Also, the role of the Duke would not be as prominent if the city of Venice would not have been selected for the majority of the activity of the play. The city in itself ensures a certain aura that traditional cultural life as well as the fame of a modern, yet traditional in many instances cities, that provides the story a special twist, embedded in culture, yet modern in line of thought.
The subject is yet another element that would be interpreted differently had the play been written in a different time and era. The plot, among other aspects, also includes signs of what literary critics nowadays consider anti-Semitism. Therefore, the role of Shylock and the way in which this role was constructed through the perception of all characters in the play, is essential as being the central focus of the play, the person from which most of the events,…...

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Reference

Shakespeare, W. (n.d): "The Merchants of Venice." MIT resource center. Available at  

Shylock is also perceived and portrayed as an enemy of the Christian faith and as the nemesis of the play's protagonist, Antonio. He therefore serves a distinct literary purpose by contrasting the depth of friendship exhibited by Antonio's group. Because he is not viewed as a friend, he cannot truly betray any of them. Thus, when Shylock does not back down from his bond with Antonio he is merely saving his own honor and dignity. Shylock repeatedly mentions his mistreatment at the hands of Antonio and the other Christians in Venice. They did not treat him as a friend and therefore Shylock does not act out of kindness or mercy. Shylock is never shown to betray those close to him: notably his daughter Jessica and his assistant Lancelot. On the other hand, Jessica and Lancelot both abandon Shylock. Jessica dishonors her father more so because of her ready decision…...

Bassanio chooses lead, when asked to select from the three caskets that Portia offers to test her suitors. She is happy that he wins, and the lead is supposed to be the correct choice, for the person who chooses lead is supposed to be a man who has hazarded all he has, to win Portia. But in truth, Bassanio has hazarded nothing and desires Portia's gold. It is Antonio who has taken the risk in lending money for his friend. Now that Shylock is angered because of the loss of his daughter, he resolves to call upon the bond Antonio made in jest, a pound of flesh. The jest-like nature of the false bond was reflected when Antonio said that: "The Hebrew will turn Christian: he grows kind." (I.2) in other words, Shylock asked for no interest or money upon the loan in an effort to cement his relationship…...

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Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. "The Merchant of Venice." MIT Classics Page. 2006. [22 Oct 2006]  http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/merchant/

Merchant of Venice: Queen Elizabeth vs. Portia
There are a number of similarities that exist between Queen Elizabeth of England and illiam Shakespeare's character Portia in his play The Merchant of Venice. Both women had a good amount of money and power; although Portia was not royalty, she was still a wealthy heiress in the city of Belmont. Because of the money and power associated with these women, they each had numerous suitors and some noteworthy encounters with suitors during their lives. Also, they each involved themselves with the law and helped to decide issues of governance -- the Queen did so from a national perspective while Portia did so from a more modest, civil perspective. These parts of their character and more have helped to make them somewhat ambiguous. There are some scholars who regard them as good people, and others who believe that they did more good than bad.…...

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Works Cited

Doran, Susan. Queen Elizabeth I. London: British Library. 2003. Print.

Haigh, Christopher. Elizabeth I. Harlow: Longman Pearson. 2000. Print.

Loades, David. Elizabeth I: The Golden Reign of Gloriana. London: The National Archives. 2003. Print.

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice.   1596. Web.  http://shakespeare.mit.edu/ .

Merchant of Venice
In illiam Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, the playwright uses certain symbolic items to illustrate points about human characteristics. Shakespeare's plays are usually full of symbols which feature in to the major themes of the piece. In The Merchant of Venice, much of the plot consists of the desire for wealth and riches and the things that people are willing to do to acquire more. To mirror this them, the most important symbols of the play are those that have to deal with wealthy and riches, such as Portia's ring, Shylock's gold, and the pound of flesh that is to be taken in lieu of money. The Oxford English Dictionary defines casket as both a coffin and a small case or chest, used for jewels and other valuables. The caskets in The Merchant of Venice are jeweled boxes with treasure, although since they represent the failure of…...

