KNOWLEDGE
5 new words which I have learnt from the book
1. Argosy /ˈärgəsē/ - large merchant ships
2. Misconstrued /ˌmiskənˈstro͞o/ – misinterpreted or misjudged
3. Tarry /ˈtärē/ - stay longer than intended
4. Importunity /ɪmˈpɔːtjʊnət/ - urging
5. Gratis /ˈɡrɑːtɪs/ – without payment or charge; free
Places mentioned in the book
Venice, Belmont, home of Portia, house of Shylock in the Ghetto of Venice and the Court of Justice in Venice.
Shakespeare’s works (excluding the Merchant of Venice)
More famous examples include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear and All’s Well That Ends Well.
COMPREHENSION
Characters which carried out unpleasant deeds
Antonio: A Christian who hated Jews. He insulted Shylock incessantly, calling him all sorts of names such as dog and cur, which are not at all pleasing to our ears, and certainly tarnished our previous impression of Antonio. He has got his bad side as well. He almost paid the ultimate price for sealing his bond with Shylock, which was sparked off by the fact that Antonio refused to pay Shylock interest and practiced lending money gratis, which affected Shylock’s usury business.
Solanio: A friend of Salerio, Bassanio, Gratiano and Antonio. He loved to call Shylock names just like Antonio. When Shylock grieved over the loss of his precious daughter, Jessica and his ducats, Solanio did not console Shylock but piled on his misery by mocking his loss. He also described Shylock’s outcry as ‘strange, outrageous and variable’, which evoked sympathy for Shylock who was the target of racialism in the largely Christian Venetian society.
Shylock: A Jew who indulged in usury and was prejudiced against by the anti-Semitic community. He was a villain, who could easily be overwhelmed by anger and the thought of seeking for revenge. He introduced a special bond which Antonio has to agree to after borrowing Shylock’s ducats, which was to cut off an equivalent pound of his flesh, showing his cunning nature. He obviously wanted Antonio to die, given that the latter insulted him and disrupted his usury business. He was overjoyed to hear the news from the Rialto that one of Antonio’s ships was wrecked along the English Channel and wanted to take full advantage of the situation by instructing Tubal to arrest Antonio if he were to fail to return him the money before the stipulated date. This act of seeking for revenge was more important than the loss of his daughter for Shylock, which portrayed him as a vicious person whose priority is vengeance.
Shakespeare’s intentions of writing The Merchant of Venice
Shakespeare wanted to let the readers know about the racialism which was present during the Elizabethan Era in the anti-Semitic Venetian society. In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock was being constantly insulted by the Christians. Another example of such a phenomenon is that even though Jessica had converted into a Christian and married Lorenzo, Christians such as Portia and Bassanio still treated her with a certain degree of suspicion. Shakespeare also hoped to convey Christian teachings through the inscriptions on Portia’s three caskets such as “Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire” and “Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves”, with those caskets being the wrong choices, which means that desire is an unreliable guide and should be resisted, and the fact that human beings do not deserve God’s grace, but rather receive it in spite of themselves.
Description of first illustration in The Merchant of Venice
The first illustration of the book is on Page 20, and It shows Antonio shaking hands with Bassanio. Antonio and Bassanio were very good friends. Bassanio needed money in order to travel to Belmont to woo Portia, and he approached Antonio for the sum of money. However, Antonio’s fortunes were all tied up on the goods on argosies travelling to different parts of the world, and therefore did not have ready money to lend Antonio. To avoid disappointing his dear friend, Antonio allowed Bassanio to use his reputation in Venice to borrow money from usurers and even said that “My purse, my person, my extremest means lie all unlocked to your occasions.” The illustration showed that Bassanio could confide in Antonio in acquiring the sum of money, meaning they had a very close relationship.
APPLICATION
Main character visiting our classroom
If Launcelot Gobbo were to visit our classroom, he would most probably be telling us jokes to cheer us up if he thinks that the atmosphere is not filled with joy. Launcelot is basically a fun-loving, optimistic, jovial person and this can be seen by the fact that he and his father, Old Gobbo, came up with a comical double act in Act 2 Scene 2 of the Merchant of Venice. If we were to ask him questions about the novel, he would probably explain to us in-depth of his sufferings in Shylock’s household, and the fact that Jessica was the only one who treated him as a close friend. He could also explain to us about whether Shylock really deserved his punishment in the end, and the different treatments he had received during the tenure when he was Shylock’s and Bassanio’s servant.
Reaction to a particular situation in The Merchant of Venice
If I were Bassanio and heard about Antonio’s possible impending death, I would have done the same as Bassanio in the Merchant of Venice and immediately leave for Venice, regardless of whatever important matters I have at hand. Antonio is my friend and despite the fact that he did not have enough money to lend me, he offered to do as much as he could and granted me permission to use his credits to borrow money in Venice. Even though the Jewish usurer Shylock proposed Antonio to seal a bond to borrow three thousand ducats for me, which was to cut off his pound of flesh if he fails to return Shylock the money before the stipulated date, Antonio agreed to seal the bond and risk his life, just for my sake. Of course as his friend, I have to rush back to ensure his safety, if not I will forever be haunted by pangs of guilt, in the case whereby something adverse happens to Antonio.
