The themes of Shakespeare’s plays are just as relevant to today’s society as they were in his day. Discuss making close reference to The Merchant of Venice. In The Merchant of Venice hate‚ loyalty‚ pride and prejudice‚ love and friendship are just some of the themes investigated with in the play. These themes‚ although were evident in the time of Shakespeare‚ are just as significant and universal today. Shylock‚ the Jew‚ explores most of these negative themes as in the play he is depicted as being
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Antonio is the title character in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. He is a middle-aged bachelor and merchant by trade who has his financial interests tied up in overseas shipments when the play begins. He is kind‚ generous‚ honest and confident‚ and is loved and revered by all the Christians who know him. Even Portia‚ who sees Antonio as a rival for her husband’s affections‚ reveres his character and appreciates — with reservations — his willingness to die for Bassanio. Antonio manifests his
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things happen to good people‚ sometimes we can’t explain it and sometimes they don’t deserve it. Since it is a familiar subject a lot of writers decide to incorporate karma‚ fate‚ destiny‚ in their stories‚ for example‚ William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. Its message revolves around fairness and so karma since in the end Shylock does not deserve what he gets. First of all‚ Shylock is portrayed as the victim in the play; he is not mean. He has never done anything to hurt Antonio who is in
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The Merchant Of Venice Essay May 31‚ 2012 There are two emotions commonly shown to motivate characters in the Merchant Of Venice‚ both positively and negatively‚ namely that of love and hate. These two emotions motivate characters such as Shylock‚ who’s actions are motivated by his hate for Antonio‚ Jessica’s love for Lorenzo and hate for her father and Antonio’s love for Bassanio and hate for Shylock. Antonio’s actions are motivated from both love and hate. These actions
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"The Merchant of Venice" is a play that relies on soliloquies to advance the plot‚ create mood and atmosphere‚ and to develop character among all the actors. I am here to prove how this happens in two different soliloquies and show you why Shakespeare put them into the play. My first soliloquy is from Lancelot Gobbo and it is taken from Act 2 Scene 2.I know that Lancelot is a secondary character‚ but this speech is really important in the outcome of this scene. He is talking about if he
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In William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice‚ prejudice is a predominant theme and it is displayed in numerous ways. A dominant form of prejudice in the play is prejudice against religion by both the Christian and the Jewish believers. Other minor but important forms of prejudice displayed are against races and against various types of disabilities. Shakespeare demonstrates that during his era‚ in the Elizabethan Era‚ prejudice wasn’t frowned upon like it is today in present society. Shakespeare
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English essay In Shakespeare’s play the merchant of Venice the audience learns about love in many forms. Through the characters‚ of Portia and Bassanio‚ Shylock and his love for money over his daughter and Antonio and Bassanio. The audience learns through Portia that true love always triumphs. From shylock we learn that money isn’t everything it seems to be and that you should treasure your family more than money. Through the friendship of Antonio and Bassanio we learn about the love of one friend
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for Portia’s hand‚ in which suitors from various countries choose among a gold‚ a silver‚ and a lead casket‚ resembles the cultural and legal system of Venice in some respects. Like the Venice of the play‚ the casket contest presents the same opportunities and the same rules to men of various nations‚ ethnicities‚ and religions. Also like Venice‚ the hidden bias of the casket test is fundamentally Christian. To win Portia‚ Bassanio must ignore the gold casket‚ which bears the inscription‚ “Who chooseth
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TWO MAJOR THEMES IN MERCHANT OF VENICE A major theme in the Merchant of Venice is mercy. Mercy depicts a large part of this play‚ mercy is one of themes that ends it. In the courtroom scene of Act 4‚ scene 1‚ both the Duke and Portia present mercy as a better alternative to the pursuit of either law or revenge. The other characters accept that the law is on Shylock’s side‚ but they all expect him to show mercy‚ which he refuses to do. Portia then tries to persuade him to be merciful
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Kimberley Williamson “The Merchant of Venice” Analyse how ONE main character’s attempts to solve a problem were important to the text as a whole. In the text‚ “The Merchant of Venice‚” written and performed by Shakespeare‚ Antonio‚ the merchant‚ borrows money from Shylock‚ a Jewish moneylender‚ to send his friend Bassanio overseas to woo and marry Portia. However‚ failing to pay back the money in time‚ Shylock takes Antonio to court demanding a pound of his flesh in payment. Portia‚ one
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