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Works Cited:

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 2008. Print.

Merchant of Venice is an anti-Semitic play. Rather, what I see in the play is Shakespeare cleverly mocking stereotyped views of both Jews and Christians. Shylock, the Jew, is cruel and inhumane in his demand of a pound of flesh from Antonio for his unpaid debt. On the other hand, the Jew, who is definitely not a nice guy, and who was the subject of laughter in early scenes, becomes a sympathetic victim of un-Christian Christians as the court scene progresses. In the end the Christians who trick the Jew out of not only his wealth, but his religion, and perhaps his very soul, appear to be as incredibly cruel as the villainous Jew. In my opinion The Merchant of Venice is Shakespeare's treatise against hate and inhumanity.
The blessings of mercy as described in the famous speech of Portia that begins "The quality of mercy is not strain'd, /…...

The Jews were no longer a part of English history, and in fact were expunged from it.
It was into this atmosphere that Shakespeare was born in 1580, 300 years after the Jews had been forced out of England. If there were Jews in London at the time of Shakespeare, they were certainly in the minority.

In 1589, Marlow created a play entitled the Jew of Malta. It was a play that did not vilify the Jew, but satirizes Christian society. Using a Jewish villain, Barabas, as protagonist when his property is seized and he is expelled from England, Marlow has his character embark upon a vengeful slaughter of nuns and other Christians. In the play, Barabas is boiled to death in front of the audience, creating sensational and violent theater. hile the play vilifies the Jews, the main point of the play was to satirize Christian society for its cruelty,…...

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Works Cited

Cobb, Lee J." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press. 2001-04.

A www.bartleby.com/65/.

Ephraim, Michelle. "The Merchant of Venice: New Critical Essays." Shakespeare Quarterly.- Volume 55, Number 4, Winter 2004, pp. 475-479.

Kaplan, M. Lindsay. "Jessica's mother: Medieval constructions of Jewish race and gender in the Merchant of Venice" Shakespeare Quarterly Volume 58, Number 1, Spring 2007, pp. 1-30.  http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/shakespeare_quarterly/toc/shq58.1.html .

Shylock Character the Merchant Venice
Portia and Queen Elizabeth:

Through the trenches of the microcosm of play, no character serves as much semblance to Elizabeth Tudor as Portia. I agree so, and forthwith draw more comparisons between her and a contemporaneous learned enaissance woman going by her terrific rhetorical skills, markedly in the trial scene. By all measure, Elizabeth Tudor was a learned woman, possibly of the highest caliber in all of England during her lifetime. The associations between Portia and Elizabeth transcends the similarity in their use of rhetoric, to the extravagant use of logic and dialectic statements to efface Shylock's claim to the bond, statements only learned individuals at the time could muster.

It wasn't uncommon to find learned women in the enaissance period. Alas, the Countess of ichmond, the Lady Margaret, who also is Elizabeth's great-grandmother was sufficiently learned. Same as her step-sister Mary, and Lady Jane Grey. Of particular…...

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References

Bazzell, J.D. (2008). The role of women in the merchant of Venice: Wives and daughters ahead of their time. (Master's Thesis). The University of Arizona. Retrieved from  http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/bitstream/10150/193464/1/azu_etd_2657_sip1_m.pdf 

Joseph, P., & Kirkland, E. (2003). The status of women in Shakespeare's time. Exploring Shakespeare. Retrieved from

Magnusdottir, L.D. (2009). Shakespeare's heroines: An examination of how Shakespeare created and adapted specific heroines from his sources.  http://skemman.is/stream/get/1946/2291/7176/1/ttir_fixed.pdf 

Neale, J.E. Queen Elizabeth I. Chicago: Academy Chicago Publishers, 1952.

