The Merchant of Venice
Although Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice is considered a comedy, cruelty runs rampant throughout the entire text of the play. Most of the characters exhibit some form of cruel behavior toward one another, including Lancelot who is cruel to his father Gobbio when he runs into him on the street. He engages the old man in belittling word play because his father has very poor eyesight and cannot tell that he is actually speaking to his own son. Everyone is cruel to Shylock; in fact, he is viewed as the outsider and often referred to as the devil. Shylock is the Jewish moneylender who makes a huge profit by lending money with exorbitant interest rates to the Christian population of Venice. I will not touch on the theme of racism and prejudice in the play, but it is common knowledge that Jews were not seen in a positive light in Elizabethan England at the time when Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice. Shylock hates the merchant Antonio in particular, for Antonio lends money to his fellow Christians without charging any interest on the loans, thus he takes away from Shylock's livelihood. I am going to center my discussion of the theme of cruelty to two of the characters in the play-Shylock and Portia. Although both c
Thus Portia's dead father has left a cruel legacy involving his daughter and her suitors. This is when the couple learns of Bassanio's friend Antonio's plight. Portia tells her newly wedded husband to rush off to the aid if his friend, Antonio, before the marriage is consummated. haracters are guilty of egregious and cruel acts, Portia's cruel acts against Shylock are seen as more acceptable for a couple of reasons. It is further decreed that upon Shylock's death, all of his possessions should be given to his son-in-law, Lorenzo. He may not ever ask another woman to marry him, and he will die without an heir. But this reason is not in the fashion to choose me a husband. The man who picks correctly will find a picture of Portia inside, and he will be the one to marry Portia. Shylock's life just drains away from him "Nay, take my life and all, pardon not that. Shylock adamantly refuses, and stubbornly appeals that he should be shown the same justice such as any other man with a forfeited bond would. When Jessica married Lorenzo, she willingly converted to Christianity. Portia gives in and agrees with Shylock that he has a right to a "pound of flesh" at the expense of Antonio, but she then tells him that he cannot shed one drop of Antonio's blood. In the previous pages, I have attempted to discuss the theme of cruelty in The Merchant of Venice, paying particular attention to Portia and Shylock.
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Acceptance Essays
