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Is Antonio or Shylock morally worse?
This is a tricky question and not one with a simple answer. Savvy directors will try to negotiate the grey area which does not show either as totally good or bad. Antonio has no real reason to treat Shylock badly, but he does. He treats him with contempt and insults him. He undermines Shylock's business by lending money to people without charging interest, but this is not done to hurt Shylock, rather out of conviction of the rightness of the action. At the same time, Antonio is supported by and his actions endorsed by those with power in Venice, the same people who have ensured that the only way that Shylock can make money is to lend money on interest (since by law Jews were extremely limited in the businesses they could run.) So although Antonio's actions are not particularly reprehensible, he has less of an excuse for them, and is a willing part of the society which keeps the Jewish people down. This is seen when he takes part in the court's attack on Shylock, forcing his conversion and taking his money and giving it to the worthless Lorenzo. At this point, Antonio is despicable. As well, he and everyone else think it is just fine to break your promises, as Antonio does to Shylock and as he encourages Bassanio to do in the matter of his wedding ring. Shylock, on the other hand, does have a justification for what he does. He is the victim of constant abuse and is restricted by society as to what job he may do. But he vents all of his hatred and frustration on one man, Antonio, who, if not innocent, is neither the most Anti-Semitic of the characters in the play (compare Salario or Graziano) Plotting someone's death is a very serious matter, and is clearly much more than Antonio deserves. Shylock is condemned for being inflexible, but this revenge was bought and paid for, and Antonio willingly agreed to it. There is no reason for Shylock to relent, unless he accepts that his revenge is excessive. But it is all the revenge he is likely to get, and he doesn't even get that much. In the end, it is he and not Antonio that suffers, as he finds that he cannot fight city hall--the prevailing society will take care of its own in the end. Audiences in Shakespeare's day would recognize Shylock as one of those minor characters in comedies who, because of their moral failings, end up getting dumped on. The audience is invited to think "He deserved it for being so merciless", just as Malvolio deserved his punishment for being a prig, Falstaff deserved his punishment for being a rogue, and Lucio deserved his for being a liar and a slanderer. But it does seem to modern eyes that Shylock's punishment is excessive, just as Lucio's is too mild. But then Antonio, like Angelo, gets off scot-free, so we see that justice is not something we should expect from a Shakespeare play, even a comedy.
Why was Shylock in the career of the money lender?
Shylock is one of the most important characters in 'merchant of venice' he is the rich moneylender, to whom antonio asks for help (since antonio's ships were at sea and thus he could not help his friend bassanio with money) since shylock was a jew, and antonio a christian, they held many grudges against each other. in order to avenge, shylock agrees to help antonio on the condition that he should return his money within the time span stated in the legal bond, or else he shall have the right to cut off a pound of flesh from antonio's body (and this shall kill antonio) antonio was unable to pay back the money borrowed. thus, shylock demands for the pound of flesh, but his wishes remain unfulfilled for antonio is saved at the last moment by portia, (bassanio's wife who disguised herself as a lawyer) shylock is also the father of jessica, who hates him as much as others do.
Who are the main characters in merchant of Venice?
