Aspects of The Merchant of Venice that are Meant to Evoke a Sympathetic Response
Although “The Merchant of Venice” is meant to be a comedy, there are
aspects of it which are very serious and are meant to evoke a
somewhat, sympathetic response from both Elizabethan and modern day
audiences. The three characters; Jessica, Shylock and Antonio each had
many moral dilemmas. These dilemmas vary from each character.
Antonio’s first moral dilemma was agreeing to the bond with Shylock.
This could have been classed as arrogance, in thinking Shylock would
not stick to the bond after all Antonio had said to him in the past
about his religion. His second dilemma was being so certain that his
ships would come back. This is partly what made him agree to the bond
with Shylock, even though it was benefiting Bassanio and not himself.
Antonio had invested a lot of time and effort into his friendship with
Bassanio and some modern day directors may portray this behaviour as
homosexuality, whereas in Elizabethan times men could have a very
close relationships and it could be no more than just good friends.
Jessica’s dilemmas mainly relate to the fact that her father (Shylock)
did not show her any affection, whether he felt it or not. Her first
dilemma was the fact Shylock cared much more about his money than he
did for her. Before Shylock leaves the house in act 2 scene 5 he tells
her to lock it up. He does this not out of love, but because he is
worried about his money. He also wants to keep the anti-Semitic
behaviour of the outside world away from her and his house. Jessica
also has the problem of having no motherly figure around to love her,
or more...
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...at an Elizabethan audience would completely disagree
with me because they were anti Semitic, so to agree with anything a
Jew did or said would have been wrong. I think if they would show
sympathy it would have been for Jessica because her father never
showed any love towards her and she was hated because of what her
father believed.
I do not feel sympathy for Antonio because throughout much of the play
he feels sorry for himself, but he does not have a reason for this
behaviour. The only place in the play where I felt sorry for him was
when all his ships crashed and he lost all of his income.
I don’t think Jessica was the most deserving of sympathy because she
found love in the end found her happiness, whereas her father was left
with practically nothing all because he believed in something other
people didn’t!
Response to Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice by a Modern Audience Since the time of Shakespeare, The play “Merchant of Venice” has had a dramatic effect on the modern audience today. In the 16th century, Jews were completely disliked, & Jews were not allowed to live in England unless they had converted to Christianity. = == ==
say, “If I can catch once upon the hip I will feed fat the ancient
In Act 1 Scene 3, we are first introduced to Shylock, we see him as
Risk is the exposure to danger. Taking risks are necessary because risk reveals experience to an individual. Hazard has both malevolent and benevolent outcomes, which can affect the overall atmosphere in a play. The content of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice includes many scenarios of risk-taking among the relationships between characters. The Merchant of Venice consists of four different plots: the bond plot, casket plot, love plot, and ring plot; in which characters are exposed to danger. Risk serves a major responsibility as it divulges many elements of dramatic significance throughout the play. Shakespeare manifests hazard through rival arguments, lovers’ commitments, and father and child agreements.
with how Shylock treats him since he calls Shylock “a kind of devil” and also
soon have several ships in port, agrees to part with a pound of flesh if the
Stereotypes are a fixed image of all members of a culture, group, or race usually based on limited and inaccurate information resulted from the minimal contact with this stereotyped groups. stereotypes have many forms; people are stereotyped according to their religion, race, ethnicity, age, gender, coulor, or national origins. This kind of intolerance is focused on the easily observable characteristics of groups of people. In general, stereotypes reduce individuals to a rigid and inflexible image that doesn't account for the multi-dimensional nature of human beings. One example of stereotypes is the categorization of the Jews in Elizabethan era. In fact, Elizabethan era was an age of prejudice, discrimination, and religious persecution particularly against minorities. Jewish people were one of those minorities who was suffering and struggling for survival. This racist attitude was rife not only in England but also across Europe. "Christians tended to see the Jews as an alien people whose repudiation of the Christ had condemned them to a perpetual migration. Jews were denied citizenship and its rights in much of Europe and forced to wear distinctive clothing to identify themselves in public (the yellow star, or badges of shame). There were forced expulsions of the Jews from several regions across Europe." (1). Jews were even believed to worship the devil.
Though William Shakespeare accurately portrays both Christianity and Judaism in his play The Merchant of Venice, the characters in the play do not represent their religions well. A reader unfamiliar with these religions could easily misinterpret flaws in a character's nature as the teachings of his religion. After a preliminary glance at the play, one would assume that Shakespeare wrote unjustly of the two religions depicted therein. However, Shakespeare had to write the play to please his audience, so he added a twist. By making characters not wholly perfect in their faith, in compliance with reality, Shakespeare was able to add the insults and bigotry and anti-Semitic feelings that would please the crowd, were true to society, and yet did not change the teachings of the religions themselves.
Shylock is the subject to abuse is it state that in Act 3 Sense 1, ‘’ laughed at my loses mocked
When most people think of justice, it commonly brings forward the words positivity, fairness, law, order, and other familiar words. However, in the Merchant of Venice, this is not the case. Justice is used negatively in a court case that reverses from putting Antonio, the convicted Christian merchant, on trial to Shylock, the Jewish money loaner asking for justice, to be put on trial. In the play, both mercy and justice are rejected because of the obvious influential bias that the character’s actions portray.
In the play The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, there is a concept of otherness throughout the play. Many characters had roles in which they were examples of the outsiders, that occurred during the time the play was written. If not all but in most plays by William Shakespeare, there is always a character who is categorized as the outsider. However, The Merchant of Venice took the concept into a deeper level, instead of depicting differences in social class as otherness, the play included race and religion, instead of social class. These beliefs shaped not only the way the play was written, but how the characters treated certain individuals in the play and how the personality of each character
In many of Shakespeare’s plays, Shakespeare uses multiple settings to contrast opposing ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare uses the settings of Venice and Belmont to represent opposing ideas. The city of Venice is an international marketplace. Venice is diverse and full of people from many countries who practice their own religions. Venice is marked by its cultural melting pot and friction, along with its focus on business and greed. In contrast, Belmont is a city in which people flee to in order to get away from the realities of commerce. The city of Belmont is marked by harmony and peace. Many of the characters in the story leave the avaricious city of Venice in order to reside in the
The Merchant of Venice explores the theme of Appearance versus Reality. The theme is supported with many examples in the form of characters, events and objects.
Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice contains many themes and elements that are considered timeless or universal. Samuel Taylor Coleridge defines a timeless or universal element as a “representation of men in all ages and all times.” A universal element is relevant to the life of every human being – it is universal. The first major theme that plays an important role in the play is the Christians’ prejudice against the Jews. A second important theme is the attitude toward money. Perhaps the most important theme of the play is the love between people. This love can occur between the same sex, or the opposite sex, platonic or romantic. In Merchant of Venice, the three timeless elements are prejudice, money, and love.
...t he was asked and begged repeatedly to accept three-fold the debt to excuse Antonio, but does not show any remorse, nor does he look like a victim of anybody. He is essentially paying six thousand ducats to have Antonio executed.