The parallels between these situations and Frye's basic assessment of the plot of New Comedies are not, perhaps, immediately apparent, but they have the same effect by the end of the play, where "the audience witnesses the birth of a renewed sense of social integration" (Frye 94). The parent/child relationships have been largely done away with in favor of te romantic ties that seem to be favored by the play. It is disingenuous, however, to dismiss the issue of class in this play outright. In many ways, the relationships between the various fathers and their children can be een to be indicative of class lines. Launcelot's position and its possible implications in his treatment of his father have already been discussed, but both his and Jessica's treatment of Shylock still deserved comment. Jessica is somewhat exonerated for her actions towards her father (again, the degree depends on the particular choices…...

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Works Cited

Frye, Northrop. "The Argument of Comedy." Shakespeare, Russ McDonald, ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004.

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. New York: Folger, 1997.

The Carnevale and Sensa festivals were outlawed and the Book of Gold, which had recorded the names of patrician families of Venice for more than four centuries, was burned.
Before leaving Venice Napoleon instructed his men to take twenty paintings along with five hundred manuscripts of rarity including the 'Wedding Feast at Cana' by Veronese. Napoleon additionally took the four bronze horses of San Marco to be taken from the facade of the building. As well, the ancient winged lion that was atop the column in the Piazetta was removed. The Aresenale is reported to have been "systematically stripped down to the bare walls. A regiment of French soldiers took axes to the lavish busintoro…" (Madden, 2012, p.449) in addition, "dozens of priceless works of medieval art, including Golden oses bestowed o Venice for centuries of faithful service to popes were broken apart for their diamonds, pearls, and precious metals."…...

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References

Madden, Thomas (2012) Venice: A New History. Penguin Group, U.S.. Oct. 2012.

The interaction between father and son takes place in Act II, Scene ii, with a teasing display of affection where Lancelot fools his father into thinking he is dead, and then asks for his help in leaving Shylock's employment. His father, an old blind servant, supports his son and urges Bassanio to hire his son. The unconditional love between father and son is quite clear in this funny yet touching scene. This is in direct contrast to the relationship between Jessica and Shylock. Jessica despises living in her father's house and hopes to elope with her love, Lorenzo. She finds her father stingy and live in her home is "hell." She despairs when Lancelot leaves, and determines to leave as well. Both she and Lancelot chafe at Shylock's ways, but her relationship with her father is strained at best. The healthy relationship between Lancelot and his father only serves…...

Don Quixote, despite his inability to recognize between his conscious and unconscious selves, differed from Shylock in that made no conscious effort to allow his unconscious self to emerge. His continued exposure to an alternative life -- life in the world of fiction -- made him develop a stronger unconscious self: " ... he became so absorbed in his books that he spent his nights from sunset to sunrise ... And what with little sleep and much reading his brains got so dry he lost his wits. His fancy grew full of ... all sorts of impossible nonsense ... " This narrative about the development of Don Quixote de la Mancha's character, the metaphorical self of Don Quixote, was associated with the Captain's Leggatt's persona, the individual who symbolized the man's innermost desire for freedom and adventure. In effect, the hero that was Don Quixote surfaced to dominate over the…...

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Bibliography

De Cervantes, M. (1997). E-text of "Don Quixote." Available at:  http://www.jamesgoulding.com/ebooks/Classics/Don_Quixote__1Donq10_.txt .

Conrad, J. (1911). E-text of "The Secret Sharer." Available at:  http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/ConSecr.html .

Shakespeare, W. E-text of "The Merchant of Venice." Available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd.

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"Sonnet 130" by Shakespeare and "Sonnet 23" by Louis Labe both talk about love, as so many sonnets do. Their respective techniques however, differentiate them from each other. Shakespeare uses a rhyme scheme that became known as Shakespearean rhyme scheme or English rhyme. He writes about love in a sarcastic manner though. He is mocking the traditional love poems and the usual expressive manner in which women are often compared to. It is ironic in a way because Shakespeare himself also uses the very techniques in his previous writing when he is writing from a man's point-of-view and describing a woman. But in this sonnet he uses the technique of mocking this exaggerated comparison. Usually women are compared to having skin as white as snow, however, in reality, Shakespeare points out, women don't really fit this description, "If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun."