Antonio: A Venetian merchant of considerable wealth, he makes his money from "ventures", or mercantile enterprises using his fleet of ships. Much liked by his friends, Salanio, Gratiano and Salarino, Antonio is owed money by his friend Bassanio. The title of this play is considered to be derived from this character as well as the character of Shylock.Bassanio: The romantic lead of this play. He aims to successfully court the fair Portia. Her marriage will give him the money he needs to pay off his large debts to friend Antonio and so his courtship of Portia is also an attempt to pay off his debts.Shylock: A successful Jewish moneylender who is much maligned over his religion and the practice of moneylenders such as himself of charging interest. He lends the 3000 ducats Bassanio needs to court Portia and hopefully, pay off his debts to Antonio. There is however a catch; if the debt is not repaid, Antonio as security will forfeit one pound of his flesh. It is Shylock who is responsible for the immortal lines, "If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?" (Act III, Scene I, Lines 63-72).Tubul: Friend of Shylock. Dispatched by Shylock to find his daughter, he tells Shylock of the loss of Antonio's ships. This lets Shylock realize that Antonio has now forfeited his debt.Portia: The heroine of this play, Portia is a wealthy and beautiful women who is desired by many, so much so that her father has devised an ingenious test all suitors must perform to win her hand in marriage. This consists of a suitor choosing one of three chests in which her portrait lies. Far from being merely beautiful, Portia also possesses a sharp mind, one, which saves Antonio from doom at the hands of Shylock.Nerissa: As Portia's waiting-maid, she tends to Portia and also helps Portia save Antonio's life. She later marries Bassanio's friend Gratiano.Gratiano: A good friend of Bassanio, he marries Nerissa after falling in love with her at Portia's palace. Bassanio describes him as talkative, saying; "Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing, more than any man in all Venice" (Act I, Scene I, Lines 114).The Prince of Morocco: This suitor is responsible for the expression "All that glitters is not gold; / Often have you heard that told:" (Act II, Scene VII, Lines 65-73). As one of Portia's suitors, he reads this upon choosing the gold casket, which is the wrong one and loses the right to marry Portia.The Prince of Arragon: This suitor also fails to win the fair Portia's hand in marriage when he incorrectly chooses the silver casket.Lorenzo: A close friend of both Bassanio and Antonio, his eloping with Shylock's daughter Jessica, results in part on Shylock's merciless insistence on his pound of flesh when Antonio forfeits Bassanio's debt.Jessica: The daughter of Shylock, her eloping with the "Christian" Lorenzo and her stealing of his property, angers Shylock greatly.Salarino and Salanio: Friends of Antonio who attempt to cheer him up in Act I, Scene I.The Duke of Venice: As judge over the court case between Shylock and Antonio, he has the power to pardon a death sentence. In the play, he is put in a difficult position by Shylock; he doesn't want Antonio to die, but to ignore Shylock's legal rights would be to place all of Venice in disrepute as a place to conduct business.Launcelot Gobbo: A clown and servant to Shylock, he later aids in the escape of Jessica from Shylock and works for Bassanio.Old Gobbo: Launcelot's father, who is blind.Balthazar and Stephano: Servants of Portia.Leonardo: Servant of Bassanio.
What is the conflect of the play Merchant of Venice?
The conflict is between Antonio and Shylock but Shylock is hated by everyone in Venice because he was a Jew, so that's Bassanio, Portia and all the other people in the play
To what extent do you either sympathise with or loathe Shylock in Act 3 Scene 1 and Act 4 Scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice?
To What extent do you sympathise with shylock? The position of Jews in Shakespeare's day was not very highly thought of; they were classed as the lowest of the low, they were spat on, they were treated like dirt. Jews were not allowed to live in Britain at the time so they moved to other countries all over the world such as Venice. In many of these other countries they were all put into secluded areas of the towns and cities called Ghettos. The Ghettos originate from Venice which is the setting of Shakespeare's play 'The Merchant of Venice'. Only Jews were allowed to live in these areas and although they were allowed out of the Ghettos at any time, it was their only home and they had to live there. Whenever they did go out of the Ghettos they had to wear a red cap which symbolised their Jewish religion. Jews were restricted by law as to the jobs they could do. They were not allowed to own or rent land. One job they could do was to lend money and charge interest on it, and since they could not own land, they could accumulate a lot of cash. Christians sneered at Jews for charging interest, since they did not have to make their living that way. Anti-Semitism was a big issue for the Jewish people; they were always thrown about and not looked after by Christian people, it was not fair for them to be treated badly. Historically, after more and more Romans started becoming Christian, it became politically incorrect to blame the Romans for killing Jesus (even though it was the Romans who did