Death in Venice

You can decide your fate. This general idea is carried out through the story of WIlliam Shakespeare 's comedy playwright, The Merchant of Venice. Mainly by the character who could be considered unmerciful, Shylock, who is a jewish merchant. Even though Shylock was discriminated by the christians, Shylock’s fate could have been avoided if he had a more positive attitude towards Christians, if his relationship with his daughter was better, and if he was more thorough in his bond. The negative…

Mr. Lapidoth is a Christian character that has kidnapped his daughter, Mirah, from his Jewish wife. Mirah tells Mrs. Meyricks that her Christian father has often mocked the Jewish people. ’’I said, Father, you ought not to mimic our own people before Christians mock them: would it not be bad if I mimicked you, that they might mock you? But he only shrugged his shoulders and pinched my chin and said, you couldn’t do it my dear’’ (Eliot, 2003, 117). As discussed above, because of the Jews’…

I find myself fascinated listening to this man. I sit here amongst a crowd of hundreds of men, women, and children. We are all amazed at the knowledge that he speaks. The man changes his tone and compares himself the bread that fell from heaven and the water that came from the rock. The rabbi next to me is angrily talking to me as if I did something wrong. He is so disgusted that the man is comparing himself to the God of Moses. I assure the rabbi that he should relax and listen to this man from…

In Billy Budd, a novella written by Herman Melville, the main character is portrayed as a Christ-like figure. Christ is brought into this story through the personality, actions, and persecution of Billy Budd, a sailor who was impressed into service on a British naval ship the Bellipotent. Christ, as God, is the epitome of human perfection and flawlessness. Similarly, Billy Budd is described as a man of "unpretentious good looks" (Melville 8) and innocence. Like Christ, Billy Budd gives "no…

There is a fine line between those with malicious intent and good people succumbing to the physical and emotional stress that society puts on them. Such is the case in the drama, The Merchant of Venice by WIlliam Shakespeare; here, Shylock conveys that societal mistreatment along with tempting situations can cause a person to walk this line, and ultimately, can create a bad person where a good one once was. Throughout the entirety of his life, Shylock faces dehumanization, due to the fact that…

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…

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare are classified as a fiction books. However, they reveal many truths about the human condition when it comes to prejudice and racism. In TKAM, we saw how racism took a life of an innocent Tom Robinson as a disease, and how prejudice about Boo Radley spread out in Maycomb. In the MOV we witnessed the religious prejudice (Christian vs. Shylock), and the racism against the Prince of Morocco with black skin. There…

Tonio B. Pearce ENGL 200: Composition and Literature Professor Nicole Martinez February 21, 2016 Tragedy the Prejudice in “The Merchant of Venice” To the many that have read William Shakespeare plays know that he has a certain style of humor. The Merchant of Venice seem to examine the dark and gluttony side of the famous author. The foundation is to be considered hostile correlation among Shylock, a money-lender that happens to be Jewish and Antonio, the merchant, who is known to be a Christian…

Unifying these aspects, in addition to Jessica’s subplot, is the element of love vs cynicism. Illustrating this difference is the setting of Belmont vs Venice. Romance, love and mercy flow freely in the former, while the latter brims with resentment, acrimony, and money. Hatred and cynicism, in this incident, build upon each other, and Shylock asserts “The villainy you teach me I will execute—and it shall…

In The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, Shylock creates a sense of self pity, gives in to his greed and blinds himself with revenge, which ultimately leads to his downfall at the end of the play. Shylock, the antagonists of the play, is a Jewish man living in Venice who makes a living by giving out loans, with interest, to people in need. He begins the story, though not happy, at his most content state and as his story continues and he continues to make decisions based on his defining…