Comparison/Contrast: The Merchant of Venice and Richard III

786 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Merchant of Venice themes,symbols and motifs

In William Shakespeare’s tale of The Merchant of Venice and Richard III both plays show similar qualities as well as differences between the two plays.
The Merchant of Venice and Richard III are similar in that both plays have women that are independent. These women are not afraid to speak up and lash out with hard words towards who they do not prefer. In the Merchant of Venice, Portia never gives up. She is a very strong character and goes as far as to dress as a man and pretends to be a lawyer in order to save Antonio.
The women of Richard III are also quite strong willed and determined. They talk freely at whomever they please and are not afraid to state their opinion. Queen Margaret shows this confident attitude when she speaks by saying, “What, were you snarling all before I came, Ready to catch each other by the throat, and turn you all your hatred now on me? Did York’s dread curse prevail so much with heaven that Henry’s death, my lovelly Edward’s death, their kingdom’s loss, my woeful banishment, could all but answer for that peevish brat? Can curses pierce the clouds and enter heaven? Why then, give way, dull clouds, to my quick curses! Though not by war, by surfeit die your king, as ours by murder to make him a king” (Act 1, Scene 3, Page 9).
In both The Merchant of Venice and Richard III, some of the male characters want to marry the ladies because it means that they are gaining something in return. In The Merchant of Venice, Portia is wealthy which makes her desirable in others eyes. They want to marry her because they will be gaining wealth which they did not have before or adding to the wealth that they already have.
In Richard III, Richard kills off the powerful characters who are royal, in order to get closer to...

... middle of paper ...

...he ring was his wife’s. This little bit of information shows that Shylock is grieving inside and has not stopped. He wants the people around him to understand him but he is still an awful person for the things he says.
Richard III and The Merchant of Venice are both in their own way manipulating plays. The reader knows Richard is the bad guy however one cannot help but find his words entertaining.
These two stories show the reader similarities of these two plays in that they both have strong willed female characters. The difference of a happy ending and a tragic ending can only be determined by one’s own interpretation. However one can assume that because Richard was killed off in the end it might result in a happy ending because his reign of terror is over. Yet, because so many deaths occurred one would assume the opposite and label this tale as a tragic story.

Show More
Related

  • Comparison of King Richard III and Looking for Richard

    1514 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shakespeare constructs King Richard III to perform his contextual agenda, or to perpetrate political propaganda in the light of a historical power struggle, mirroring the political concerns of his era through his adaptation and selection of source material. Shakespeare’s influences include Thomas More’s The History of King Richard the Third, both constructing a certain historical perspective of the play. The negative perspective of Richard III’s character is a perpetuation of established Tudor history, where Vergil constructed a history intermixed with Tudor history, and More’s connection to John Morton affected the villainous image of the tyrannous king. This negative image is accentuated through the antithesis of Richards treachery in juxtaposition of Richmond’s devotion, exemplified in the parallelism of ‘God and Saint George! Richmond and victory.’ The need to legitimize Elizabeth’s reign influenced Shakespeare’s portra...

    Read More

  • Providentialism In King Richard III

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    The undeniable pursuit for power is Richard’s flaw as a Vice character. This aspect is demonstrated in Shakespeare’s play King Richard III through the actions Richard portrays in an attempt to take the throne, allowing the audience to perceive this as an abhorrent transgression against the divine order. The deformity of Richards arm and back also symbolically imply a sense of villainy through Shakespeare’s context. In one of Richard’s soliloquies, he states how ‘thus like the formal Vice Iniquity/ I moralize two meanings in one word’. Through the use of immoral jargons, Shakespeare emphasises Richard’s tenacity to attain a sense of power. However, Richard’s personal struggle with power causes him to become paranoid and demanding, as demonstrated through the use of modality ‘I wish’ in ‘I wish the bastards dead’. This act thus becomes heavily discordant to the accepted great chain of being and conveys Richard’s consumption by power.

    Read More

  • Richard III Villain Quotes

    705 Words  | 2 Pages

    “I am determined to prove a villain / and hate the idle pleasures of these days. / Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous, / by drunken prophecies, libels and dreams.” Richard III, the evil Duke of Gloucester, is fighting a bloody road to the crown in Shakespeare's dramatic play. Stopped by nothing and with brilliant intelligence, Richard fights his way to the king’s position, clothing his villany with “old odd ends stolen out of holy writ.” With no one to fully trust, Richard breaks many hearts by killing all people in his way, and becomes the unstoppable villain. He hides behind a shield of kindness and care, but when he is alone, his real soul comes alive. Sending murderers, or killing people himself, he has no mercy. Manipulating Lady Anne to marry him and promising Buckingham rewards for his deeds, he knows what he is doing, and won’t stop until the crown lies at his feet.

    Read More

  • Illusion Of Truth In Richard III

    1288 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...f control of scenes and verbal encounters, which finally ends with his magnificent downfall. [implement more Margaret control/curses/competition in the beginning]. Despite Richard's best attempts to write his own ending, the audience is now forced with the truth that it was Margaret's prophecy that ripened to fruition. With Richard's final soliloquy taking blame for his actions and "the outward movement away from any semblance of Richard's control, completes the separation of Richard and audience" (Schellenberg 66). Through the course of Act V, Richard takes part in only two of the six scenes. Of these two scenes, he shares the stage with Richmond, the rising actor to take the lead role.