it) so the Christians blamed the Jews instead. In Venice the Christians were top of the hierarchy whereas the Jews were not as important so they were at the very bottom and were not even citizens and were called aliens. Shylock in this play was treated terribly badly by the Christian people; he is treated as if he was the man who killed Jesus himself, people aimed all hateful comments at him and spat on him. The Venetian merchant Antonio and his friends take a dim view of Shylock, the Jewish usurer, and his practice of charging interest on loans. For his "un-Christian" behaviour he was called a dog Jew by passers-by and strangers he had never even met before on the street, he was victimised by all Christian people and once again like all other Jews he was forced to live in a dirty Ghetto. Throughout the play he's referred to as "Jew" rather than "Shylock" and you can see why he wants to grudge against the Christians. He is distraught when his daughter leaves him without any warning, and without any evidence of harmful behaviour towards her from him. She says "this house is hell", though it is not clear to Shylock why she feels like that. Shakespeare makes it very clear that shylock is a victim of the Christians and they hate him. "But say it is my humour", this line shows the amount of Shylock's cruelty as he has no proper reason for demanding the pound of flesh. Shylock says, "I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means." This part of Shylock's speech and also the rest of this same speech shows to the Christians that everyone is the same and should be treated the same and entirely equal. This portrayal of Shylock as being merciless would fit in with the Christian audience's negative view of Jews and would therefore add their feelings of dislike towards Shylock's character. Shylock got moreover fed up of the Christians hating the Jews, so he decided to make a bond with Antonio in order to get revenge on him. The bond had a slight catch to it, that if Antonio did not repay the loan of money on time then he would have to give Shylock a pound of his own flesh from nearest his heart, which meant that he would be killed. This shows Shylock's villainous side. He deliberately asks for a "pound of flesh" because he has a dislike against Antonio because he is a Christian, and, when the chance comes to get his revenge, he behaves in an extremely undignified and undoubtedly harsh manor. He gloats in front of Antonio, even attending the guards who arrested him, and openly announces his right to the flesh, against any sense of common humankind, in a public court. He also values his money extremely highly; when he seems to value his ducats more than his daughter, you have to be suspicious. Shylock is greedy, vengeful and cruel. Towards the beginning of the play, when Bassanio asks to borrow the money, it is hard to find any "positive features" of Shylock for many statements he makes it seems he is just an opinionated, prejudiced and selfish man. Shylock is cruel as he hates Antonio for the plain reason he is a Christian. This, in the modern day world is seen as racism, and it is, but no less so than the racism of those that hate Shylock for being a Jew. In Shylock's speech he says that Antonio "hates our sacred nation" which help give the audiences make their own opinions on which man should be disliked; Shylock hates Antonio for being Christian whereas Antonio hates Shylock for being Jewish. Antonio then goes on to say, "I am as like to call thee so again, To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too!" showing no regret of calling Shylock names, spitting on him or kicking him even whilst still asking to borrow money off him. It is these attitudes from Antonio that may make the audience feel for Shylock. Shylock's relationship with Jessica was very distant; when Shylock's wife died they were both distraught but Jessica was not at upset as Shylock. She had found the love of her life who she wanted to be with. Shylock was very angry at this thought because this man she had fallen in love with was a Christian called Lorenzo and Jessica was going to turn Christian in order to marry him. However Jessica fell keenly in love with Lorenzo, and she was very determined and eager to be with him. It was as if she was trying to prove something to her father. Maybe she just wanted to rub in the fact that he did not like Christians. Maybe she hoped he would start to like Christians himself. Jessica has a very enthusiastic and opinionated character and she is very determined so if she wants something she will strive until she gains what she wants. You can also find Jessica to be a shy self- conscious character who cares what others think about her. Shylock is a greedy, self-obsessed man who cares a bit too much about his money and gains more than the things which matter more, like Jessica. In "The Merchant of Venice" you will see that there are different ways of interpreting things, different sections which can mean different things. The first way which the audience can understand Jessica's character is as a victim, This is shown in the book in many ways some of which are; when it is said by Jessica 'I may be a daughter to his blood, but I am not related to his lifestyle', This quote shows how Jessica is showing how she is completely individual to her father and although she is his daughter this does not mean that she necessarily agrees with him. Later we