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Example research essay topic: Elizabethan Audience Sixteenth Century - 1,230 words

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The Merchant of Venice was written in 1598 by William Shakespeare. The story is set in Elizabethan times, which was the sixteenth century. People back then were quite prejudiced towards any race that was not Christian. They would have hated Jews. When Shylock would come onto the stage, the audience would have just booed him back off. The Christians had their reasons for hating the Jews.

The fact that they supposedly killed Jesus still angers many people today. Christians were resentful of their wealth. Jews were very successful with their businesses. You could say that the Christians were experiencing Xenophobia, fear of foreigners. They feared that they would take over their land.

So when Shylock comes to act, all these negative thoughts are buzzing through the audiences minds. Shylock is victimized in this play, as all Jews were back in the sixteenth century. They would live in enclosed and segregated areas called ghettos. This play is a comedy, meaning that no one dies, and that the good guys always win and that Justice is done to the bad guys. Like all comedies there is a villain. You could describe a villain as: nasty, a law breaker, someone who kills people, greedy and vengeful, evil and he / she usually gets caught in the end and is punished.

This is what I would say a typical villain is, although it is very stereotypical. Shylock is evil and vengeful, but he does not step outside the law. When he is ready to dice up Antonio, he is allowed to do this due to the bond he made. The audience knows that Shylock is a Jew, but they do not know his qualities, what he is like as an actual human. So far, the audience have just typecast him as another Jew.

The modern audience would not care what race he is, or what name he calls God. Anyway, believe it or not, Shylock does have good qualities. He is an industrious man meaning he works hard for his money. He is an extremely devout Jew.

He can say any quote from the Jewish Bible. He often quotes out of the Bible when he talks, or he refers to parts of the Bible when trying to express something. He adored his wife, Leah, who passed away before the play starts. You really see his devotion to her, when he talks about the ring she gave him before they were married.

Shylock said he would not give it up for a wilderness of monkeys. This meaning that he would not give it up for all the riches of the world. This really shows that he is not all materialistic and does have a heart. This heart is quickly broken when his daughter, Jessica, steals the ring. Unlike other villains, he does not break laws, he is a law abiding citizen.

When he wants Antonio killed, its within the law due to his merry bond. With all this said, he still is still the Villain and he does have some of the typical villain attributes. He is full of revenge. All he wants to do, when in court, is kill Antonio. He openly, in court, refuses to take back thrice the amount he lent, which would add up to nine thousand Ducats.

When he enters the court room, you see him carrying his implements of destruction. He is prejudiced against Christians. You get a good idea of this, when he says this to Antonio when Antonio asks him for the money; Ill only do this business with you, I wont do this again with you, and I wont with you or talk to you or anything. You can see that he hates the fact that he is helping out a Christian. He is very devious as he has this bond all ready if Antonio does not pay up.

He is the only one in the play that actually hates music. Back in Elizabethan times, almost everyone loved music; they said that music was a part of the soul. This portrays Shylock as inhuman. He says to Jessica, Shut up my houses ears. He would not let in any type of music from outside.

He is a very isolated man, quite unsociable. As they used to say back in Elizabethan times, to be a complete man, you must take part in the life of your society, which is to help your community and become an active member. With all this in mind, the Elizabethan audience would not even care to look at his positive attributes, but todays more modern audiences would feel sorry for how he is ridiculed and spat on. The audience would feel some sort of pity for him when Antonio says, Im like to kick you again! On the other hand the Elizabethan audience members might go up on stage and give him a pat on the back. When the court scene begins, Shylock is not anywhere to be seen nor is Antonio, the supposed victim of his.

The duke is there who is supposed to be the master of ceremonies. One thing that you should know is that Antonio and the Duke are good friends, which puts Shylock in a bad position right away as the man who decides his fate is biased towards Antonio, meaning that he is in favour of helping out Antonio. The Duke says to Antonio, Im Sorry for Thee. You can see that Shylock will have his work cut out for him.

The court rooms are a place of justice, the duke should not even think to be biased. They describe Shylock as, stony, cold and inhuman. They say that he is incapable of pity. He is at the bottom of the chain of beings, below animals. You can see that Shylock is being criticised in his absence. The Christians who are in the court at the moment refer to him as The Jew.

He is nameless to these people. He is portrayed, through their use of language, as a stone cold villain. After much criticism and behind his back abuse, Shylock comes in. His entry is quite dramatic in the way of what he brings in with him.

It shows his cold side, and that he wants to get down to business, which is in this case, killing Antonio. Shylock comes in carrying three items; a knife to cut the flesh, which symbolizes revenge; some scales to weigh out the flesh, which symbolizes Justice, his bond, which he is so proud of, representing his legal rights and what he can do to Antonio according to the Law. Naturally the audience would be shocked and horrified. The one thing you will notice, I sure did, is that Shylock is the odd man out. He comes in, alone, as the Only Jew in the room. It really puts emphasis on how he is different.

You can imagine him coming in dressed in his G aberdeen, wearing his skull cap. He is somewhat isolated. The important parts of this scene are the two speeches. The Duke says to Shylock We expect you to be filled with pity and passion, please show some mercy. You see the Duke is trying his hardest to persuade Shylock to re-consider, and making him actually think of what he going to do.

Shylock responds, rather coldly and openly, that he will not show merc...


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