The merchant of venic Essays - British Films, English-language Films

The merchant of venic "The Merchant of Venice" by WIlliam Shakespeare. "The Merchant of Venice" is a play about revenge, justice, deseption and friendship. The story is about, Shylock a wealth Jew, lending one of his enemies, Antonoi, three thousand ducats. Although Antonio is a rich merchant all his resources are in his ships, trading too distant countries, but because he wants to help out his friend,Bassanio, he has no choice but to ask Shylock for a loan , not to know it could lead to his death. In this play there is a big difference between the Christian charaters and Shylock, the main difference being Shylock seems to be more interested in his money and business rather than human relationships, which the Christian charaters seem to b e more interested in. However, in one part of the play Shylock seems to be hurt at the fact his daughter has sold a ring, which his deceases wife gave him, for a monkey. (Act 3 Scene 1 ) " It was my turquoise, I had it off Leah when i was a bachelor. I Would not have given it for a Wilderness of monkeys. " This shows a side to Shylock that we have never seen. It shows the love he had and still has for his deceased wife Leah. Shylock shows how hurt and betrayed he feels that his daughter has sold his ring by saying that he wouldn't had given it away for a " wilderness of monkeys ". Another theme in the play that Shylock brings out is predjudice. He judges people before he gives them a chance to show what they are really like. He has different veiws on different characters depanding on who they are. ( Act 1 Scene 3 ) "I hat him for he is a Christian" This shows how he feels against antonio , a Christian whom he has never met and it shows how prejudice he can be. In one part of the play Shylock shows a side to him we have never seen before. Instead if seeing him as the man who is greedy and self-centred, we see a man who has been ridiculed and ill treated. ( Act 1 Scene 3 ) "Many a thime and oft in the ralto You have rated me about my moneys And my usanes still i have borne it With a patient shrug, for sufferance Is the badge of all our tribe. You Call me a misbeliever cut-throught Dog and spit on mu Jewish Gabardine. " THe quote shows that shylock feels almost hurt at the fact the Christian characters are looking donw on him and hir religion although he was doing the exact same to Bassanio. In conclusion we see how the playwright uses charaterisation to reveal the themes of the play. I think Shaspeare shows this very well and the play was very exciting and enjoyable to read. The Character of Shylock in Merchant of Venice Few characters created by Shakespeare embodies pure evil like the character of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Shylock is a usurer and a malevolent, blood-thirsty old man consumed with plotting the downfall of his enemies. He is a malignant,vengeful character, consumed with venomous malice1; a picture of callous, unmitigated villainy, deaf to every appeal of humanity2. Shylock is the antagonist opposite the naive, essentially good Antonio, the protagonist; who must defend himself against the "devil" Shylock. The evil he represents is one of the reasons Shakespeare chose to characterize Shylock as a Jew, as Jews of his time were seen as the children of the Devil, the crucifiers of Christ and stubborn rejecters of God's wisdom and Christianity. However, when Shakespeare created Shylock, he did not insert him in as a purely flat character, consumed only with the villainy of his plot. One of the great talents that Shakespeare possessed, remarks Shakespeare analyst Harrold R. Walley, was his ability to make each key character act like a real, rational person. Walley said of all of Shakespeare's characters, hero or villain, that "Their conduct is always presented as logical and justifiable from their point of view3." To maintain the literary integrity of the play, "Shakespeare is under the necessity