see that Shylock is victimized by Jessica, when he finds that she stole her mother's wedding ring and traded it for a monkey. He says, "I would not have traded it for a wilderness of monkeys!" Sometimes Shylock is less materialistic than you might think. Shylock was humiliated in the court room an awful lot because he was desperately trying to tell the judge and all of the people there that Antonio and he had made a bond which means a contract. Antonio was also ready for the consequences by dealing with shylock in the first place but going to the court room was a chance he was willing to take. Shylock did not know the full consequences of the bond though, he felt the law should let him cut the pound of flesh, weigh it and then leave to go home, leaving Antonio to die. The judge (who was really Portia pretending to be a lawyer) said "take then your bond, take then your pound of flesh, but in the cutting of it, if you do shed one drop of Christian blood, your lands and goods are by the laws of Venice confiscated" meaning that if he was to shed one single drop of Antonio's blood when cutting the pound of flesh then as a upright punishment all of his goods would be confiscated. Next Portia had told Shylock this: "if the scale do turn within the estimation of a hair, then you will die" because he was only entitled to one pound. At this point Shylock is prepared to go home and say goodbye to his loan, which would be punishment enough. But the Christians now show their cruel side. They take half of Shylock's wealth, force him to will the rest of it to Lorenzo, whom he despises, and force him to adopt a religion he despises and abandon the one he cares about. They show no mercy to him. To conclude, I sympathise with shylock in many ways because he is constantly referred to as "the Jew" throughout the play except when the Duke calls him by name once. This shows how Jews were not treated as equals by the Christians and allows some reason for Shylock's plans to get revenge. Shylock is revealed as a hard-hearted, stubborn and merciless man in the play as he refuses to show Antonio any mercy and lessen his demands even though offers from Bassanio to pay twice as many ducats as he was originally owed. Shylock still refuses to take the money instead of the pound of flesh. Contrary to the stereotypical view of Jews as miserly and money grubbing, the refusal of the money in place of the flesh emphasises Shylock's strong desire for revenge on Antonio.
What does antonio think of shylock while in prison?
Antonio never had anything but contempt and hatred for Shylock. This did not change much when Antonio was thrown in jail at Shylock's behest.
What was shylock's evil plan?
Shylock's evil plan was to lend Antonio 3000 ducats (quite a lot of money) interest-free, the only condition being that it had to be paid in full on a certain day. Does this sound evil? It shouldn't. Ah, but the catch is, if Antonio doesn't repay on that day, Shylock can kill him. In truly evil fashion, Shylock tells Antonio all about this clause and gets him to agree to it before the money is lent. Well, if you think about it, that's not very evil is it? If you think Shylock is exploiting Antonio's being in a desperate financial condition to foist an unfair contract on him, think again. Antonio does not need the money. He's borrowing it for a friend, who doesn't really need it either, but wants to impress a girl and has blown all of his own cash. After Antonio has agreed to mortgage his heart for the loan, almost everybody in the play thinks he should be let off when it proves that he was overconfident and couldn't make good on his promise. But Shylock didn't want to do that because a deal's a deal, and Antonio, like most of the Christians in Venice, is an Anti-Semitic schmuck who spits on Jews like Shylock, and calls him names and tries to undercut his business. Shylock didn't have much hope at getting back at any Christians, not even Antonio who in all probability would have paid up in the required time, but here a chance presents itself that enables Shylock to legally get revenge on one of them. Ah, but he is foiled by the truly evil plan in this play. Shylock, like anyone else, should be entitled to a fair legal hearing in front of an impartial judge to enforce his rights. Portia, the wife of Bassanio, Antonio's best friend, falsely impersonates a lawyer and cons the Duke into making her the judge hearing this particular case. So much for having an impartial judge. She then not only denies Shylock's suit on a loophole, but also says that he is not entitled to get his money back. What is more, she makes up a law which says that Jewish people are not allowed access to the courts in Venice to enforce their rights (if doing so imperils the life of a Christian) on punishment of death. If Shylock was evil for conniving at Antonio's death, how much worse is Portia's conniving at Shylock's? Antonio got a benefit from Shylock, for which he refuses to pay the price. Shylock gets no benefit from this transaction whatsoever, and yet is forced to pay heavily for it. Antonio agreed that he could legally be put to death if he broke his promise. Shylock made no such agreement. Antonio was totally free from compulsion when he agreed to mortgage his body parts. Shylock is threatened with death and robbed of his property and his immortal soul. It is Portia who has the evil plan.
Is Antonio or Shylock morally worse?