Louis Labe however, does…...

It recounts the travails of Antigone, daughter of Oedipus the former king of Thebes, who disobeys King Creon in burying the body of her slain brother. She knows that she faces death for doing this, but insists that she does not care, saying "For whoso lives, as I, in many woes,
/ How can it be but death shall bring him gain? / And so for me to bear this doom of thine / Has nothing painful" (Arrowsmith, lines 508-12). Antigone does not see meaninglessness in death, but rather is willing to face death for the symbolic gesture of burying her brother. This illustrates her own tragic quest for truth; like Gilgamesh (and Creon), she is frustrated by the rules and order imposed by a mortal government, and feels that it pales in comparison to the divine moral laws such as those regarding the treatment of the dead and the…...

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Works Cited

Arrowsmith, William. Antigone. New York: San Val, 1999.

Mason, Herbert. Gilgamesh. New York: Mariner, 2003.

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Washington D.C.: Folgers, 1997.

Your answer should be at least five sentences long.
The Legend of Arthur

Lesson 1 Journal Entry # 9 of 16

Journal Exercise 1.7A: Honor and Loyalty

1. Consider how Arthur's actions and personality agree with or challenge your definition of honor. Write a few sentences comparing your definition (from Journal 1.6A) with Arthur's actions and personality.

2. Write a brief paragraph explaining the importance or unimportance of loyalty in being honorable.

Lesson 1 Journal Entry # 10 of 16

Journal Exercise 1.7B: Combining Sentences

Complete the Practice Activity on page 202 of your text. After completing this activity, read over your Essay Assessment or another journal activity you've completed.

* Identify three passages that could be improved by combining two or more sentences with coordinating or subordinating conjunctions. Below the practice activity in your journal, write the original passages and the revised sentences you've created.

* Be sure to indicate which journal or writing assignment they came from.

The…...

One of the cornerstones of the idea of liberty and freedom, especially when viewed from a religious perspective like Thomas Merton’s, is the idea of free will.  Whether human beings truly have free will is a surprisingly divisive philosophical question that, by design, must consider questions like natural versus nurture, motivation, the influence of society on people, and even the nature of good and evil (O’Connor).  However, the idea of free will is central to Christianity and also to Merton’s explorations of liberty and freedom in a Christian context.

Using the concept of free will to explore the....

How a Thorough Analysis of Music Enhances the Overall Impact of an Essay
A thorough analysis of music can significantly enhance the overall impact of an essay by providing insights, supporting arguments, and creating a more immersive and engaging experience for the reader.
1. Provides a Rich Context for Literary and Cultural Analysis
Music often plays a vital role in literary and cultural works, reflecting social values, historical events, or emotional states. By analyzing the musical elements of a work, such as rhythm, melody, and harmony, writers can gain a deeper understanding of its themes, symbols, and characters.
For instance, in an essay on....

In "The Merchant of Venice," Portia is portrayed as cunning and manipulative, using her intelligence to deceive those around her for her own benefit. This deception is seen in her disguise as a male lawyer to save Antonio, as well as in her manipulation of the suitors in the casket test. On the other hand, in "King Lear," Cordelia is depicted as honest and loyal to a fault, refusing to flatter her father like her sisters and ultimately being banished for her honesty.

These contrasting personalities of Portia and Cordelia contribute to the overall themes of loyalty and deception in their....

Portia and Cordelia: Loyalty and Deception in Shakespeare's Plays

Introduction:

William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" and "King Lear" feature two remarkable female characters, Portia and Cordelia, who embody contrasting personalities, yet share a profound impact on the themes of loyalty and deception in their respective plays.

Portia: Intelligence, Wit, and Deception

Portia, the wealthy heiress of Belmont, is a woman of exceptional intelligence and wit. She is also a master of disguise and deception. In the trial scene, she cleverly disguises herself as a lawyer named Balthazar to defend Antonio, her husband's friend, from Shylock's vengeful demand.

Portia's deception serves several purposes. First, it....