Shylock: Villain or Victim in the Merchant of Venice

Jeremy Rodriguez English 152 "Merchant of Venice" 3-6-00 SHYLOCK: VILLAIN OR VICTIM In the "The Merchant of Venice," all of the characters can be viewed from a variety of perspectives. The perspective that one takes therefore directly influences one's point of view on that character. No character fits this theory more than Shylock. Shylock, and his role as a Jewish moneylender, has been analyzed from many different perspectives. He is viewed as a villain by some, a victim by others, but a man to be pitied by both. On the surface Shylock appears to be cruel and unforgiving. However once one begins to analyze the play he begins to find out the "whys." To figure out these "whys" one must thoroughly research both sides of the argument as to whether or not he was a victim or villain. Once one does this they are able to come up with their own educated and valid opinion about this complex character. When one first gets done reading "The Merchant of Venice" a feeling of dislike for Shylock emerges on the reader. He appears to be the major antagonist of the play. He is cunning, unmerciful, and greedy. His cunning capabilities are first seen when he makes the deal with Antonio. He says, "Let the forfeit be nominated for an equal pound of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken in what part of your body pleaseth me" (Act I, Scene 3). Antonio, thinking that Shylock is either

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Foreboding in Romeo and Juliet

Throughout this play, there is a constant under current of foreboding. We are frequently reminded of the tragic consequences facing Romeo and Juliet. We are first see this in the prologue of the play. We are immediately given the sense that this is not the happy love story we are expecting. The line which says ' A pair of star crossed lovers take their life;' suggests that the play will end in tragedy. The characters in this play believe that all their actions are controlled by the sun and fate. By telling us that the Romeo and Juliet were star crossed, it seems that they are destined to go against fate. We are also told that their love is marked by death. Already at this early stage of the play, we are can see that all will end in disaster. We can predict the outcome of the play in advance from just reading this small passage. In Act1 scene IV of the play, Romeo, Mercutio, Benvolio and Horatio are about to attend a ball a Capulets House. Being Montague's, they should not be going. Romeo seems in a very depressed mood, due to his feelings for Rosaline. After Romeo has spoken, Mercutio gives a very long enchanting speech. There is a great influence of fairies, fate, fortune, luck and stars. Again, we are reminded of the nature of the play. Romeo says ' I fear, too early; for my mind misgives/ Some consequence...' Romeo has a bad feeling about the evening to

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Henry V - History of a Hero?

Henry V - History of a Hero? In act one, scene one of Henry VI Part 1 some of the remaining characters from Henry V stand, following the death of King Henry V, and discuss the nature of their former monarch. King Henry the Fifth, too famous to live long! England ne'er lost a king of so much worth. England ne'er had a king until his time. Virtue he had, deserving to command.1 Their memories of the young king seem to sit well with some of the opinions of characters in Henry V, "I love the lovely bully", and indeed with history itself, "a military leader with a clear idea of virtue and leadership"2. However other characters in Henry V offer us less favourable opinions, "I'll never trust his word after", "Aye he said so, to make us fight more cheerfully. But when our throats are cut he may be ransomed, and we ne'er the wiser." Audience members are showing executions, foul language and scant regard for human life, promting Gerald Gould to ask Is it seriously maintained that Shakespeare means us to admire Henry here?3 So what is it about both the play and the character which makes him so open to debate? Why can some people see him as "the mirror of all Christian kings", whilst others accuse him of being a "brutal opportunist", and "subtle protagonist"? Henry has himself always occupied a special place in the annals of English history. Literature, including, though not

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"Relationships at all levels involve complex powerplay." How is this complexity represented in the texts you have studied?