This is a tricky question and not one with a simple answer. Savvy directors will try to negotiate the grey area which does not show either as totally good or bad. Antonio has no real reason to treat Shylock badly, but he does. He treats him with contempt and insults him. He undermines Shylock's business by lending money to people without charging interest, but this is not done to hurt Shylock, rather out of conviction of the rightness of the action. At the same time, Antonio is supported by and his actions endorsed by those with power in Venice, the same people who have ensured that the only way that Shylock can make money is to lend money on interest (since by law Jews were extremely limited in the businesses they could run.) So although Antonio's actions are not particularly reprehensible, he has less of an excuse for them, and is a willing part of the society which keeps the Jewish people down. This is seen when he takes part in the court's attack on Shylock, forcing his conversion and taking his money and giving it to the worthless Lorenzo. At this point, Antonio is despicable. As well, he and everyone else think it is just fine to break your promises, as Antonio does to Shylock and as he encourages Bassanio to do in the matter of his wedding ring. Shylock, on the other hand, does have a justification for what he does. He is the victim of constant abuse and is restricted by society as to what job he may do. But he vents all of his hatred and frustration on one man, Antonio, who, if not innocent, is neither the most Anti-Semitic of the characters in the play (compare Salario or Graziano) Plotting someone's death is a very serious matter, and is clearly much more than Antonio deserves. Shylock is condemned for being inflexible, but this revenge was bought and paid for, and Antonio willingly agreed to it. There is no reason for Shylock to relent, unless he accepts that his revenge is excessive. But it is all the revenge he is likely to get, and he doesn't even get that much. In the end, it is he and not Antonio that suffers, as he finds that he cannot fight city hall--the prevailing society will take care of its own in the end. Audiences in Shakespeare's day would recognize Shylock as one of those minor characters in comedies who, because of their moral failings, end up getting dumped on. The audience is invited to think "He deserved it for being so merciless", just as Malvolio deserved his punishment for being a prig, Falstaff deserved his punishment for being a rogue, and Lucio deserved his for being a liar and a slanderer. But it does seem to modern eyes that Shylock's punishment is excessive, just as Lucio's is too mild. But then Antonio, like Angelo, gets off scot-free, so we see that justice is not something we should expect from a Shakespeare play, even a comedy.
Why was Shylock in the career of the money lender?
Shylock is one of the most important characters in 'merchant of venice' he is the rich moneylender, to whom antonio asks for help (since antonio's ships were at sea and thus he could not help his friend bassanio with money) since shylock was a jew, and antonio a christian, they held many grudges against each other. in order to avenge, shylock agrees to help antonio on the condition that he should return his money within the time span stated in the legal bond, or else he shall have the right to cut off a pound of flesh from antonio's body (and this shall kill antonio) antonio was unable to pay back the money borrowed. thus, shylock demands for the pound of flesh, but his wishes remain unfulfilled for antonio is saved at the last moment by portia, (bassanio's wife who disguised herself as a lawyer) shylock is also the father of jessica, who hates him as much as others do.
What punishment does antonio negotiate for shlock?
None. She was not the judge (although she is called a "judge" by the Duke, who is the real judge) and did not have the power to sentence Shylock. She did, however, advise the court that in her view Shylock fell under a statute which imposed a sentence of death or such lesser sentence as the court might see fit on an "alien" who made an attempt on the life of a citizen of Venice.
What are the comic elements of the Merchant of Venice?
Bassanio wants to marry Portia, and so needs money. Bassanio has no credit and so his friend Antonio borrows the money from Shylock. Shylock dislikes Antonio so agrees to lend him the money interest-free on the security of a pound of flesh from anywhere on Antonio's body (he chooses the spot nearest Antonio's heart). Basically if Antonio doesn't pay up, Shylock can kill him. Bassanio, with the aid of the money, goes to woo Portia. She loves him alright but, according to her father's will, must marry the man who can guess which of the three boxes her picture is in. Bassanio guesses the right box--Hooray! They get married. But watch out! Antonio is unexpectedly broke and cannot pay Shylock. Shylock takes him to court and starts sharpening his knife. Portia disguises herself as a lawyer, and gets Antonio off on a technicality. What's more, she convinces the court to order Shylock to give all his money to his daughter and her goyim husband and to stop being Jewish. This you call justice? But there's more. Portia asks Bassanio for a fee for her services and insists on taking his wedding ring, which he swore to her he would never get away. Antonio persuades him to do this, and of course there's a tongue-lashing waiting for him when he gets home to his brand-new wife without his wedding ring. But all is explained and it's yuks all round except for poor Shylock.
