The Homosexual Relationship Between Antonio and Bassanio in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice Tsun-Hsien Tsai Sophomore Student‚ Department of English National Changhua University of Education There are many pairs of male adults with honorable masculine friendships appearing in William Shakespeare’s popular plays‚ such as Antonio and Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice‚ Antonio and Sebastian in Twelfth Night‚ the two kings Leonates and Polixenes in The Winter’s Tale‚ and so on. No matter
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Shylock: Victim or Villain? He is a Jewish moneylender who earns his living by charging interest on money he loans (like modern banks). He often speaks prose in the play‚ which marks him out as an outsider. He is persecuted by all the non-Jews he knows: He tells Antonio‚ "suff’rance is the badge of all our tribe". He is verbally abused and bullied by most characters in the play and is called cruel names including "villain with a smiling cheek‚ cut-throat dog‚ bloody creditor‚ damned inexecrable
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Discuss Shylock’s dramatic function in The Merchant of Venice. What do critics mean when they suggest that Shylock is “too large” for the play? Does he fulfill or exceed his role? Model Answer – In order to ensure that we understand Shylock as a threat to the happiness of Venice’s citizens and lovers‚ Shakespeare uses a number of dramatic devices to amplify Shylock’s villainy. In doing so‚ however‚ he creates a character so compelling that many feel Shylock comes to dominate the play‚ thereby making
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Shylock: Victim or Villain? In the Merchant of Venice play written by William Shakespeare the character Shylock is highly debated as victim or villain. Throughout the play Shylock is mistreated by everyone. Shylock is physically‚ emotionally and mentally abused. By the end of the play Shylock has lost everything he owns‚ including his daughter Jessica. Thus Shylock is in fact a victim during the play. Unfortunately during the play the reader reads about Shylock being mistreated by everyone around
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Conflict is a primary theme within Romeo and Juliet and merchant of Venice‚ Shakespeare conveys this theme through the characters to reinforce and emphasis the conflict between the father and daughter. Linking this to the historical/ social context‚ there is a fear of non-acceptance within the community‚ and due to the hierarchy of the Capulet family‚ there is more of a requirement for Juliet to be more dominated from her father than the average Elizabethan family. As the extent of dominance towards
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serious play with a happy ending or enough jokes throughout the play to lighten the mood. I consider the ‘Merchant of Venice’ by William Shakespeare a tragicomedy as both tragedy and comedy can be seen throughout the play. There are many factors that give proof to this statement. To begin with‚ one of the factors of a tragedy is the presence of a tragic hero. The protagonist‚ the real merchant of Venice‚ Antonio is the tragic hero. He is sad from the beginning to the end of the play. In the beginning
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William Shakespeare wrote “The Merchant of Venice” between 1596 and 1598‚ and it was first performed in 1605. Charles Dickens wrote “Oliver Twist” in 1838‚ and is one of Dickens most famous stories. Brief summary: The Merchant of Venice opens on a street in Venice‚ where Antonio‚ a Venetian merchant‚ complains of a sadness he can’t quite explain. His friends suggest they’d be sad too if they had as much merchandise to worry about as Antonio. Apparently all of his money is tied up in various sea
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Shylock is a man more to be pitied then condemned. To what extent do you agree with this statement? Be sure to refer to details of the play in your response. In the historic play “The Merchant of Venice” written by William Shakespeare‚ Shylock is one of the main characters who I have great pity for. Therefore I agree with the above statement that Shylock should be more pitied than condemned. Throughout the play we see Shylock involved in many different incidences and it is unknown whether he is
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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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Is Shylock’s Revenge Justified? Shylock is a major character in the play‚ most people consider him a villain. He is a wealthy‚ moneylending Jew who practices usury. He’s revenge is justified for many reasons‚ these reasons include him being abused for being a Jew and a moneylender at the same time. Another reason is that Antonio prevents him from doing business as he loans money interest free. Shylock was a victim of an unjust trial which leaves Shylock’s will to live demolished as he is bloodthirsty
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