"Relationships at all levels involve complex powerplay." How is this complexity represented in the texts you have studied? Present this task in the form of a discussion between two personalities. Base your response on your prescribed text and at least three other related texts of your own choosing. Introduction music to 'Oprah' plays. Oprah Winfrey walks onstage, waving to the audience. Oprah: My my my, how are you today ladies and gentlemen? Well don't I have a special show for you today! An uninterrupted special of Oprah, that's right no advertisements, no newsbreaks, we have a delightful guest and I'm just so, so pleased that she could join us! Now as you know, I'm an open minded person and I just love talking to people, sorry, make that personalities, from all walks of life. This lovely girl has an amazing personality, and faced with a crisis, she remained dignified. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Clover! Clover trots onstage to a hearty round of applause. Oprah: Clover, how are you girlfriend? Clover: I'm great Oprah! Just glad to be away from Animal Farm. Whoops! I still call it that after all these years! Manor Farm it is now. Oprah: Well just to update our audience, Clover has been one busy babe. After leaving Manor Farm, Clover has gained her doctorate in psychology! You go girl! Interrupted by round of applause from audience And today

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Kent's most notable characteristics are his loyalty and bluntness. Discuss?

Q Kent's most notable characteristics are his loyalty and bluntness. Discuss? The character of King Lear's Kent is a formidable one. Whether it is the extent of his service to the King, the harshness and imagination with which he fights to defend the King or his character progression throughout the play. His most notable characteristics are definitely his incessant loyalty and his use of blunt language when his respectful interjections are ignored. It is his loyalty that motivates him and his bluntness that lands him in trouble. He speaks up to the King and warns him about his 'hideous rashness' in the treatment of Cordelia and is blunt and to the point "What wouldst thou do, old man?" - Act 1 Scene 1; but only uses this language when he is not being taken into consideration. We normally hear Kent referring to the King in a respectful and loyal manner 'my lord' and 'my leige'. His bluntness and forwardness towards the King leads to his banishment, which Kent accepts but not without a final word of advice "See better Lear, and let me still remain the true blank of thine eye." - Act 1 Scene 1 We notice that his advice and speeches are justified by the subsequent events of the play. His reference towards the Kings daughters prior to leaving the court is a sign of what is still to come . "...the gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid, that justly think'st and hast

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Kingship and leadership and their absence have major implications in the play King Lear. Explore how Shakespeare presents these themes.

King Lear Kingship and leadership and their absence have major implications in the play King Lear. Explore how Shakespeare presents these themes. Jonathon Dollimore (1984) focuses on Lear's identity throughout the play. 'What makes Lear the person he is, is not kingly essence, but among other things, his authority and his family. As the play progresses Lear is forced to question his identity. "Does anyone hear know me?...Who is it that can tell me who I am?". Dollimore believes King Lear is about power, poverty and inheritance. Shakespeare focuses on what happens when there is a 'catastrophic redistribution of power'. At the start of the play Lear has a rich, powerful and complex social identity. He is King and Patriarch of his family. Being the king he was therefore looked upon as being the source of meaning and order in society. The opening scene represents a strong theme of authority and kingship. A sennet marks the arrival of the king. He enters accompanied by attendants and is greeted as 'Royal Lear' and 'Most Royal Majesty'; "Royal Lear, Whom I have ever honoured as my king, Loved as my master followed, As my great patron thought on in my prayers". "Most royal majesty, I crave no more than hath your Highness offered, Nor will you tender less". We see here how a great image of kingship and authority are presented. When Kent is banished from the kingdom,

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare - Summary of Theme and Narrative

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comic play written by Shakespeare. It is set in the ancient times. The play begins and ends in the Greek city of Athens, but most of the action takes place in a nearby wood. This is a magical place where a series of tricks are played on several of the characters by a group of fairies and spirits. The play is about the nature of love. The theme of love provides opportunities for comedy, and serious social comment. Shakespeare portrays a clear difference between the natural state of genuine love and the illusion generated by love that has no substance. Nothing can stand in the way of true love, even if 'the course of true love never did run smooth.' A Midsummer Night's Dream takes place in three groups. The groups contrast vividly: the sophisticated yet earth bound Theseus and Hippolyta; the homespun vulgarity of Bottom and the workmen; and the ephemeral delicacy of the fairies. The first to come forth on stage are the Athenian nobles, which sub-divide themselves into four lovers and the rest of the court. Next, are the fairies; the fairies embody the force of nature. The effect of this personification is to make the cosmos seem a place, which, though it may be unpredictable and dangerous, is ultimately friendly to the humans, and finally the Athenian craftsmen. The play-within-a play that makes up most of act 5 scene1 it is used to represent,

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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The question to be answered is whether or not Midsummer Night's Dream suggests happiness is to be found in marriage.

A Midsummer Night's Dream. The question to be answered is whether or not Midsummer Night's Dream suggests happiness is to be found in marriage. In Act 1,Scene 1 Hermia has been brought to court by her father Egeus. This is because Hermia refuses to marry her father's choice of husband, Demetrius. Hermia is deeply in love with Lysander, Egeus won't let be Lysander be Hermia's husband. Egeus hates Lysander and won't let him marry Hermia shown by this ". Egeus gives Hermia three choices either to become a nun, obeying her father's wishes or face the ultimatum of death. Theseus, the Duke of Athens confirms that the Athenian law demands that she be obedient to her father, following his wishes, her death or to live her life as a nun. Lysander and Demetrius state their claim to Hermia. Lysander who Hermia is still deeply in love with tries to win her father's trust by getting Demetrius distrusted. Lysander tries to get Demetrius in trouble by saying that he has had a love relationship with Helena and broke her heart. Helena still cherishes the as a love idol. While this is happening Hermia has been given four days to decide her own fate. Lysander and Hermia both agree to run away together to his aunt's house and marry away from the city where Athenian Law cannot reach them. This shows that they have a very strong love relationship and are desperate to get married. Lysander and

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Analyse an extract of not less than 500 words from a text of your choosing, commenting upon the use of language and reflecting upon the relationship between the nature of the extract and the era from which it comes.

Analyse an extract of not less than 500 words from a text of your choosing, commenting upon the use of language and reflecting upon the relationship between the nature of the extract and the era from which it comes. My essay will be based on an extract by William Shakespeare, from his tragic play 'Othello'. I will analyse the language used in the pivotal part of the play, Act three, Scene three. I will look at it against the time of writing and also look at the effect Shakespeare's great use of language has left us with today. William Shakespeare is thought to be the greatest writer we have ever seen, but he is also the most written about. His chronicles and commentators spill over global tongues, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian etc. He is actually in more than fifty languages. He was not for an age, but for all time. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. Shakespeare's father, John, was an apprentice glover and tanner of leathers. His mother, Mary Arden, came from a farming family. Shakespeare was the eldest of three sons and four daughters and was educated until he was sixteen. William Shakespeare was indeed lucky to survive to adulthood in sixteenth-century England. Waves of the plague swept across the countryside, and pestilence ravaged Stratford during the hot summer months. It is unclear what he did until he landed in London in 1591. He

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Macbeth's Downfall

: : Macbeth MACBETH Macbeth is presented as a mature man of definitely established character, successful in certain fields of activity and enjoying an enviable reputation. We must not conclude, there, that all his volitions and actions are predictable; Macbeth's character, like any other man's at a given moment, is what is being made out of potentialities plus environment, and no one, not even Macbeth himself, can know all his inordinate self-love whose actions are discovered to be-and no doubt have been for a long time- determined mainly by an inordinate desire for some temporal or mutable good. Macbeth is actuated in his conduct mainly by an inordinate desire for worldly honors; his delight lies primarily in buying golden opinions from all sorts of people. But we must not, therefore, deny him an entirely human complexity of motives. For example, his fighting in Duncan's service is magnificent and courageous, and his evident joy in it is traceable in art to the natural pleasure which accompanies the explosive expenditure of prodigious physical energy and the euphoria which follows. He also rejoices no doubt in the success which crowns his efforts in battle - and so on. He may even conceived of the proper motive which should energize back of his great deed: The service and the loyalty I owe, In doing it, pays itself. But while he destroys the king's enemies, such

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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