Lesson learnt from story
After reading The Merchant of Venice, I have learnt about the value of true friendship, in the case of Antonio and Bassanio, who were able to stick through thick and thin. In the end, Bassanio saved Antonio’s life from Shylock’s devil and they reunited. Besides the value of friendship, I have also learnt about the fact that no one is perfect. Shakespeare’s portrayal of characters showed that all of them had two ‘faces’ and could become very different persons at different times when interacting with different people. For example, Portia is very smart and saved Antonio from the brink of death by stating the fact that the bond did not allow a single drop of blood when Shylock removes Antonio’s pound of flesh. However, she has got her bad side too. She was a racist and her colour-prejudice was evident after the Prince of Morocco left, by saying that he failed the casket test because he was dark and therefore was destined to fail, in the sentence “Let all of his complexion choose me so.” Therefore, all characters in the Merchant of Venice are both good and bad, and none of them is to be considered an example to follow in all aspects. Lastly, I learnt that once a person is intent on seeking revenge, it is hard to dissuade him. In the case of Shylock, he was constantly insulted by the Christian community and therefore demanded Antonio’s pound of flesh just to feed his revenge. No one including the Duke could dissuade him from doing this, and in the end it was the intelligence of Portia which prevented the tragedy.
ANALYSIS
One word that describes a character
Evil – Shylock
1. He could not set aside his grudge for Antonio.
2. He purposely wanted Antonio’s pound of flesh as bond when he lent Antonio three thousand ducats.
3. He cursed at her daughter, Jessica after her elopement with Christian Lorenzo.
4. He abused Launcelot while the latter was his servant.
5. When he heard that Antonio’s ventures had not gone well, he was sadistic and said he would be glad to torture and plague Antonio.
Different ending to the book
Shylock’s dignity was restored even after all of his fortunes were forfeited after the trial, and he remained a Jew. The people of Venice started to respect the Jewish minority and stopped discriminating against them ever again. Even though Shylock crafted such a wicked idea to claim Antonio’s life, the fact that it was Antonio himself who provided Shylock the idea of this plan meant that it was not entirely Shylock’s devil. Shylock should not be forced to become a Christian because if Shylock’s coercion for Antonio’s pound of flesh was wrong, then Antonio’s coercion for Shylock’s conversion to Christianity would be wrong too, thus it is up to Shylock’s choice if he wanted to become a Christian or remain a Jew. Lastly, prejudice and discrimination against a race should not be encouraged, and I hope to change the ending to make it morally right, as the Venetian community had changed for the better.
Main idea of the book
I believe that the main idea of this book is the quality of hatred as a cyclical phenomenon. Throughout the play, the sole excuse Shylock had come up with to support his plan was that he was simply applying the lessons taught to him by the Christians. His act of revenge seemed to be driven by the fact that Antonio, Salerio and Solanio all insulted him by calling him names and not only that, but the entire Jewish community in Venice. As the play continues, Shylock unveiled more and more of his reasoning which was actually the same idea of Christians insulting him, the most famous phrase being “Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?” It shows that the Jews did not deserve such insults because they were human and had feelings too. Shylock knew he had no use of Antonio’s pound of flesh, but still wanted it, the reason being “The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction”. Afterwards, Shylock was spared his life and the injustice was effectively ended.
SYNTHESIS
Parts I would change in the story
I would remove certain comments made by Salerio and Solanio about Shylock, because I regard that kind of language as obscene. I would limit the use of such words in a scene, for example, to at most three, because making those words appear 3 times should be enough to present the idea of Shylock being humiliated in Venice by Venetians. Secondly, I would remove or cut short Act 3 Scene 5 of the book because it served almost no purpose and it was added so as to allow Portia and Nerissa sufficient time for their costume change, therefore I regard that scene as redundant in the understanding of the novel. Lastly, I would edit the part where Shylock was forced to convert to Christianity because if he were to forced to do it, but not willingly do it, it will only add to his anger and hatred towards the Christian community. Laws in Venice also state that it is not appropriate to force someone to convert into another religion, therefore I would edit that part of the book and just let Shylock surrender his wealth, not convert to Christianity.
Poem :)
Shylock isn’t really that bad,
The funny guy is Launcelot’s dad.
Antonio is just too passive,
Bassanio in contrast is assertive.
Portia commented Morocco’s dark,
Arragon failed to leave a mark.
Lorenzo loverbirds had eloped,
Then was Shylock enveloped,
By thoughts of hatred,
Which gradually bred.
How horrible can hatred be,
That it nearly resulted in a killing spree!
Climax of the story
I believe that the climax of the story is the trial scene, where news arrived that Antonio’s ventures did not go well and failed to return the three thousand ducats he had borrowed from him. Bassanio and Gratiano rushed back to Venice to help Antonio and offered many times the value which Antonio owed Shylock. However, Shylock was purely seeking for revenge and rejected any value that they offered; he only wanted Antonio dead. Then, Portia, disguised as a lawyer, arrived at the trial scene. She wanted Shylock to show mercy and spared Antonio, but Shylock refused. After that, Portia displayed her wit by requesting that Shylock remove Antonio’s pound of flesh without spilling a single drop of blood, which was impossible. This scene showed Portia’s intelligence, Shylock’s punishment as well as Antonio’s release from the contract.
EVALUATION
The character as my friend
I would certainly choose Antonio as my friend because in the Merchant of Venice, he was a selfless person who had the courage to go to lengths to help his friend, Bassanio, who was in urgent need. In the process, he was willing to agree to having his pound of flesh as a bond in the contract. He may be killed if he failed to return the money on time, therefore I believe that he is the person whom I can confide in.
The title of the play
I think the title of the play is a bad one because it is boring and not captivating, thus it would fail to attract the attention of the readers. It also does not provide much clue about the plot in the play, therefore it does not spark off any interest.
Saving a character from a disaster
I would choose to save Antonio from a disaster if he encounters one because he is a helpful and devoted individual who is willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of his friend. If I were to rescue him, it would give him a chance to help more people who are in need. Even though he insults Shylock as well, a human cannot be perfect, therefore he is the best character in the play in my opinion, thus I would save him.
