Transcript THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
By
William Shakespeare
LITERARY TERMS
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Allusion
*Malapropism
Aside
*Metaphor
Comic Relief
*Pun
Double Entendre(pun) *Soliloquy
Foreshadowing
*Theme
Internal Rhyme
Irony-Dramatic, Structural, Verbal
BACKGROUND
• The play was written about 1596.
☑Appeared in the register for first time in
1598 perhaps to prevent copyright issues.
☑Falls into the second period of
Shakespeare’s writings, with Romeo and
Juliet and Midsummer Night’s Dream.
☑A play that shows the extremes of antisemitism during Shakespeare’s time.
The Characters-In groups
• The ‘wooers’ of Portia- a rich heiress
– The Prince of Morocco
– The Prince of Arragon
– Bassanio, Antonio’s friend
Nerissa- Portia’s waiting maid
Balthasar/ Stephano- servants to Portia
CHARACTERS
• Antonio- a Merchant of Venice
• Bassanio- Antonio’s friend
– Salanio
– Salarino
– Gratiano
Friends to Antonio and
Bassanio
– Leonardo- servant to Bassanio
CHARACTERS
• Shylock- a rich Jewish man
Tubal- Shylock’s friend
Launcelot Gobbo- servant to
(funny!)
Shylock
Old Gobbo- father to Launcelot
• Jessica- Shylock’s daughter
Lorenzo- in love with Jessica; friend to
Antonio
3 DISTINCT PLOTS
★Winning of Portia by the lottery of the
caskets (lead, silver, and gold)
✡Settlement of Shylock’s claim
✪Final complication of the betrothal rings
SOURCES OF INTEREST IN
THE PLAY
• The Spectacular and Picturesque
Examples include:
*strange forfeit in the bond
*luxurious setting of Portia’s home
*wooing by caskets
*the trial scene, young woman
disguised
HUMOR
• It is more incidental than essential
– Play is a romantic comedy with Tragic
undertones
– Main sources of humor:
☺Portia’s witty comments
☻Gratiano’s earlier remarks
☺Launcelot’s antics
☻The Ring episode
SUSPENSE
• Formed of following uncertainties:
☒Will terms of bond be agreed upon?
☒Who will choose correct casket?
☒Will the elopement succeed?
☒Will Shylock gain his end in the trial?
☒How will Bassanio and Gratiano
account for the loss of their rings?
DRAMATIC IRONY
• Most striking example in the play:
The trial scene, where the audience knows who
the judge and clerk are.
Other examples:
*husbands protestations they would sacrifice
their wives to save Antonio
*having rings enticed away
*Gratiano’s description of the Clerk
*Parting of Shylock and Jessica before elopement
*Bassiano’s choice of caskets
*Shylock’s insistence on the very words of the
bond
NEMESIS
• When we feel that the punishment of a
character is peculiarly suited to his
crimes, it is a form of retributive justice
called Nemesis.
– Law becomes this to Shylock– Antonio’s unjust treatment of Shylock
– Antonio’s better treatment of others
Place of $$$ in the Play
• Shylock, Antonio, Bassanio
– All very concerned with money
CONTRASTS WITH
Portia- who is wealthier than all but is
unconcerned with it.
The Extremities of REVENGE
The intensity of Shylock’s passion for
revenge against Antonio invests him with
great dramatic interest.
“If I can catch him once upon the hip,
I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him”
Disposition of a Daughter by
Casket choice
• Details surrounding:
– Casket choice,
– deceased father safeguarding daughter’s
choice of a husband,
– reactions of the suitors to the choice
Conditions are severe:
*Never to tell anyone which casket was chosen
*To leave at once if wrong casket chosen
*Never to speak to a lady again to marry
Inscriptions on caskets
Gold
Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire
Silver
Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves
Lead
Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath
Unusual aspects of the Trial
• Trial is irregular for the following reasons:
– The Duke, who is the judge, openly shows
sympathy with the prisoner before the trial begins.
– Interested spectators, Gratiano and Bassanio, are
allowed to interfere during proceedings.
– The shedding of blood is a necessary part of the
payment of the penalty, and its being forbidden is a
legal and logical absurdity.
– A case in court is concerned with the direct charge
only. The judge dragging in another charge, that
Shylock has broken the law against aliens, is
completely contrary to legal procedure.
Anti-Jewish Prejudice
• Showed Christians with an un-Christlike
bigotry and intolerance (Antonio and
Portia)
• The dramatist sympathized with
Shylock
– Allowed his loathing of his persecutors to
appear VINDICTIVE
Negative Connotations
• Anti-Semitism- followed by Shakespeare
based on the character
created by Christopher Marlowe
– Marlowe’s character was a Jewish monster named
Barabas (note Christian context)
– Shakespeare’s Shylock is a Jewish money lender that
lacked admirable qualities
DISCRIMINATION
• Perhaps the most moving plea in all of
Literature:
“Hath not a Jew eyes?”
**Understand that the play makes pleas to
remove racial or religious
discrimination
INTRODUCTION
• Play is unusual:
Displays the working of a prejudice
which does credit to NONE of the
people who are motivated by it.
(rarely portrayed in literature)
Christian/ Jewish bias was from Medieval
times and has nearly disappeared in the
twentieth century
Character Portrayal
• No character is entirely:
✔sympathetic or unsympathetic
✔admirable or unadmirable
Displays the complexity of human nature:
No black or white characters; everyone
seems to be various ‘shades of gray’
**Key to molding Character**
Act I Vocabulary
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Ague
Argosies
Gaged
Gear
Gudgeon
Portly
Presages
Signiors
Appropriation
Ere
Rhenish
Superfluity
Surfeit
Vilely
Eanlings
Fulsome
Imputation
Publican
Squandered