He states, "If you deny me, fie upon your law" (IV.i.101) if they choose not to keep their own law when it does work according to their preferences at the time. Shylock is making a statement here that property - whether or not it is human - is property. His implication is that the law is good for all and, mercy can indeed trump the law as long as that mercy does not infringe upon one's comfort.
This scene is also significant because it demonstrates the extent of Shylock's personality. As we have previously noted, Shylock is a man driven by hatred and anger. In addition, it must be noted that he is also walking into the court as a victim. He understands what it feels like to be ostracized for being different. He understands completely how a man feels when he is shunned for his beliefs. Shylock is a…...

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Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. New York: Riverhead Books. 1998.

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. New York: Signet Classics. 1987.

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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…...

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…...

Madam Eglantyne the Nun, is also an ironic charater. She eats in a very refined manner and attempts other fine characteristics such as speaking French, although she fares poorly at this. Ironically, not all her language is pure, as she swears cosntantly by "St. Loy," a saint renowned for not swearing. Unlike the general conception of the Nun, she is very concerned with outward appearances and did not much care for human beings. Indeed, she cared much more for her three dogs than the human beings around her. Another irony is that she has a coral trinket to fight worldly temptations, which is clearly failing badly.

A second character is the Friar, Hubert. While he is jolly, merry, and festive, his actions are nevertheless evil and cunning. He impregnates girls, for example, and marries them off. He deceived the faithful by hearing confessions for a fee, and even begged from poor…...

Like so many of us, he feels that heaven has cursed him. The element of disgrace would mean that he has fallen out of favor with God. He feels that all of his efforts are "bootless" (useless). However, the skylark has risen above this, implying that by remembering his love, he will also rise above it.
This author used the example of heaven because it is universal. We all think about our mortality and want to make sure that our lives have meaning. Without it, we are lost and rudderless. However, like the skylark, love will help us rise above the situation and finally make our way through the troubles of life that we all have.

4) the issue of Jews, Judaism and the character of Shylock are famous and among the most examined aspects of the Merchant of Venice. The raise all sorts of questions about whether or not Shakespeare…...

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.

Tolstoy and Shakespeare
"How Much Land Does a Man Need?"

The short story "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" By Tolstoy serves to teach a lesson to the reader. It is a morality play explaining the sin of greed and how it leads to trouble. The story begins with a peasant complaining that he does not have enough land. "If I had plenty of land, I shouldn't fear the Devil himself!" (Tolstoy 140) Land is thereby equated with lack of fear. In the end, greed is what causes the peasant Pahom's death. He believes that he can outwit his neighbors and get their land at a fraction of its value. His cockiness leads him to have a heart attack at sunset and be buried in a six foot grave. "Six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed" (140). The title of the story becomes ironic in light…...

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Works Cited:

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. New Haven: Yale UP, 2006. Print.

Tolstoy, Leo. "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Short

Stories. New York: Dover, 1993. Print.

i.95-9).
Here Portia is arguing that Shylock should always consider the human aspect of things noting that if God can have mercy on mankind, the very least that men could do is have mercy upon one another. Portia shows mercy toward Shylock when she allows him a way out of his bond. This action works to her benefit when he does not want to change his position. Portia's performance in court is one to be admired because she gives Shylock every opportunity to change his mind and have a little mercy upon Antonio. His stubbornness is emphasized when he refuses to budge and insists on carrying out the law. Portia is too clever for him, however, and when he realizes that he cannot take a pound of flesh without a drop of blood, he wishes to change the plan. ith irony, Shakespeare illustrates how adhering to the law while overlooking mercy…...

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Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. "The Merchant of Venice." William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. New York: Barnes and Noble Books. 1994.

The moral question of the play is whether Shylock and Antonio -- and by extension those who close ranks around Antonio -- are truly different. Antonio and his friends are just as capable of the same "evil" which Shylock attempts to perpetrate -- just as Christians were the original antagonists of the story, before the roles were reversed -- yet the protagonists are greater in having a solidified group identity. The solidification of that identity, however, would not have been possible without the "evil other." So, is the process of othering moral? Certainly not, answers Shakespeare, but highly useful.

Who is The Merchant of Venice? Ostensibly, the title refers to Antonio, who is repeatedly called a merchant throughout the play. Yet, could not Shylock also be considered a type of merchant? Are not, as shown by their actions, Shylock and Antonio proven to be the same? The process of othering must…...

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Bibliography

1. Shakespeare, William, edited by Leah S. Marcus The Merchant of Venice New York: Norton. 2004. Print

2. Shapiro, James Shakespeare and the Jews New York: Columbia University Press. 1996. Print

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.

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…...

The Merchant of Venice, though ostensibly a comedy, is one of the more serious plays in the comedic genre. The Taming of the Shrew is far more humorous and light hearted, but it is not without its lessons. The specific lessons vary greatly depending on one's interpretation of the play, especially in performance, but one key lesson that most of the female characters fail to learn is the advantage of working in tandem with their husband. Petruchio manages to win a substantial amount of money through his new wife Kate's quick obedience; she has learned through the course of the play to at least give the appearance of docility and subservience, which the other women lack -- they have failed to learn anything from her transformation, seeing no problems in themselves form the outset. This failure costs them some cold, hard, cash.

It is in Julius Caesar, however, that Shakespeare most…...

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.

incongruous to try to compare the artists illiam Shakespeare and Bob Marley. These two men, separated by centuries and embodying two very different forms of art, both make up part of the history of popular culture. One man is considered the premiere playwright in the history of the English language, a man whose name is synonymous with high culture. The other man is known for his success in a musical genre and a culture that uses a different meaning for the word high. hat could these men possible have in common one might ask? Examining the history and writings of both Renaissance writer illiam Shakespeare and reggae musician Bob Marley it becomes evident that they both use emotional appeals and heavy symbolism to prove points about the human condition and to promote understanding between people from different stations of life, all of which are used to persuade others that…...

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Works Cited:

Backus, Truman J. 1897. "William Shakespeare." The Outlines of Literature: English and American. Sheldon: NY. 90-102.

Laroque, Francois. The Age of Shakespeare. Harry N. Abrams: London.

Marly, Bob, 1973. "Get Up, Stand Up." Burnin'. Tuff Gong.

Marley, Bob, 1973. "I Shot the Sheriff." Burnin'. Tuff Gong.

Women in Shakespeare
In The Merchant of Venice, the life of Antonio is saved by Portia, who disguises herself as a male lawyer in order to confront the Jew Shylock and turn the tables on him in a witty and discerning exploitation of legalism. Similarly, in King Lear, it is Cordelia, the despised daughter of Lear who alone of all his daughters remains loyal to the King and, in the end, saves his life even though it costs her own. Thus, in these two plays Shakespeare shows not only that women are equal to men in a world that declared them unequal but that in many respects the patriarchy that existed could not have existed without the help and, ultimately, saving actions of the women. This paper will show how Dusinberre is correct in assessment that Shakespeare viewed the sexes as equal by providing examples from Lear and Merchant of Venice.

While…...

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....

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....