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main theme of merchant of venice
critically examine the play the merchant of Venice
merchant of venice play drama
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The Doomed Antonio of The Merchant of Venice
The secondary characters of The Merchant of Venice (Shylock, Portia and Bassanio) are so intriguing and so vocal, that the central figure, the merchant Antonio, is often largely ignored. This neglect is perfectly appropriate to the play's theme and the protagonist's struggle, for Antonio is an outsider. The play's theme is marriage and Antonio is both a stranger to the world of marriage, for he has no desire to partake of it, and he is an enemy to marriage, for it steals his one true love, Bassanio.
The play's opening line presents a mystery: the source of Antonio's gloom: "In sooth, I know not why I am so sad /...And such a want-wit of sadness makes of me, / That I have much ado to know myself" (I.i.1-7). Antonio claims to be ignorant of the source of his woe, and he may so be, but to the audience, this source will eventually come to light. His comrades Salarino and Solanio question if he might be worried about his ships, but they are assured that he is confident in these financial ventures. Their second guess is, "Why, then you are in love," to which Antonio only responds, "Fie, fie!" (I.i.46) This curt reaction is very revealing. Either the idea of being love is offensive to Antonio, or his love is such that he dares not speak of it, perhaps even to himself (Midgley 126).
The friends accept that Antonio is just gloomy, without particular cause. He himself suggests that he is simply doomed to melancholy: "I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano / A stage, where every man must play a part, / And mine a sad one" (I.i.78-79). However, it does not seem very likely that Antonio is just sad by disposit...
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...ve, and if he could, it seems doubtful that he would find any fulfilment in the society of women. Antonio is sad because his love is to be wed to a woman. His lament echoes the narrator of the sonnets, with a vital exception: the sonneteer sees that marriage would be good for his lover and encourages it. Antonio, a selfish and possessive merchant will not let go, and is doomed to his gloom.
Works Cited
Midgley, Graham. "The Merchant of Venice: A Reconsideration." Essays In Criticism vol. X no. 2 (1960): 119-133.
Pequigney, Joseph. Such Is My Love: A Study of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.
Rosenheim, Judith. "Allegorical Commentary in The Merchant of Venice" Shakespeare Studies vol. XXIV (1996): 156-210
Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth, 1996.
...rs in the play) to function as the spokesperson for the law suggests that rather than an attack on the female sex, The Merchant of Venice subtly questions patriarchal assumptions about women.
...ars of school. Once kids eat their lunches they normally want to go run around and use some of that energy from the food so they can concentrate better in class. It is also a good thing to require because school gym is the only exercise most teens and children get throughout the day. It helps cut the growing rate of diabetes and obesity. Sports are also a good way to stay active and healthy. Not only are you constantly moving and getting tons of exercise, but sports teams normally offer a good healthy snack after games such as peanut butter crackers and juice boxes or nutrition bars and bottled water. It all makes a huge difference in the development of children and teens. If we take these small steps to change, we can easily redirect the lives of children and teens health. Having more nutritious lunches can have a positive impact on the health of American teens.
...ivisive agent, actually been voided, or only cast aside? Is Shylock and Antonio’s code of honor truly obsolete? A sense of false sincerity permeates the final scene. The temporal ambiguity between night and day with which the play ends suggests that a complete resolution has not been achieved. In being neither night nor day, it ends in a kind of dramatic unreality. Metatheatrical in its elevation of words and language, The Merchant of Venice is consciously distinct from the realism of the off-stage world. And yet in the course of its five acts, the play fails to define a solid dramatic “otherworld,” in which new values and authorities are introduced and made permanent. Rather, it seems to end ambiguously, and fragmented. It falls short of true resolution, and concludes with a statement of shortcoming, informing us that there are still “two hours to day” (V.i.325).
Alice Walker is woman of class, diversity, and feminism. More importantly, she is a civil rights activist, novelist, poet, and essayist. Growing up poor, I would like to think motivated her, and crafted her to the woman she is at this time in her life. Her works is a tasteful gratification of what it was like fighting for equality for all African Americans, affirming the possibility to love and forgive amongst black and white people, and just writing impeccable wisdom. While attending Spelman College, she turned down a scholarship to study abroad in Paris, and instead she went to Mississippi to pursue civil rights.
The lines selected for analysis are Act II, Scene I, lines 277-291, when Antonio is trying to reassure Sebastian that killing his brother—the King of Naples—is a good idea and well worth the effort. As the reader knows, Antonio usurped his brother, Prospero, and became the Duke of Milan. This sets the stage for his attitude towards Sebastian’s wanting to kill his brother, King Alonso. Because of Antonio’s past actions he sees nothing wrong with getting rid of a family member for personal gain, but his reasons for doing so began at a young age and have been etched into his brain. Antonio’s psychological depth reveals that he is a man jealous of his brother’s rightful power, and stemming from that is his insecurity and lust for power wherever he may find it (in this case, having power over Sebastian). Antonio is not a good person, has few conscientious thoughts, and is now trying to convince his companion to follow his lead. If Antonio’s brother, Prospero, was to hear the selected lines, he would say that the only time Antonio thinks about performing acts that will get him power, by eliminating those who currently have it, is when it is to his advantage. He would say that Antonio devises plans to get rid of leaders when they are at a disadvantage, and he at an advantage, because he doesn’t feel that he could succeed otherwise—his insecurities kicking in. I don’t think Shakespeare agrees with Antonio, and there are two examples in the play to support that.
