are not always what they seem. People may appear to be one way but turn out to be an entirely different. The romantic-comedy‚ The Merchant of Venice‚ by William Shakespeare‚ shows the deliberate use of deception by the characters. Deception is a tool that is used for many purposes. The purposes can be harmful‚ protective or for personal gain. In The Merchant of Venice‚ Portia‚ Jessica‚ and Shylock are all characters who use deception to carry out their own motives. Shylock‚ the hated Jew‚ makes
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Character Study of Shylock and our feelings for him as the play progresses 1) He is seen as a mercenary money-lender approached by Bassanio for the loan of 3000 ducats with Antonio as the guarantor. The money is to finance Bassanio on his trip to Belmont to woo Portia whom he is in love with. He keeps debating on whether he should lend the money. Even when Antonio is a “good” man meaning he is financially sound‚ yet his money is invested in goods which are in ships overseas. Therefore‚ his ventures
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they were actually banned from England in 1290‚ and were not allowed back into England several decades after ‘The Merchant of Venice’ had been written. The Elizabethans were ignorant of the Jewish culture. Shakespeare knew that the majority of the population was Christian and had to write something that was somewhat an outrage to the Jews. So he decided to write the Merchant of Venice‚ in which he deliberately included stereotypical prejudice to reflect current society. The play in the earlier part
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in The Merchant of Venice and Stories from Rwanda William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Phillip Gourevitch’s We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda are very similar in the fact that both address the value of human life. In The Merchant of Venice‚ one of the main characters is intent on murdering a man for money. In Stories from Rwanda‚ people are killed mainly because of their appearances. Throughout both works‚ The Merchant of Venice
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A Two-Faced "Lady Richly Left" (1.1.161). In the play The Merchant of Venice‚ Shakespeare reveals Portia’s character in a variety of different ways. She seems to have multiple personalities‚ and it is very difficult for one to conclude whether she is kind or cruel. For example‚ she could be said to be prejudiced and sly‚ while also very caring. Portia is quick to judge others on appearances and first impressions. In scene II‚ when Portia is discussing her suitors with Nerissa‚ she explains all
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most from it. They were convicted of heresy‚ and often killed because of their beliefs. Such is the kind of racial discrimination toward Shylock‚ the Jewish character in "The Merchant of Venice." Some believe that the character as a greedy‚ coldhearted villain‚ which is not the case. In Shakespeare’s play‚ "The Merchant of Venice‚" Shylock was a victim of years’ struggle against discrimination toward his religion. One of the most persistent charges against Shylock was that he was cruel and bloodthirsty
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life‚ and if not that‚ at least we all enjoyed _Seinfeld._ Shylock becomes not a depository for our hatred as previous generations could interpret him‚ but as a human being who has been wronged. It allows me to look at _The Merchant of Venice_ not only as a Comedy of the Merchant‚ but as the Tragedy of Shylock. Shakespeare’s the _Merchant of Venice_ has endured for this long because of the fascinating character of Shylock. His contradictory presence of both human and devil‚ the familiar and the strange
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There are many fairytale elements in ’The Merchant of Venice’. For example‚ there is the idea of being three different items such as the three caskets‚ three thousand ducats in the bond and the three marriages. There is also the idea of deception‚ which is featured in many fairy tales. An example of this idea is when Jessica betrays her father to elope with Lorenzo. There is also disguise‚ when Portia and Nerissa disguise themselves as male layers to save Antonio from the bond. The idea of Shylock
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friendship. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice‚ Shakespeare highlights the relationship between a father and his daughter. Both of these plays show examples of how common father and daughter relationships are. Also‚ it is not unusual for a comedy to have a father demanding that his daughter marry a certain person. The law of the father plays an important role in the stories of both A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice. In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream‚ we are
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with the tragedy of “Julius Caesar” in 1599. During this time‚ he wrote what are considered his greatest comedies and histories. From about 1600 to about 1608‚ his “tragic period”‚ Shakespeare wrote mostly tragedies‚ and from 1608 to 1613‚ mainly tragicomedies called romances. (“William Shakespeare” – Wikipedia) Shakespeare’s plays are famous for many different reasons. The plot‚ characterization‚ dialogues‚ the use of metaphors and symbolic
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