Portia in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and Abigail of Marlowe's the Jew of Malta
Portia and Abigail are two characters with very different values. Portia in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice remained true to her religion, and her father’s wishes throughout the play. Abigail, on the other hand, changed religions and disobeyed her father. However, the writers used these two women to make similar statements about religion. Portia represented the quintessential Christian. Abigail of Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta, was more of an ethically ambiguous character, but it can still be argued that she was the most principled character in the play. Both Shakespeare and Marlowe used the daughter character to represent the ideal human being. In The Merchant of Venice the ideal human being is the perfect Christian. In The Jew of Malta the ideal is more of a Machiavellian that can still display some love and loyalty. Regardless of the principles Shakespeare and Marlowe wish to convey in their plays, they both chose young, females to express them.
Portia was defined by her obedience. She remained strictly obedient to the law and to her father’s wishes without ever wavering. She did complain a little but did not consider breaking either the rules of the law or her father. Portia first showed her law-abiding nature when she remained true to her father’s wishes despite her desire to do otherwise. In Portia’s first scene she is quite upset about the terms of her father’s will. “I may neither choose who I would, nor/ refuse who I dislike; so is the will of a living daughter/ curb’d be the will of a dead father. Is it not hard,/ Nerissa, that I cannot choose one, now refuse none?” (Merchant of Venice, I.ii.23-26). ...
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...conform with her father’s religion, unlike Portia who wanted only a Christian like her father. Abigail was so upset by Mathias’ death caused by Barabas, that she converts to Christianity and becomes a nun. Abigail’s conversion was the ultimate betrayal of her father.
It was not the law of Malta that governed Abigail’s actions before Mathias’ death, but the rules of her father. She stayed loyal to her father’s laws in everything but loving Mathias. When Barabas’ demands of her caused the death of her lover, Abigail decided to defy him. To Abigail, love was more important than her duty to her family. Regardless of whether Abigail was governed more by her love for Mathias or her duty to Barabas, what set her apart from the other characters in The Jew of Malta was that she was governed less by Machiavellian principles and more by Christian-like motives.
In every family, there is one child that is always very misleading and evil, and besides that, they get away with everything that they do that is unsound. The certain person in the family may break on of you mom’s favorite plate, and then end up placing the blame on you, and then persuades your parents that he or she is telling the true. Abigail Williams is the poor duplicate of that sibling or relative. She influences everyone that she is an innocent teenage girl, but that is not the case throughout the play. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Abigail is the bona fide misleading and evil teenage girl.
Abigail's necessity for revenge makes her threaten the young ladies into following her idea of deception. “Let either of you breathe a word,” Abigail threatens, “or the edge of a word about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”(835). Abigail knows that all the girls in the woods fear her to death. Which made the witch trials easier for her to get by. Another thing is that Abigail ends her affair with John Proctor to try to get revenge on him. “A man may think God
In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, the main character Abigail Williams is to blame for the 1692 witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Abigail is a mean and vindictive person who always wants her way, no matter who she hurts. Through out the play her accusations and lies cause many people pain and suffering, but she seemed to never care for any of them except John Proctor, whom she had an affair with seven months prior to the beginning of the play. John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth used to employ Abigail, until Elizabeth found out the affair and threw Abigail out. Although John told Abigail that the affair was over and he would never touch her again, she tried desperately to rekindle their romance. "Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I'll ever reach for you again." (Page 23) She claimed that she loved John and that he loved her. Before the play began, Abigail tried to kill Elizabeth with a curse. She thought that if Elizabeth were dead John would marry her. Further into the play, Abigail accused Elizabeth of witchcraft. She saw Marry Warren, the Proctor's servant, making a poppet. Mary put a needle into the doll, and Abigail used that for her accusation. She stabbed herself with a needle and claimed that Elizabeth's soul had done it. Although Abigail claimed she loved John, she may have just loved the care and attention he gave her. John cared for her like no one else had. In a way he could be described as somewhat of a father figure to her. When Abigail was just a child, she witnessed her parents' brutal murders. "I saw Indians smash my dear parent's heads on the pillow next to mine..." (page 20) After her traumatic experience, she was raised by her uncle, Reverend Parris, who is somewhat of a villain. In the play it was written, "He (Parris) was a widower with no interest in children, or talent with them." (Page 3) Parris regarded children as young adults who should be "thankful for being permitted to walk straight, eyes slightly lowered, arms at the sides, and mouths shut until bidden to speak." (Page 4) Therefore, it is obvious to see that Abigail grew up without any love or nurturing.
Abigail was able to easily deceive and manipulate the court to try and get what she had set her eyes on, being John Proctor; a much older, married man who had had an affair with Abigail once when she was a sort of servant in his household. After finding of this, his wife Elizabeth had banished Abigail from their house. Abigail sought revenge...
...ical problem. She seems to be lost in the world, and the only way for her to go through life is by being deceitful. She has no remorse for what she’s done or caused. It becomes even worse when she steals from her own family members. In addition Abigail eventually ran away with Mercy Lewis. Abigail is cold-hearted and she basically plays the devils character in her town. In this case Abigail was never the victim and she will always be an unforgettable character.
