Merchant of Venice and the Crucible Comparison Essay
Ashley Tam
Ms. Parker
ENG2DB – 01
December 17, 2010
Injustice: Power Gone Wrong All communities run successfully with qualities of fairness and equality. The well-being of the citizens depends on the support and guidance they receive from those with power and influence in their society. When the people become corrupt and start having intentions that do not contribute back to the community, the society will fall apart and be unable to maintain balance and stability. In William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible the reader sees examples of injustice inflicted on the victims within the plays through the people with power within the community. The Christians in The Merchant of Venice mock Shylock the Jew countless times while the high court in The Crucible believe citizens are practicing witchcraft without a proper testimony. In both situations, the Christians and the court see themselves doing the right thing and believe they are contributing to the society when in reality, they break apart the community by persecuting those that are different. The victims in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible suffer from injustice as power being placed in the wrong hands leads to the formation of biased decision, the limited free will of citizens and severe punishments. The limited free will of the victims within the societies due to the manipulative mannerisms of the Christians and court subjects them to injustice. The way the Christians hate Shylock makes him have limited free will in the Venetian community. Shylock is unable to interact with the Christians due to his reputation as a moneylender. Shylock is unable to choose his occupation and as a moneylender, his only source of income is the interest he gains from it, resulting in the Christians hating him. This injustice forces him to be shunned from society and he ends up losing everything that he owns. The Jews only had moneylenders as their
Ms. Parker
ENG2DB – 01
December 17, 2010
Injustice: Power Gone Wrong All communities run successfully with qualities of fairness and equality. The well-being of the citizens depends on the support and guidance they receive from those with power and influence in their society. When the people become corrupt and start having intentions that do not contribute back to the community, the society will fall apart and be unable to maintain balance and stability. In William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible the reader sees examples of injustice inflicted on the victims within the plays through the people with power within the community. The Christians in The Merchant of Venice mock Shylock the Jew countless times while the high court in The Crucible believe citizens are practicing witchcraft without a proper testimony. In both situations, the Christians and the court see themselves doing the right thing and believe they are contributing to the society when in reality, they break apart the community by persecuting those that are different. The victims in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible suffer from injustice as power being placed in the wrong hands leads to the formation of biased decision, the limited free will of citizens and severe punishments. The limited free will of the victims within the societies due to the manipulative mannerisms of the Christians and court subjects them to injustice. The way the Christians hate Shylock makes him have limited free will in the Venetian community. Shylock is unable to interact with the Christians due to his reputation as a moneylender. Shylock is unable to choose his occupation and as a moneylender, his only source of income is the interest he gains from it, resulting in the Christians hating him. This injustice forces him to be shunned from society and he ends up losing everything that he owns. The Jews only had moneylenders as their
Cited: Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York: Penguin Books. 2003 Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Canada Inc., 1988