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Critical analysis of merchants of the venice
Critical analysis of merchants of the venice
Character analysis of merchants of Venice
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Relationships in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice 'The Merchant of Venice' is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays and Act 1 Scene 3 is a key scene. There are three characters involved in the scene and these are: Antonio, Bassanio and Shylock. Shakespeare portrays their characters effectively as well as the contrasting relationships between them. He uses various themes, his language and style and the plot of the bond to achieve this. Before I look at scene 3 it is important to look at the first scene of the play. At the beginning of Act 1 Scene 1 Antonio, the merchant of Venice, is portrayed as a troubled man, "In sooth, I know not why I am so sad," (line 1) and a character in low spirits as his friends Salerio and Solanio try to raise them. He seems to be in a state of sadness as he and his friends discuss possible reasons this. Looking for reasons for the sadness is also a convenient way for Shakespeare to tell us how highly Antonio is regarded by his friends, and to make sure we know all about his business interests. We learn that he is a businessman. Antonio is a character who has confidence in his decisions, because even though Salerio and Solanio discuss their nervous feelings about one of his merchant ventures, and we learn that there are many risks and worries facing a merchant who's assets are at sea, he assures them that he has no need to worry about it because he has reduced the risks by spreading his merchandise between different ships, "My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, / Nor to one place". This also shows his intelligent thinking. Antonio is a calculated risk taker and all the main devel... ... middle of paper ... ...stage, seems more interested in her money than in her: "in Belmont is a lady richly left/And she is fair". I think it is significant that he mentions her money before her looks. He is quite a shrewd character as he sees the danger of Antonio singing the bond. He is still, however, still prepared to let his friend go ahead and make the promise to Shylock. Antonio obviously feels unconditional love for Bassanio, "That in your knowledge may by me be done,/And I am prest unto it." However I do not feel that Bassanio is fully deserving of it. Act 1 Scene 3 is a very important scene which firmly establishes three of the most important characters in the whole play. Shakespeare uses many writers techniques and ingenious plots to portray the characters and exciting dialogue to convey the relationships between the three.
William Shakespeare attained literary immortality through his exposition of the many qualities of human nature in his works. One such work, The Merchant of Venice, revolves around the very human trait of deception. Fakes and frauds have been persistent throughout history, even to this day. Evidence of deception is all around us, whether it is in the products we purchase or the sales clerks' false smile as one debates the purchase of the illusory merchandise. We are engulfed by phonies, pretenders, and cheaters. Although most often associated with a heart of malice, imposture varies in its motives as much as it's practitioners, demonstrated in The Merchant of Venice by the obdurate characters of Shylock and Portia.
say, “If I can catch once upon the hip I will feed fat the ancient
In the play The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, there is a concept of otherness throughout the play. Many characters had roles in which they were examples of the outsiders, that occurred during the time the play was written. If not all but in most plays by William Shakespeare, there is always a character who is categorized as the outsider. However, The Merchant of Venice took the concept into a deeper level, instead of depicting differences in social class as otherness, the play included race and religion, instead of social class. These beliefs shaped not only the way the play was written, but how the characters treated certain individuals in the play and how the personality of each character
Act 3 scene 1 is one of the most important parts in the play; there
In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, the scene opens to reveal a society controlled by men. Men, who live in the foreground of Venetian society, wield their power in business, government, and family life. In the background, women conduct their lives quietly. They are subservient to their husbands and fathers and are regarded as helpless and in need of male guidance in areas of decision making. Though in Shakespeare’s time such a societal structure was largely acceptable, the modern reader views the subjugation of women with aversion, and the ways in which Shakespeare presents the female characters in this play perhaps show that he too was not entirely comfortable with the unbalanced scale of power between men and women.
In the quote, Portia and Nerissa pose as men. Though the crowd thinks that the two are a young lawyer and a messenger, the two are, in fact, two women attempting to aid one of their husbands. Not only do Portia and Nerissa need to disguise themselves in order to hide their identities, but also to appear more credible as well. At the time, women were generally less powerful than men and held less types of jobs. For that reason, in order to use the occupation of a wise lawyer, Portia would not have been able to remain as a woman and still remain credible in the eyes of her peers.
In both of Shakespeare’s plays, "Othello" and "The Merchant of Venice", there are several instances in which the non-white and non-Christian characters are marginalized and are often the victims of prejudice and outright racism. This occurs in both "Merchant of Venice" and "Othello" particularly through the use and power of language and terms of reference. What is most fascinating about this seeming racism and bias against these characters, Othello and Shylock, is that they aren’t represented in either text as completely fitting the villainous or negative stereotypes other characters wish to put them in. Both Othello and Shylock are presented as sympathetic to varying degrees and although they posses several character flaws that some of the white and Christian characters wish to attribute to their race (Jewish as greedy and heartless and Moors as savage and barbarous) Shakespeare does not completely rely on these stereotypes to draw his characters of these two men. Although Shylock is indeed money-hungry, greedy, and oftentimes heartless, he is still portrayed sympathetically at points and his faults are not shown to be something associated with his race. Othello, most notably at the end of the play commits a savage act, but throughout the rest of the text, he is shown to be mild-mannered and exceptionally “civilized” as a general and aristocrat. This softening allows the characters to be represented as more rounded, but the fact still remains that racial bias and outright racism and prejudice are present in both texts.
The role of jealousy, love and betrayal play a major role in The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. The entire play is based on the human interactions of the characters as related to Othello and Desdemona. The characters’ personalities, their social status, and their relationships to each other control the story line and their fate in the play. Othello is portrayed early in the play as an outsider with animalistic characteristics by Iago and Roderigo because of jealousy. “Your heart is burst; and have lost half of your soul/Even now, now, very now, an old black ram/Is tupping your white ewe”.(531) Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, accuses Othello of using witch craft on his daughter. “If she in chains of magic were not bound/ Whether a maid so tender, fair, and happy/ So opposite to marriage that she shunned…” (535) This point is important because Othello must defend himself not only to Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, but to the entire Venetian Senate. “And till she come, as truly as to heaven,/ I do confess the vices of my blood./ So justly to your grave ears I’ll present/ How I did thrive in this fair lady’s love, / And she in mine.” (539) Othello proves himself to be an intellectual hero early in the play. He has worked hard to gain respectability and power, but because he has a different background, is from another country, is dark-skinned and is older than Desdemona, he becomes jealous very quickly of Cassio. Cassio is from the same social class, is compatible with Desdemona and is a young handsome man. Iago has also convinced Cassio to seek favor with Desdemo...
receives. So it would not be fair to say that he was totally evil as
As you begin to read and understand the tragedy of Hamlet, you should begin to see how the many characters affect what happens as the story progresses. The further you get into the plot, however, it is quite clear that there is one strong supporting character that shapes the role of the main character of the story. When Prince Hamlet, the main character learns that his uncle Claudius was the person who had killed his father, Prince Hamlet becomes enraged by this and vouches to honor his father's death by slaying his uncle for his wrongdoing. Prince Hamlet is further enraged and disgusted by the acts of his mother, Queen Gertrude who has most hastily agreed to marry the brother of the former king of Denmark. When this occurs, we begin to see the mental constitution of Prince Hamlet unravel. As the play progresses, we further see the toll that all of this plays on the main character when he begins to doubt whether or not the apparition that he is seen is really that of his father or not and begins to think that the specter is possibly evil in some way or another.
True Love in The Merchant of Venice Among the various themes presented in the Merchant of Venice most important is the nature of true love. The casket plot helps illustrate the theme of the book. Through a variety of suitors the descriptions of the caskets, Shakespeare shows the reader how different people view true love. He also shows what is most important to the suitors and in some cases it is not true love, but material things and outward appearance. The first suitor who tries to win Portia's hand is the Prince of Morocco.
In the 16th century, women and men were defined as having specific and contrasting roles within society. Men were defined as being powerful and dominant while women were defined as being submissive and meek. These ideals can be seen across cultures and throughout time. With these definitions of gender roles in place, the text suggests that gender is a social construct therefore qualities of femininity and masculinity are subjective. This is shown when Portia cross dresses as the lawyer Balthazar (IV) and when the truths of the rings are discovered by the two women (V). The strong female characters in the play exemplify that women are not confined to their social construct as they manipulate the male characters. During the 16th century only
Analysis of Shylock's Role in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. In this essay, I will be examining one of Shakespeare’s most memorable plays. and controversial character, Shylock. Shylock is one of the main characters in ‘The Merchant of Venice.’
which tells us that Shylock is being referred to as a dog, not like a
shows that he is eager to win Portia that he does not ask for a