Human Characters In The Merchant Of Venice By William Shakespeare

Decent Essays
A successful writer is one who is able to engage all types of readers and conveys his arguments or opinions in an impressive way. Shakespeare knew how to craft stories and engross different types of readers. But how?
Merchant of Venice was my first Shakespearean play that I have read in 8th grade. I have forgotten almost everything about what I read and who my teachers were, but still, I do remember the play. It expresses every sort of human feeling like love, anger, hate, greed, and vengeance through human characterizations. When I first read this play I was carried away by the feelings expressed by the characters. I was actually able to feel it. While reading you believe that you are only just reading the play but the fact is that you get involuntarily involved in it.
Douglas Bruster, a Professor of English at the University of Texas claims that Shakespeare wrote the most eloquent version of the code we call human character. Although Shakespeare has written hundreds of years ago, yet his writings still speak today. They talk about human psychology. Whether
…show more content…
For example, Macbeth goes from moral, brave and honest man to a tyrant and wicked destructive lunatic. The factors that drive Macbeth’s ambition includes prophecies and her wife Lady Macbeth. The consequences of his greed led him to murder the King, lost the support of his friends and at last killed by Macduff. This shows ambitions and avarice weigh more than morals and often overthrows it. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth is cursed by guilt, has troubled to sleep and tormented by the thoughts commits suicide. Still, nowadays, people are killing their own brothers, sisters, and relatives to acquire their property. Olympian athletes have become insane, they are willing to do anything to do for triumph. They are undertaking to dope. They are injecting themselves with steroids, diuretics, hormones and

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    William Shakespeare is widely recognized as the greatest influence in English literature. He was an English poet, actor and playwright. Shakespeare's extant work consists of many plays, sonnets and narrative poems. His plays are one of literature's greatest legacies, which are divided into many genres such as histories, tragedies and comedies. From famous tragedies like Macbeth and Richard III, there are many similarities as well as differences.…

    • 861 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In an incident involving dehumanization and hatred, in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, a Christian merchant, Antonio, consistently animalizes the Jewish merchant, Shylock for his religion and business in usury. From the daily condescension, Shylock results to exact vengeance on Antonio to attain peace for Antonio’s abuse towards him. And the Jew becomes Antonio’s foil. In dehumanization, one treats another individual less than human.…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Shakespeare has been acclaimed for being one of the most outstanding writers in the English language. His memorable word choice added a specific flavor to his work. His unique style made him wildly successful from his time to present day. The tools he used gave the readers inside looks on the characters and made the stories even more captivating. One of the tools Shakespeare is famous for is the use of witty double entendres.…

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is a natural human inclination to achieve success; however, any desire in excess can become a destructive force. This is what happened to William Shakespeare’s tortured protagonist Macbeth in one of the Bard’s most unsettling tragedies. Although Macbeth’s ambition initially appeared to be typical of a soldier’s need to succeed and receive recognition from his leader, it would eventually take over his life, obliterate his conscience, and transform his character from hero to villain. Macbeth was clearly his own worst enemy, but there were others in his life who contributed to the orchestration of his downfall. The witches and his equally ambitious wife fed his ego and whetted his appetite for power.…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Corruption of Power in Macbeth Books and the art of writing has been a very big part of our society for centuries. Great writers have bloomed and disappeared in the past, the most significant one with the greatest impact in our society is William Shakespeare because he is the master of writing literature that goes into deep psychological thoughts and emotions of a character. Readers are very intrigued by his books because it amazing to see how even though his work is old; it is not obsolete because his work is universal and timeless due to its topics. In Shakespeare’s famous plays he writes down unique soliloquies for the characters to express their feelings and emotions through by breaking the “fourth wall” of literature; the “fourth wall”…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Renaissance Man Dbq

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A renaissance man is defined as “a person with many talents or areas of knowledge.” (Defining the “Renaissance Man”) There have been many throughout history. One of the most famous people in literature, Shakespeare, could be considered an ideal renaissance man. As I learned more about Shakespeare, I wondered how others portrayed him.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Sabrina Hezeini Dr. Alan F. Hickman ENGL 103d Drama paper III 18 April 2016 Comparison of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to the Filmed Version William Shakespeare is arguably one of the major English dramatists of all time. As a poet, he is credited with writing hundreds of published manuscripts, and probably more that are yet to be found. As a dramatist, Shakespeare is the author of many notable and famous plays that include Rome and Juliet, Anthony and Cleopatra, The Comedy of Errors, and thirty-five others that can be categorized into comedies, tragedies, and historical narrations. Issues addressed in these dramas included love, human greed, politics, and religion among others.…

    • 1442 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    John Locke’s enlightenment idea that the mind is born blank and is formed through experiences, was one of the most significant philosophies of the Enlightenment period. With that idea in mind, many have wondered how much an individual’s upbringing actually affects their identity. William Shakespeare’s, The Merchant of Venice, showcases exactly how an individual’s cultural background characterizes their life. The different hierarchical ranked cultures where the materialistic Christians and the money-depending Jews come from, create opposing views on the value of a dollar which results in a difference in lifestyle between the spendthrift Christians and the conservative Jews.…

    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth’s portrayal of excessive, selfish ambition becomes somewhat unnatural and extremely dangerous as he develops a willingness to murder and ruin other’s…

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    William Shakespeare could certainly write. Could he not? He was capable of transforming objects, pictures, and conceived ideas into a flow of words and scenes that created a story. As a result of living in an imperfect world, Shakespeare’s stories were not plotted around a utopian society, but on struggles and temptations. This is clearly evidenced by Hamlet, perhaps the most renowned of Shakespeare’s plays.…

    • 1350 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Shakespeare’s plays seem to have transcended the category of brilliance that it affected the course of Western literature and…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout history, humans are known to be one of the most selfish beings on the planet. There have been many points in time where humans refuse to drop their bigoted beliefs. Many times, humans have sacrificed others to maintain these egocentric beliefs and many authors have expressed this dark part of humanity. In the play Merchant Of Venice, the novel To Kill A Mockingbird and the short story The Lottery the authors are trying to tell us that human beings are willing to sacrifice others to maintain their twisted beliefs.…

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Everyone behaves differently, but eventually their behaviour can have a positive or negative effect on their life. Normally, people with good behaviour tend to live a happier life than those with bad behaviour. In the play, The Merchant of Venice, the behaviour of characters somewhat depicts their lifestyle. For example, the lower class is outgoing while the higher class are more strict. Some characters such as Bassanio, play an important role throughout the play and each plot due to their responsible behaviour.…

    • 1336 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Most Shakespearean comedies end with marriages and the triumph of a protagonist, as opposed to death and misfortune like a tragedy. By this definition, The Merchant of Venice is a comedy; yet, many skeptics question this claim due to their analysis of the trial. They consider Shylock’s loss in the trial to be the downfall of a poor protagonist, suggesting that Merchant is a tragedy. However, these skeptics blame it on the Christian defendants in court. Shakespeare portrays Shylock as a self-destructive character, affirming that The Merchant of Venice is a comedic play, and reinforces its anti-Semitic message by suggesting that Jews create their own problems.…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    ‘The Merchant of Venice’ By William Shakespeare starts off with Shylock and Antonio making a bond, saying that if Shylock doesn't get his money in 3 months he will get a pound of flesh closest to Antonio heart. The court scene where Shylock is trying to justify his bond, shows how each character contribute in displaying the themes of mercy and justice. Throughout the play, Shylock has been wanting justice for himself since the beginning, it started when he made the bond. At the court scene he doesn’t show mercy to Antonio because he believes that he is finally getting what he deserves after what Antonio has done to him.…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics