A victim is someone who has been singled out for cruelor unfair treatment. A villain is a wicked person or a criminal. Antonio’s counterpart‚ Shylock‚ is the most noteworthy figure in Shakespeare’s comedy‚ The Merchant of Venice. No consensus has been reached on whether Shylock is a tyrannical villain or a tragic victim. Shylock‚ in my opinion‚ is a bloodthirsty villain. In the following paragraphs‚ it will be shown that Shylock is a villain in every sense of the word. Namely‚ he is vengeful‚
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The Merchant of Venice "Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is still relevant today because it deals with issues which still affect us. Show how two of those issues are discussed in the play." Throughout the play a distinction is made between how things appear on the outside and how they are in reality‚ or on the inside. The issue of appearance versus reality is demonstrated in varied ways‚ mainly by the use of real-life situations. The first representation of this is Shylock’s generosity
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speech by Shylock evokes the social world in which he lives. For‚ as a Jew‚ Shylock rails in magnified language against Antonio‚ a Venetian who has castigated Shylock for his usury. Also‚ within the setting of this play‚ the Venetians limited Jewish merchants and moneylenders/pawnbrokers‚ making them live in "geti" (plural of "geto"). The guttural pronunciation of this word made it sound like ghetto‚ a word still used today to mark emargination. So‚ Shylock is perceived as inferior to the Venetian money
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Question 1 Essay question: The Merchant of Venice The outcome of the trial of Shylock versus Antonio doesn’t reach an apt conclusion at the end of the play. In the preceding essay I plan to demonstrate the factors that influenced my decision to object to the verdict that concludes this play. I believe Shylock’s punishment is too harsh in this unjust court of law. It is of most relevance to highlight the fact that Antonio was entirely aware of the penalty that would arise from the bond forfeiting
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enjoy spending time with. In The Merchant of Venice‚ Shakespeare shows the reader; through the characters of Bassanio and Antonio‚ what the true definition of a friendship really is. The definition of friendship from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary is ‘the state of being friends’. Antonio and Bassanio have a friendship throughout the play that is similar to this definition and the perceived definition most people have. At the beginning of The Merchant of Venice‚ Bassanio comes to Antonio wanting
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Shylock: Villain or Victim The Merchant Of Venice is the story about a merchant by the name of Antonio who borrows money from a Jewish moneylender by the name of Shylock‚ in order to fund his best friend Bassanio’s romantic ambitions. The majority of the residents of Venice during the time this story was written were Christians‚ just like Antonio. At the same time there was a considerable amount of hatred toward those who were not Christians. Antonio needed money quickly and he had no other choice
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The Merchant of Venice Act IV Reading Questions 1. The duke opinionated what he thinks of Shylock by referring to him as “inhuman” and “uncapable of pity‚ void‚ and empty.” The Duke is not happy about Shylock wanting a pound of Antonio’s flesh and the Duke feels that Shylock will not feel bad for Antonio. 2. Antonio wants to “make no offers and use no farther means.” Antonio is grateful for what everyone has done for him‚ but he wants to move on with the trial so he can “have judgement”
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The Merchant of Venice "The Merchant of Venice" by William Shakespeare is a captivating play about revenge‚ justice‚ deception and friendship. Held within the brutal time of the 16th century‚ the play is about a pronounced character known as Shylock‚ who is a reasonably wealthy Jew‚ lending one of his enemies‚ Antonio‚ three thousand ducats. The play gives you a glance of how bad and unbearable life was for non-Christians‚ especially Jews. Shakespeare does an impeccable job of conveying the
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The Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare‚ in the Merchant of Venice‚ portrays Shylock as one vivid character who can be analysed in various ways. Shylock is portrayed as a complex character who defies explanation and who will probably never be fully understood. Rather than a one-dimensional villain viewed through the eyes of the Elizabethan era when the play was written‚ Shylock can also be seen as both an Elizabethan stereotype and a fully drawn human being when the play is viewed through modern
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for the ’Merchant of Venice’ was ’The Jew of Venice’. Which title do you think is the more appropriate? ’The Merchant of Venice’ tittle has been carefully chosen and it is apt and suggested. There has been some controversy among the critics that the tittle belong to Shylock or Antonio. This controversy arose because in the first entry the play had been named ’The Merchant of Venice’ or ’The Jew of Venice’. Later on the double tittle disappeared and it was named ’The Merchant of Venice’. So critics
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