Merchant Of Venice And The Children's Hour Comparative Essay

“[Mercy] blesseth him that gives and him that takes” is an opening line in Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour. This play is about two women, Karen Wright and Martha Dobie, who own and operate an all-girls boarding school. Mary Tilford, one of the girl’s in the school, is a manipulative bully who starts a rumor that the two headmistresses are lovers. Soon, the rumor spreads and the women’s lives begin to fall apart. The quote is also a line in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. This play is about a Venetian Merchant, Antonio, who takes out a loan in order to help his friend court a wealthy heiress. Antonio’s contract with the moneylender states that if Antonio cannot repay the loan, he will owe the moneylender a pound of his own flesh. Unfortunately, circumstances arise that prohibit Antonio from repaying the loan. It seems that the characters in both these plays could use some mercy. Lillian Hellman uses the quotes from The Merchant of Venice as a symbol so that viewers can draw parallels between the themes …show more content…
The Jewish moneylender, Shylock, says that his Christian neighbors—namely Antonio—are cruel to him. They insult, injure him, spit, and kick at him. So, in turn, Shylock acts as a merciless vengeful moneylender who demands a pound of Antonio’s flesh. Similarly, Mary Tilford claims that Miss Dobie and Miss Wright dislike her. Thus, she acts out toward them by sneaking out and lying about her whereabouts (among other offenses). For example, Mary claims to have gone for a walk and brought back flowers from her journey. However, Miss Wright recognizes the flowers as ones she saw in the garbage can earlier. This suggests that Mary did not go for a walk where she said she did. Since Mary continues to sneak out and lie, Miss Wright and Miss Dobie dislike her and punish her. Mary claims the punishments and disdain from the teachers lead her to continue to act