Tubal lends Shylock the three thousand ducats requested by Antonio. Appearances Are Deceiving Neither the gold nor the silver casket contains the key to winning Portia.
During the trial of Antonio and the whole "pound of flesh" bit, the audience doesn't see much other than the vindictiveness in Shylock's character, which is chocked up to an overweening focus on justice.
Shylock's focus on "justice" as he sees it neglects the need for mercy. Of course, Portia's great "The quality of mercy" speech Act 4, Scene 1 is an answer to this focus on justice alone. However, you have to remember that Shylock is not just a mustache-twirling-villainous picture of antisemitism.
Shylock's character is actually a lot deeper than that. One of Shylock's greatest speeches is the "Hath not a Jew eyes" speech Act 3, Scene 1which calls the audience and the other characters to a remembrance of their common humanity.
At the end of it all, Portia's mercy speech wins out in Antonio's favor, but not in Shylock's.
The forcing of Shylock's "conversion" to Christianity, actually ostracizes him from both the Jewish community he belongs to and the Christian community, since he's not a true convert and is from a Jewish background.
At the end of it all, Shakespeare has to abandon Shylock in Act 4 to maintain the comedy as a comedy. So, as far as Shylock's characteristics, Shakespeare shows a range of traits from vindictiveness, justice-loving, greed as evidenced in his usuryall the way to his love for his daughter and need for a community that he is ultimately deprived of.In 16th century Venice, when a merchant must default on a large loan from an abused Jewish moneylender for a friend with romantic ambitions, the bitterly vengeful creditor demands a .
The relationship between Antonio and Shylock is contentious; Antonio is heroic, but Shylock is villainous.
Certainly, they are rivals in their moneylending: Antonio is kind and generous while Shylock is selfish in all aspects of his life. The Merchant of Venice is an intriguing drama of love, greed, and revenge.
At its heart, the play contrasts the characters of the maddened and vengeful Shylock, a Venetian moneylender, with the gracious, level-headed Portia, a wealthy young woman besieged by suitors. Plot summary of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice: A young Venetian, Bassanio, needs a loan of three thousand ducats so that he can woo Portia, a wealthy Venetian heiress.
He approaches his friendAntonio, a merchant. Antonio is short of money because all his wealth is invested in his fleet.
One of William Shakespeare's most powerful comedies has been given a bold cinematic adaptation in this film version of The Merchant of Venice. Bassanio (Joseph Fiennes) is a young and vital member. Literary analysis including a look at Shylock's antithesis, Antonio.
Literary Analysis of The merchant of Venice From Shakespeare's The merchant of Venice by Margaret Hill McCarter. Topeka: Crane & Co. "To live for a universal end is not merely desirable, but necessary, and forms the basis of moral action.".