ePub Ï The Merchant of Venice ☆ William Shakespeare

In this lively comedy of love and money in sixteenth century Venice Bassanio wants to impress the wealthy heiress Portia but lacks the necessary funds He turn Maybe because I read this play with the famous controversy of its antisemitism on my mind or because I expected a true hearted villain “Iago fashion” in the Jewish usurer Skylock but I reached the last scene of the play with the extraordinary sensation that the Jew’s failure to execute the bloodthirsty bond was of an anecdote than a climatic victory over evilShakespeare’s precise wordplay presents a flesh and bone figure in Shylock a flawed human being a man who has been mocked and persecuted by his Christian antagonists and who seeks disproportionate revenge out of hurt pride and blind rage He is not wicked by nature; the Jew has a motive to retaliate either with or without the weight of morality on his side and that is precisely what makes him such a believable characterAnd then there is Portia Portia Oh Portia To me Portia is the great revelation of the play A beautiful orphan wealthy but not spoiled ready to follow his deceased father’s will and marry the man who sees beyond appearances A woman with passion and brains that outshines her dull peers by daring to break the rules and suspend her role as a subservient female in order to save the day Her transfiguration and disarming display of acumen in the court scene followed by the allegorical teasing of the ring played on her dumfounded new husband Bassanio is enough to place Portia among sassy heroines the caliber of Beatrice Kate or HermioneThere is nothing to miss in this first rate comedy the best I have read so far Fast paced bantering misused words over brimming with jocular double meaning a fool who is wise enough to choose the winning side three romances that culminate in a great party and metaphoric sagacity in the form of playful riddlesBeyond the literal plotline there is a universe of challenged beliefs where apparently righteous characters are not essentially good scheming misers are not outright scoundrels and damsels in distress mere objects of male protectionShakespeare flips the coin fast enough to confuse the casual reader but if one reads between the lines he’ll meet defiant nonconformity in its most elegant disguiseMore like this please

text The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of VeniceS to his merchant friend Antonio who is forced to borrow from Shylock a Jewish moneylender When Antonio's business falters repayment becomes impossible and by ‘’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 healed by the same means warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? 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? If we are like you in the rest we will resemble you in that If a Jew wrong a Christian what is his humility? Revenge If a Christian wrong a Jew what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why revenge The villainy you teach me I will execute and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction’’

William Shakespeare ☆ The Merchant of Venice reader

The Merchant of Venice reader ½ Paperback Read Õ mbjuk ✓ In this lively comedy of love and money in sixteenth century Venice Bassanio wants to impress the wealthy heiress Portia but lacks the necessary funds He turns to his merchant friend Antonio who is forced to borrow from Shylock a Jewish moneylender When AntThe terms of the loan agreement Shylock is able to demand a pound of Antonio's flesh Portia cleverly intervenes and all ends well except of course for Shyloc If this had a secondary title delivered in the parlance of our times it would be THE POUND OF FLESH I liked this for many reasons but the element that stands out most is Shakespeare's focus Many of his plays have various complex and intertwined sub plots some being interesting than the theme itself TMOV is focused and almost relentless we have one simple course of action that the story leads inevitably towards and which keeps the reader and the audience entranced will Shylock really remain intent on claiming his bond? Even the Duke seems ready to predict that Shylock will relent at the end and just take the money Other fascinating themes explored are the love of money and love itself both in romantic terms and in friendship While Antonio and Portia present complex and thoroughly entertaining Shakespearean characterizations Shylock of course steals the show