How Antonio is a good man?
Which Antonio do you refer to? There are five of them in Shakespeare's plays, not even counting Mark Antony, after whom all the others are named. Antonio in The Two Gentlemen of Verona is Proteus's father. He is neither a villain nor a victim. Antonio in The Tempest is Prospero's brother and is a villain. Antonio in The Merchant of Venice is the victim selected by Shylock to be the scapegoat for all the wrongs Christians have done to him. But he is also villainous; it is he that insists on Shylock's apostasy so as to destroy his soul as well as take away the use of his property, and it is also he that insists that Bassiano break his vow to his wife over the wedding ring. Antonio is Twelfth Night is Sebastian's friend and a victim in that he suffers arrest for Sebastian's sake. It would appear that Orsino's hatred of him is unjustified. Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing is Leonato's brother, a kindly old buffer who is neither victim or villain. And to round things out, Antony is a villain in Julius Caesar but a victim in Antony and Cleopatra. So, out of six Antonios, one is a victim, one is a villain, two are both and two are neither.
Who are the main characters in merchant of Venice?
Antonio: A Venetian merchant of considerable wealth, he makes his money from "ventures", or mercantile enterprises using his fleet of ships. Much liked by his friends, Salanio, Gratiano and Salarino, Antonio is owed money by his friend Bassanio. The title of this play is considered to be derived from this character as well as the character of Shylock.Bassanio: The romantic lead of this play. He aims to successfully court the fair Portia. Her marriage will give him the money he needs to pay off his large debts to friend Antonio and so his courtship of Portia is also an attempt to pay off his debts.Shylock: A successful Jewish moneylender who is much maligned over his religion and the practice of moneylenders such as himself of charging interest. He lends the 3000 ducats Bassanio needs to court Portia and hopefully, pay off his debts to Antonio. There is however a catch; if the debt is not repaid, Antonio as security will forfeit one pound of his flesh. It is Shylock who is responsible for the immortal lines, "If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?" (Act III, Scene I, Lines 63-72).Tubul: Friend of Shylock. Dispatched by Shylock to find his daughter, he tells Shylock of the loss of Antonio's ships. This lets Shylock realize that Antonio has now forfeited his debt.Portia: The heroine of this play, Portia is a wealthy and beautiful women who is desired by many, so much so that her father has devised an ingenious test all suitors must perform to win her hand in marriage. This consists of a suitor choosing one of three chests in which her portrait lies. Far from being merely beautiful, Portia also possesses a sharp mind, one, which saves Antonio from doom at the hands of Shylock.Nerissa: As Portia's waiting-maid, she tends to Portia and also helps Portia save Antonio's life. She later marries Bassanio's friend Gratiano.Gratiano: A good friend of Bassanio, he marries Nerissa after falling in love with her at Portia's palace. Bassanio describes him as talkative, saying; "Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing, more than any man in all Venice" (Act I, Scene I, Lines 114).The Prince of Morocco: This suitor is responsible for the expression "All that glitters is not gold; / Often have you heard that told:" (Act II, Scene VII, Lines 65-73). As one of Portia's suitors, he reads this upon choosing the gold casket, which is the wrong one and loses the right to marry Portia.The Prince of Arragon: This suitor also fails to win the fair Portia's hand in marriage when he incorrectly chooses the silver casket.Lorenzo: A close friend of both Bassanio and Antonio, his eloping with Shylock's daughter Jessica, results in part on Shylock's merciless insistence on his pound of flesh when Antonio forfeits Bassanio's debt.Jessica: The daughter of Shylock, her eloping with the "Christian" Lorenzo and her stealing of his property, angers Shylock greatly.Salarino and Salanio: Friends of Antonio who attempt to cheer him up in Act I, Scene I.The Duke of Venice: As judge over the court case between Shylock and Antonio, he has the power to pardon a death sentence. In the play, he is put in a difficult position by Shylock; he doesn't want Antonio to die, but to ignore Shylock's legal rights would be to place all of Venice in disrepute as a place to conduct business.Launcelot Gobbo: A clown and servant to Shylock, he later aids in the escape of Jessica from Shylock and works for Bassanio.Old Gobbo: Launcelot's father, who is blind.Balthazar and Stephano: Servants of Portia.Leonardo: Servant of Bassanio.
