Allusion In Bassanio's The Merchant Of Venice

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Bassanio is talking about his love, Portia. One reason that Bassanio uses such descriptive language is to better paint a picture in the mind of his friend Antonio. Because Bassanio adds a comment about Portia’s sunny, beautiful hair, the audience is able to imagine the pretty heiress in all her splendor. Descriptive language complements the mental idea forming in the audience’s head. Without it, Portia’s character would be nebulous and insubstantial as of this point.
Jarringly, the racism of the time period pours out of Portia’s mouth in regard to her suitor, the Prince of Morocco. One example of an allusion in The Merchant of Venice is Portia’s comment about the Prince’s complexion. Drawing from the Bible, Portia references the “complexion of a devil”, or dark skin. Indirectly mentioning a book of literary significance qualifies this exchange as an incident involving an allusion. In essence, Portia’s brief mention encapsulates the racist views of the time …show more content…

One example of a metaphor is when Antonio links the world to a stage without using connecting words. Elaborating on, Antonio then informs Gratiano that of all the parts, his is a sad one. Flowery language such as this provides links between unlike things in the mind of the audience. Now, “the world is but a stage” is not uncommon in modern language, all because of Shakespeare’s brilliance.
Despite the fact that Shylock and Antonio are far from friends, Antonio’s reputation is such that Shylock trusts him to pay back the money. And this is not blind trust, but an example of ethos- Antonio has credibility. Conscientious Shylock would not loan to a destitute individual, or one unable to pay him back. Loaning money as a career requires scrupulous habits, and Shylock cannot afford to be a slipshod usurer. Therefore, the wealthy Jew must be sure that his loans will be repaid- and Shylock can sure of it, due to Antonio’s strong persuasive appeal of

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