to compete with the love a man has for his wife? Antonio tells Bassanio, "I am arm'd and well prepar'd," in speaking of his impending death (IV.1.264). He has known that eventually someone would have to be removed from this triangle and he is ready to be the one. In dying he need not take part in conflicts for Bassanio's affections. As the third wheel in a marriage, Antonio would be the source of strife for Portia, seeing as she would have to vie for her husband's love and eventually, the unhappiness of his marriage would cause Bassanio to resent Antonio. But dying ensures him the affections he wants without the pain and bitterness of rejection.
The Merchant of Venice is shows the dynamics of love and to what extent humans will go to show love, they will use their wealth and even be prepared to give up their life for the people they love. Both Antonio and Portia love Bassanio differently. Portia perceives Antonio’s phileo in competition with her eros, (both forms of love will be defined later) and throughout the play she is seen trying to defeat Antonio’s phileo and she does this by subjugating Antonio, firstly with her wealth, she offers to pay of his debt to Shylock three times more the amount he had bound himself, then she saves his life and finally teaching Bassanio that she can use her womanly powers to refuse him the consummating power in marriage, through the ring saga.
Every year, each Secondary 2 class has to stage a modern interpretation of the Shakespeare play The Merchant of Venice, with each class given a particular scene to interpret. The scene assigned to our class, 2K, was Act 4 Scene 1, from Portia’s entry until the Duke’s exit. Though our class is only halfway through the preparations of the interpretation, I feel that I have learnt a lot of invaluable knowledge about the play and the themes conveyed in that particular scene, as well as more about theatrical interpretations and the importance of the roles of the various involved parties.
Antonio feels closer to Bassanio than any other character in The Merchant of Venice. Our first clue to this is in the first scene when, in conversation with Antonio, Solanio says, "Here comes Bassanio, your most noble kinsman, / Gratiano, and Lorenzo. Fare ye well: / We leave you now with better company" (i. i. 57-59). Once Antonio is alone with Bassanio, the conversation becomes more intimate, and Antonio offers an indebted Bassanio "My purse, my person, my extremest means" (137). We find out later that Bassanio needs money to woo Portia, a noble heiress who Bassanio intends to marry. And though Antonio is not in a position to loan money at the time, he does not disappoint Bassanio:
In the city of Venice, tension arises between a moneylender and a merchant. William Shakespeare conveys this tension through his play The Merchant of Venice. The play is about a merchant, Antonio, who wants to help his friend, Bassanio, regarding his financial problems. However, Antonio’s money is at sea, so Antonio is forced to borrow money from Shylock who is a Jewish moneylender in Venice. Antonio and Shylock despise each other. Shakespeare uses a variety of literary devices to show how the differing life styles of Antonio and Shylock impacts the tension between them.
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 Bassanio. Bassanio uses both Antonio and Portia for his benefits and blind in love, they desperately fight for Bassanio’s love. There is not only a homoerotic relationship between Antonio and Bassanio; there is also a power struggle between Portia and Antonio for Bassanio’s love.
Bassanio in this play seem to be a very good, loyal man and holds many
Bassanio wishes to marry her, but needs money to compete against the richer men, which is the reason he borrows money from Shylock on Antonio’s “credit”. This one scene sets up the entire plot of the play, from Bassanio needing money to successfully woo Portia to Antonio’s failure to repay Shylock and the court fiasco to the ending where Bassanio’s true love for Portia is put to the test when she asks for his ring as payment for saving his best friend’s life. In Scene 2, Portia engages in a private conversation concerning her future in regards to marriage with Nerissa, her servant. Readers easily understand that Portia feels weary and trapped, as she states, “O me, the word “choose!” I may neither choose whom I would nor refuse whom I dislike – so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father” (Act 1, Scene 20)....
Portia is thought of as an angel having no flaws, which you can tell when Bassanio describes her to Antonio and says,
on the flood, or as it were the pageants on the sea, do overpeer the
The fact that Antonio can never have an equal relationship with the Duchess has prompted some readers to feel that his importance as a character in the play is limited, while others suggest that his main role is as a mouthpiece for Webster's own judgements and opinions. To assess the importance of his role we need to consider it relation to the Duchess, and in the context of the play as a whole.
The Trial Scene in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare Written between 1596 and 1598 "The Merchant of Venice" is not one of. the most performed plays written by William Shakespeare and most productions often use modern times and dress. A modern day audience would be less sympathetic than the audience of that period towards the Jew, Shylock. The play is one of the sixteen comedy plays. The issues being raised in the play would have been understood by the audience.
The various characteristics of Romantic comedies are present in ‘The Merchant of Venice’. The leading themes of most of these plays were Love and Friendship. These comedies were an exposition of Love and its manifold modifications. And on one level ‘The Merchant of Venice’ is also a play about friendship and love. In the first scene itself Antonio displays the nature of love and friendship that he feels for Bassanio,
William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice contains an array of interesting and complex characters. From the alternately generous and grasping Antonio to the alternately love stricken and exploitative Bassanio to the vulnerable and manipulative Portia, this play has an abundance of multi-layered personalities.