Blanchard, Jane. "Contesting Constancy in The Merchant of Venice", Renascence 61, vol 4 (2009), pp 209-220
Change should be seen as a challenge and embraced with enthusiasm (Marquis & Huston, 2012). In my professional and personal life, I view and respond to change as a way to make improvements to existing regulations and circumstances. I embark upon the quest with determination to succeed at whatever task is presented to me. Life without change can become unchallenging and stagnant (Marquis & Huston, 2012). As society and technology advance, you must incorporate the necessary transformations that arise with it.
...ed for Antonio to come off as being homosexual or if our modern general definition of homosexuality has influenced how we view Antonio. However, Shakespeare’s plays always seem to have shocking themes that are not meant to be seen without a close analysis. This analysis is able to prove why Shakespeare chose the word “ love” over any other word in order to invoke a certain homosexual feeling regarding Antonio and Bassanio’s relationship. Through this art of placing themes that Shakespeare uses, it is easy to see how homosexuality was intended to be placed as an underlying theme of The Merchant of Venice.
Antonio explains he has scattered his investment risks quite adequately, so it is not his "merchandize" that makes him sad. Yet, he does admit that he feels it is his nature to be sad, as if he has a chemical imbalance that classifies him as cl...
The Merchant of Venice written by William Shakespeare takes place in Italy in the late 1500s. The play focuses on 4 main characters: Antonio, Bassanio, Shylock and Portia. Antonio is a Venetian merchant who is in love with his best friend. Bassanio is the best friend of Antonio and the husband of Portia. Shylock is a Jewish moneylender and is hated by the people of Venice due to his religion. Lastly, there is Portia, wealth woman from Belmont. She is forced, by her father’s will, to marry the suitor who chooses the correct casket. Bassanio ends up being the lucky suitor and gets to marry Portia. Soon after the marriage they receive news of Antonio's appending sentence to death. Portia being a loving wife gives Bassanio the money to pay the bound. She decided to disguise herself as a doctor names Balthasar and replaces Bellario, so he can defend Antonio. Balthasar’s (Portia) duty is to look over the cause for the Duke and see if the still stands. She wants to save Antonio from death because he is the best friend of her beloved husband. In court, Portia demonstrates her intelligence and bravery in ways the Italian society consider worthy.
Shakespeare, William, and Leah S. Marcus. The Merchant of Venice: Authoritative Text, Sources and Contexts, Criticism, Rewritings and Appropriations. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. Print.
William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” is a drama that most scholars find difficult classifying. The play loosely focuses upon Antonio who becomes the subject of a loan that almost costs him his life due to his belittling and poor treatment of Shylock, who as a Jew has received many forms of prejudice from Christians. Despite this fact Antonio is relieved from the loan. Bassino is freed from his prior debts and gets to marry Portia, Portia weds the man that she desires, and four other characters get married. While these moments surely made the play happy and enjoyable, the looming threat of Antonio losing everything because he ended up defaulting on the loan causes the audience to worry and fear the outcome of what may happen. If not for Shakespeare’s usage of comic relief to support the happy ending it would be even more difficult to classify this play. Although there is plenty of happy moments and comic relief the treatment of Jews and Shylock in particular also causes some people to view “The Merchant of Venice” as a tragedy. While others yet view the drama as a problem play, “where moral dilemmas or social problems were explored through one central player”. William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” is best classified as a comedy due to comedies definition, the rise of sympathetic characters, the use of comic relief to decrease the dark tense moments, and the inability to properly classify the play as a tragedy.
Celie is not a typical protagonist. In Alice Walker's The Color Purple, the main character Celie is an ugly, poor girl who is severely lacking in self-confidence. However, Celie transforms throughout the course of the novel and manages to realize herself as a colorful, beautiful, and proud human being. Celie becomes a powerful individual.
“I am a jew?”-Shylock the merchant. The Merchant of venice is a play from William Shakespeare, in which a merchant called Antonio gets a loan from Shylock to pay for Bassanio's trip. Through a string of unfortunate events lead to a angry Shylock nearly killing Antonio, but that is narrowly averted. Shylock in the play “The Merchant of Venice” can be seen as a victim due to the hostile prejudice towards his kind, unfair treatment of him, and the random events that cause him misery.
William Shakespeare shows how two tradesmen can have completely different lives when others view them differently in the play The Merchant of Venice. In the play, Bassanio, Antonio’s friend, needs money to pursue his love. They seek a loan from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender in Antonio’s name. The contract is for three times the value of the bond in three months or else Shylock cuts off a pound of flesh from Antonio. While all this is happening, there are love plots going on. One of which is for Shylock’s daughter to elope with Lorenzo, a Christian. Later on, Antonio’s source of money, his ship, is reported sunken in the English Channel, dooming him to the loss of one pound of his flesh. There is a trial on the bond, and when it seems sure that Antonio will die, Portia, disguised as a doctor of laws legally gets Antonio out of the situation and Shylock recieves harsh penalties. Antonio and Shylock, two similar businessmen of Venice, are viewed differently and are treated oppositely to heighten the drama of the play and mold a more interesting plot.