Aspects of The Merchant of Venice that are Meant to Evoke a Sympathetic Response

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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!

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