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Shylock the merchant of venice character analysis1500
Shylock the merchant of venice character analysis1500
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Character Analysis of Shylock from The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
In William Shakespeare’s ‘The Merchant of Venice’ the
character Shylock, a Jewish moneylender is shown to
the audience in more than one. In one way we see a
good aspect of him as a caring and loving father, in
another way we see a dreadful part of him as a beast
that loves his money more than his daughter and
follows a brutal and cruel desire to end a man’s life in
this case Antonio the merchant.
We see that Shylock suffers from awful and physical verbal abuse from
all the Christians in Venice but especially from Antonio, Shylock
states that,
“You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog,
And spit upon my Jewish gabardine”
This tells us Antonio called Shylock a misbeliever, cut-throat dog and
has spat on him. This metaphor is comparing Shylock to an animal. So
he doesn’t have any rights at all.
Shylock is mocked at every opportunity by Salerio and Solanio. They
deliberately repeat what Shylock is saying in the streets, about his
daughter and ducats and make fun of him. They say,
“As the dog Jew did utter in the street:
‘My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!”
The quote “As the dog Jew did utter in the streets” is a metaphor
which tells us that Shylock is being referred to as a dog, not like a
dog so he is not human. They mock him even more by getting the
children in Venice to follow Shylock and repeat what he says. Solanio
also calls him a “villain Jew” meaning he is a criminal and they class
him below everyone and like a person in jail. Shylock takes everything
that is said to him and doesn’t retaliate or say anything to them.
Bassino asks Shylock to dinner when Shylock asks to meet a
Antonio. This is probably one of the only times when he has not been
called a ‘dog’ or been spat upon by any Christian. This is like a big
Throughout the play, Shylock was often reduced to something other than Human. In many cases, even the simple title of "Jew" was stripped away, and Shylock was not a man, but an animal. For example, Gratiano curses Shylock with "O, be thou damned, inexecrable dog!" (IV, i, 128) whose "currish spirit govern'd a wolf" (IV, i, 133-134) and whose "desires are wolvish, bloody, starved, and ravenous" (IV, i, 137-138). Or when Shylock is neither a man nor an animal, he becomes "a stony adversary, inhuman wretch" (IV, i, 4-5). When the Christians applied these labels to Shylock, they effectively stripped him of his humanity, of his religious identity; he was reduced to something other than human.
were a dog, I thought, what would be done to him?' The answer was obvious:
As Oscar Wilde quotes, “Women have a much better time than men in this world: there are far more things forbidden to them.” This reference to the female stereotype contradicts to Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, as some female characters strive for power and some go beyond of their expectations. In fact, they step out of society’s gender expectations, this disrupts the natural order of hierarchy. As well, it affects certain of female characters mentally to the point where they lose their lives and/or vilified. As a result, Shakespeare shows that the natural order of hierarchy needs to be established. This essay will therefore examine the female characters by comparing the representation of unstereotypical women-Lady Macbeth and the witches and how Lady Macbeth demonstrates a typical woman while acting as a foil.
say, “If I can catch once upon the hip I will feed fat the ancient
Macbeth is a very gothic, persistent tale of a great general in the Scottish army who causes his own downfall by listening to the dark prophecies of the three witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth. Macbeth’s self-consciousness fails to play an important part in the murder of multiple kinsmen causing the death of his wife and his mental health. Macbeth is not necessarily a horrible leader; the problem with him is that his ambitions exceed his expectancies. Macbeth’s character has constantly evolved from the point he was introduced into the play. Initially he seems as an extremely humble person, but as he learns more about the prophecies, his hindsight fails to overlook the complications of his ambitions. Macbeth’s faith in the apparitions and the witches ultimately cause Macbeth’s downfall and the unnecessary death of his beloved kinsmen such as King Duncan and Banquo.
In Act 1 Scene 3, we are first introduced to Shylock, we see him as
receives. So it would not be fair to say that he was totally evil as
Shylock is no more greedy than Bassanio begging for money or Lorenzo accepting Jessica’s gifts. Shylock is a loving father who wants the best for his only daughter. This love is expressed by his distress after he finds she has left him and through Shylock’s concern about Christian husbands during the courtroom scene in Act 5 Scene 1. Although Shylock showcases benevolent characteristics, like any individual he possesses faults. Shylock occasionally has moments of great acrimony in which he expresses his displeasment in the society. A strong proclamation of Shylock’s displeasment with his environment is when Shylock cries, “what 's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes?”
Lady Macbeth progresses throughout the play from a seemingly savage and heartless creature to a very delicate and fragile woman. In the beginning of the play, she is very ambitious and hungry for power. She pushes Macbeth to kill Duncan in order to fulfill the witches’ prophecy. In Act I, Scene 6, she asks the gods to make her emotionally strong like a man in order to help her husband go through with the murder plot. She says, “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full Of direst cruelty!” Also, she does everything in her power to convince Macbeth that he would be wrong not to kill Duncan. In Act I, Scene 7, she tells him, “What beast was’t then That mad...
Macbeth is a dramatic play penned by British playwright William Shakespeare, and set in medieval Scotland. Macbeth tells the story of the journey of a commander who seeks to become king. Macbeth, a prominent Scot, receives a prophecy from three witches foretelling that he is to ascend to the throne. His wife, Lady Macbeth appears to support Macbeth initially, but then she gradually fades away from his side. Over time, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s characters transform tremendously in nature. Macbeth grows to resemble his power-hungry wife, meanwhile, Lady Macbeth herself appears to grow more guilt-ridden.
In the Play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth is the wife of Macbeth and is one of the play’s most celebrated characters. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as stronger, more cruel, and more ambitious person than Macbeth, especially when she questions his manhood. When she questions his manhood, Macbeth feels that he needed to prove he is a man and that his masculinity should not be questioned. In a way this is her way of killing Duncan because she feels that she can manipulate Macbeth into killing Duncan and she does not want to be seen as killing him because women are not portrayed as a killing type. Lady Macbeth’s role in the play is to be the character that portrays some of the themes and social images of that time about how a woman should or shouldn’t be. By creating a character like Lady Macbeth, the reader’s views of masculinity and femininity are challenged.
Another way Antonio and Shylock are different is their religion based social status: Antonio is a Christian and Shylock is a Jew.
... only reason why he really wanted the bond was to get an upper hand on
In every story there are always characters that as readers are drawn towards and grown fonder of them, no one likes a story that they can not relate to. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth tragedy, Macbeth is the character that most people feel for. Macbeth displays the general characteristics of a tragic hero throughout the play, catharsis, hubris and he is very easy to relate to.
Analysis of Major Characters in William Shakespeare's Macbeth Macbeth = == == == Because we first hear of Macbeth in the wounded captain's account of his battlefield valor, our initial impression is of a brave and capable warrior.