What is the conflect of the play Merchant of Venice?
The conflict is between Antonio and Shylock but Shylock is hated by everyone in Venice because he was a Jew, so that's Bassanio, Portia and all the other people in the play
What meaning of dai kirai?
"Dai kirai" in Japanese means "I hate you very much." It is a strong and direct expression of dislike or hatred towards someone.
To what extent do you either sympathise with or loathe Shylock in Act 3 Scene 1 and Act 4 Scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice?
To What extent do you sympathise with shylock? The position of Jews in Shakespeare's day was not very highly thought of; they were classed as the lowest of the low, they were spat on, they were treated like dirt. Jews were not allowed to live in Britain at the time so they moved to other countries all over the world such as Venice. In many of these other countries they were all put into secluded areas of the towns and cities called Ghettos. The Ghettos originate from Venice which is the setting of Shakespeare's play 'The Merchant of Venice'. Only Jews were allowed to live in these areas and although they were allowed out of the Ghettos at any time, it was their only home and they had to live there. Whenever they did go out of the Ghettos they had to wear a red cap which symbolised their Jewish religion. Jews were restricted by law as to the jobs they could do. They were not allowed to own or rent land. One job they could do was to lend money and charge interest on it, and since they could not own land, they could accumulate a lot of cash. Christians sneered at Jews for charging interest, since they did not have to make their living that way. Anti-Semitism was a big issue for the Jewish people; they were always thrown about and not looked after by Christian people, it was not fair for them to be treated badly. Historically, after more and more Romans started becoming Christian, it became politically incorrect to blame the Romans for killing Jesus (even though it was the Romans who did it) so the Christians blamed the Jews instead. In Venice the Christians were top of the hierarchy whereas the Jews were not as important so they were at the very bottom and were not even citizens and were called aliens. Shylock in this play was treated terribly badly by the Christian people; he is treated as if he was the man who killed Jesus himself, people aimed all hateful comments at him and spat on him. The Venetian merchant Antonio and his friends take a dim view of Shylock, the Jewish usurer, and his practice of charging interest on loans. For his "un-Christian" behaviour he was called a dog Jew by passers-by and strangers he had never even met before on the street, he was victimised by all Christian people and once again like all other Jews he was forced to live in a dirty Ghetto. Throughout the play he's referred to as "Jew" rather than "Shylock" and you can see why he wants to grudge against the Christians. He is distraught when his daughter leaves him without any warning, and without any evidence of harmful behaviour towards her from him. She says "this house is hell", though it is not clear to Shylock why she feels like that. Shakespeare makes it very clear that shylock is a victim of the Christians and they hate him. "But say it is my humour", this line shows the amount of Shylock's cruelty as he has no proper reason for demanding the pound of flesh. Shylock says, "I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means." This part of Shylock's speech and also the rest of this same speech shows to the Christians that everyone is the same and should be treated the same and entirely equal. This portrayal of Shylock as being merciless would fit in with the Christian audience's negative view of Jews and would therefore add their feelings of dislike towards Shylock's character. Shylock got moreover fed up of the Christians hating the Jews, so he decided to make a bond with Antonio in order to get revenge on him. The bond had a slight catch to it, that if Antonio did not repay the loan of money on time then he would have to give Shylock a pound of his own flesh from nearest his heart, which meant that he would be killed. This shows Shylock's villainous side. He deliberately asks for a "pound of flesh" because he has a dislike against Antonio because he is a Christian, and, when the chance comes to get his revenge, he behaves in an extremely undignified and undoubtedly harsh manor. He gloats in front of Antonio, even attending the guards who arrested him, and openly announces his right to the flesh, against any sense of common humankind, in a public court. He also values his money extremely highly; when he seems to value his ducats more than his daughter, you have to be suspicious. Shylock is greedy, vengeful and cruel. Towards the beginning of the play, when Bassanio asks to borrow the money, it is hard to find any "positive features" of Shylock for many statements he makes it seems he is just an opinionated, prejudiced and selfish man. Shylock is cruel as he hates Antonio for the plain reason he is