    Read More

  • Comedy in I Henry IV and II Henry IV by William Shakespeare

    2529 Words  | 6 Pages

    ...in themes similar to those found in the two Henry IV plays, such as usurpation, rebellion, and the issue of lineage of royal right. But Richard II and King Henry V are decidedly more serious in tone, and in comparing them to I Henry IV and II Henry IV, the argument can be made that it is these two latter plays which resound with greater realism with the broader spectrum of life which they present. Shakespeare carefully balances comedy and drama in I Henry IV and II Henry IV, and in doing so the bard gives us what are perhaps the most memorable characters in all of English literature.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Humility of Kings in Shakespeare's Richard II through Henry V

    2383 Words  | 5 Pages

    King Richard II is Shakespeare's example of a king who removes himself from the reality of the common people. Richard views his position as a source of amusement. His "cares" as King, other than an opportunity for an agreeable audience, are merely a burden. Instead of investigating the accusations of treachery from Henry and Mawbrick, he exiles both men as an easy way out. Richard was born a King, and knows no life other than that of royalty. Unfortunately the lesson that must know men to rule them costs him the thrown. Richard's lesson influences his usurper and his usurper's heir to the thrown, demonstrating to them both the value of humility.

    Read More

  • Richard the Third as a Hero or a Villain

    2535 Words  | 6 Pages

    This contributes to a very villainous role. Richard begins his journey to the throne. He manipulates Lady Anne. into marrying him, even though she knows that he murdered her first. husband.

    Read More

  • The Evil of Richard the Third

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shakespeare Richard III was a traitor, a murderer, a tyrant, and a hypocrite. The leading characteristics of his mind are scorn, sarcasm, and an overwhelming contempt. It appears that the contempt for his victims rather than active hatred or cruelty was the motive for murdering them. Upon meeting him he sounds the keynote to his whole character. " I, that am curtailed of this proportion, cheated of feature by dissembling nature, Deform'd, unfinish'd sent before my time Into this word scarce half made up"( 1.1.20-23)

    Read More

  • The Supernatural in Shakespeare's Richard III

    1457 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare, William. Richard III. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Greenblatt, Stephen. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1997. 515-596.

    Read More

  • Ambiguities Answered in Derek Jacobi's Richard II

    1863 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Derek Jacobi production of Richard II provides its own answers to many of the ambiguities posed by the text alone. Richard is portrayed as an ineffective ruler ripe for overthrow, and Bullingbrook as a more capable man boosted to power by the scheming of the Machiavellian Northumberland. Many other interpretations are valid -- indeed, some of this production's choices were made easier by judicious cuts in the script -- but this production provides an entertaining, reasonable, and self-consistent interpretation of the welter of events surrounding the deposition of a king. And, in so doing, the production proves the almost limitless variety of theater, particularly of Shakespeare.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare on Machiavelli: The Prince in Richard III

    1505 Words  | 4 Pages

    He breeds anger in Clarence and the populace, not of himself, but of Edward and the rightful heirs.  "We are not safe, Clarence, we are not safe,"3 he exclaims as his brother is hauled away to the tower. He preys on the "hateful luxury And bestial appetite"4 of the citizenry, catapulting himself to the thrown over a heap of bodies: deaths that hang on his head.  But, it is Richard's attitude that his end goal of the crown justifies the murderous means that so closely links ...

    Read More

  • Wars Of The Roses

    944 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Shakespeare play Richard III was depicted as a malformed mean, ill looking, tyrant. But this was not the case. Richard

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of King Richard III

    1244 Words  | 3 Pages

    The king tells his men to “whip these stragglers o’er the seas again”, which is a hyperbole for beating the enemy. His choice of words is very violent, such as ‘whip’ and ‘lash’. This shows how ruthless and violent he is. He then continues to abuse the opposing side’s men, and his diction includes various insults directed towards them. He calls them “famished beggars” and “poor rats”. This is an example of how Richard is feeling very insecure and unsure of himself, having to slander others in order to feel more confident. He also uses a polyptoton, telling his men that if they are to be “…conquered, let men conquer us”. His repetition of the word ‘conquer’ in different forms makes his soldiers feel shame and embarrassment, since it implies that Richmond’s soldiers, whom are not worthy, should not beat them. The king continues with a series of rhetorical questions. He demands, “Shall these enjoy our lands? Lie with our wives? Ravish our daughters?” These questions instill a feeling of defensiveness and protectiveness in his soldiers. It tells them how the enemy will hurt them and their families. It is also an example of a climax. Richard builds up to the things that matter to his men the most, so that they start to feel more and more angered by Richmond’s men. The king does not encourage his men with support and praise; alternatively, he uses intimidation and fear as a form of motivation. As well, Richard builds on their sense of inclusion, by using words such as ‘we’ and ‘our’ when referring to his own team, making his men feel possessive as if they one united force, all fighting for a noble cause, when in reality; Richard is just using them for his own

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice: Portia

    1777 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Merchant of Venice is a play set in a very male and Christian dominated society where other religions and women rights weren’t very well accepted by the community. However Portia, a rich woman who had previously been controlled by men, triumphs as she manipulates tricks and saves the lives of the men.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, the role of women is quite significant. Although there are only three women throughout the play, Jessica, Nerissa, and Portia, all play a role that affects the outcome of the play. Portia, Jessica, and Nerissa are all very significant characters from this time period. The three women display characteristics of bravery, independence, and intelligence.

    Read More

More about Comparison/Contrast: The Merchant of Venice and Richard III

Open Document