Being an individual and trying to separate yourself by being different is not usual in the puritan community. They do everything as a whole and that is what they believe in. In this article it says, “Such an adamantly ridged society of course implies that any form of individuality will be considered subversive and dangerous” (Bonnet 32). The main cause of this entire process is a mixture of individual and social forces. The character Abigail is out of lust for Proctor and out of jealousy for Elizabeth Proctor which was mentioned earlier. In the article it also approaches that “Every single person can avail himself of the opportunity to weak his own personal vengeance on his neighbor. At the same time that fallen state of things becomes a social
...than be accused of lying and lose all the power and adulation she has fought to hold on to. As soon as Abigail realized people were beginning to suspect her integrity, however, her initial instinct was to flee. Parris, her uncle, was the first to notice this, telling the court, “My niece, sir, my niece – I believe she has vanished.” This exemplifies her selfish behavior, because instead of taking responsibility for her actions, she would rather cowardly run from her problems.
Although she tried not to act like it, Abigail was no more than a child. Evidence of this is when Proctor continuously called Abigail a “child” but she refused to accept it and answered back, “How could you call me a child!” (Miller 470-71). Because Abigail was only a girl and people such as Proctor viewed her as one, the town should have known better than to listen to her and should have believed she was making it up. They really should not have believed her though because she was troubled and came from a rough background. The girl “saw Indians smash [her] dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to [hers]” (Miller 468). She watched her parents die and this would explain why she was living with her uncle. She had no mother figure in her life and she was troubled. Again, this is evidence that the town should have known better than to listen to her due to her
Abigail was the main antagonist within the context of the story, she made many decisions that decided many outcomes, one being her reputation. She accused Elizabeth of witchcraft and it gave Abigail a bad reputation. Especially with Proctor, he thought that she was the worst person in the world. Not only did Proctor think she was a bad person, so did Elizabeth because she states that, “And she may dote on it now-I am sure she doesn’t-and thinks to kill me, then to take my place” (Miller, 2003, p. 58). Elizabeth
Abigail is a major character in the play. She leads a group of liars, has a lot of power, and can get
Abigail’s character is one of extreme manipulation; however it does not start out like this. In the beginning Abagail is an unwedded “orphan” (1.8) who lives with her uncle. This means she is only a little higher than being deemed a slave. This low social status is what drives her lust for John Proctor. Abigail’s main goal is to marry John Proctor and doing so displace his current wife Elizabeth. Abagail and John become seduced by each other and have an affair. “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge into my heart.” John however has tried to move on from his mistake with Abagail “And now you bid tear me the light out of my heart” (1.24) and redeem his marriage. This hurts Abagail, but then the witch trials begin. Abigail like other towns folk uses these trials to their advantage. Motivated by her lust for John she begins manipulating others around her and eventually schemes a plot to get Elizabeth hanged for witchery. “Abagail Williams, sir. She sat to dinner in Rev. Parris house tonight and without a word she fall to the floor, stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly he draw a needle out. She testify it were your wife’s familiar spirit pushed it in.”(2.74) this shows Abigail’s manipulation of deceiving the people around her and planting false evidence to get Elizabeth accused of witchcraft, so that she may be with John.
...ong after John Proctor and other accused members of the town attempt to debunk Abigail’s act, she mysteriously “[vanishes]…she does not return and… [has] robbed [her uncle]” (126). Her blatant disregard for important aspects of Puritanism shows her lack of reverence for God; and although Abigail manages to escape prosecution in her hometown of Salem, she is no safer from hell than a true witch.
The true antagonist of the play is the town of Salem itself, because of the judgemental and self concerned peoples, and its oppressive views. Abigail;s outrageous actions are due to her desensitized views on death and actions otherwise viewed as unethical. From her youth ABigail recalls: “ I saw indians smash my dear parents’ head on the pillow next to mine and i have seen some reddish work at night” (Miller 20), because of this Abigail is numb to death and suffering and is in fact quite morbid. There is no problem in condemning other to death in Abigail’s eyes because she doesn’t see the issue with it. Abigail does not seem to comprehend that it is unethical to let people be hanged and stoned to death and has no issue telling others that she “ can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down” (Miller 20). Not only is Abigail desensitized to murder and death, she is also numb to other unethical dilemmas. Abigail is desensitized to corrupting the Proctor’s marriage because of her childish lust and obsession for John Proctor. Such desires can be seen through her encounters with Proctor. In regards to their so called “relationship” she says: “it’s she put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you love me now!” (Miller 22). Abigail does not view her behavior t...
To further complicate matters, John decides not to reveal to the court that Abigail has admitted to him in private that they were just sporting in the woods. Abigail spreads additional accusations and false rumors about her neighbors. These accusations have no basis in truth and their only purpose is for Abigail’s own benefit. Furthermore, Abigail is jealous of John’s wife, Elizabeth, and she schemes to get rid of her in order to take her place. Abigail’s plot is to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft.
In conclusion, the characters in The Merchant of Venice are multi layered. At first glance they seem so unique. However the heroine, Portia and the self-centered Shylock are more alike after closer examination. It is clear that they use their qualities for very different reasons. Portia for the good, Shylock for the bad.