a Christian. This, in the modern day world is seen as racism, and it is, but no less so than the racism of those that hate Shylock for being a Jew. In Shylock's speech he says that Antonio "hates our sacred nation" which help give the audiences make their own opinions on which man should be disliked; Shylock hates Antonio for being Christian whereas Antonio hates Shylock for being Jewish. Antonio then goes on to say, "I am as like to call thee so again, To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too!" showing no regret of calling Shylock names, spitting on him or kicking him even whilst still asking to borrow money off him. It is these attitudes from Antonio that may make the audience feel for Shylock. Shylock's relationship with Jessica was very distant; when Shylock's wife died they were both distraught but Jessica was not at upset as Shylock. She had found the love of her life who she wanted to be with. Shylock was very angry at this thought because this man she had fallen in love with was a Christian called Lorenzo and Jessica was going to turn Christian in order to marry him. However Jessica fell keenly in love with Lorenzo, and she was very determined and eager to be with him. It was as if she was trying to prove something to her father. Maybe she just wanted to rub in the fact that he did not like Christians. Maybe she hoped he would start to like Christians himself. Jessica has a very enthusiastic and opinionated character and she is very determined so if she wants something she will strive until she gains what she wants. You can also find Jessica to be a shy self- conscious character who cares what others think about her. Shylock is a greedy, self-obsessed man who cares a bit too much about his money and gains more than the things which matter more, like Jessica. In "The Merchant of Venice" you will see that there are different ways of interpreting things, different sections which can mean different things. The first way which the audience can understand Jessica's character is as a victim, This is shown in the book in many ways some of which are; when it is said by Jessica 'I may be a daughter to his blood, but I am not related to his lifestyle', This quote shows how Jessica is showing how she is completely individual to her father and although she is his daughter this does not mean that she necessarily agrees with him. Later we see that Shylock is victimized by Jessica, when he finds that she stole her mother's wedding ring and traded it for a monkey. He says, "I would not have traded it for a wilderness of monkeys!" Sometimes Shylock is less materialistic than you might think. Shylock was humiliated in the court room an awful lot because he was desperately trying to tell the judge and all of the people there that Antonio and he had made a bond which means a contract. Antonio was also ready for the consequences by dealing with shylock in the first place but going to the court room was a chance he was willing to take. Shylock did not know the full consequences of the bond though, he felt the law should let him cut the pound of flesh, weigh it and then leave to go home, leaving Antonio to die. The judge (who was really Portia pretending to be a lawyer) said "take then your bond, take then your pound of flesh, but in the cutting of it, if you do shed one drop of Christian blood, your lands and goods are by the laws of Venice confiscated" meaning that if he was to shed one single drop of Antonio's blood when cutting the pound of flesh then as a upright punishment all of his goods would be confiscated. Next Portia had told Shylock this: "if the scale do turn within the estimation of a hair, then you will die" because he was only entitled to one pound. At this point Shylock is prepared to go home and say goodbye to his loan, which would be punishment enough. But the Christians now show their cruel side. They take half of Shylock's wealth, force him to will the rest of it to Lorenzo, whom he despises, and force him to adopt a religion he despises and abandon the one he cares about. They show no mercy to him. To conclude, I sympathise with shylock in many ways because he is constantly referred to as "the Jew" throughout the play except when the Duke calls him by name once. This shows how Jews were not treated as equals by the Christians and allows some reason for Shylock's plans to get revenge. Shylock is revealed as a hard-hearted, stubborn and merciless man in the play as he refuses to show Antonio any mercy and lessen his demands even though offers from Bassanio to pay twice as many ducats as he was originally owed. Shylock still refuses to take the money instead of the pound of flesh. Contrary to the stereotypical view of Jews as miserly and money grubbing, the refusal of the money in place of the flesh emphasises Shylock's strong desire for revenge on Antonio.
What rhymes with hatred?
Hatred rhymes with not much. Did rhymes with hatred if you use it like my example. Example: How can you give me so much hatred, After all the things you did. Really anything that ends with, id. like did, kid, bid.
