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The Merchant of Venice In the play The Merchant of Venice written by William Shakespeare, some of the main issues that characters have to face in the play are money, justice, love and revenge. The way these issues are presented in the play is by the choice of words and the tone spoken by the characters, the atmosphere created in certain scenes sets how those ideas are portrayed, the location of the scene also helps add to how these issues are presented. If you repay me not on such a day, In such a place, such sum or sums are Express in the condition, let eh forfeit Be nominated for an equal pound Of your fair flesh, to be cut off (Act 1 Sc 3) This quote made by Shylock about the bond between himself and Antonio sets up the main plot of the story, as money is one of the main issues that characters have to face; Antonio creates the bond on Bassanio's behalf, as he already owes money to Shylock, in doing so he agrees to Shylock's terms if the amount is not repaid by the date set in the bond. The way Shakespeare presented this to his audience was by making it a vital part of the play and making it the backbone of the main plot, the atmosphere created when Antonio agreed to the bond and when Antonio and Shylock were in court helps portray the importance of money in the play. Justice was a big issue that the characters had to face later on in the play. While in court, Shylock repeated the quote: O noble judge!
O excellent young man! (Act 4 Sc 1) The reason why Shylock repeated the quote was that he believed he was getting justice. But the real justice was given when Portia disguised as Balthazar proved to the Duke that Antonio was innocent and that Shylock was trying to take Antonio's life. The use of a court in the play, and the word choice made by Portia is how Shakespeare presented justice to the audience so well. The word choice made of Portia showed what Shylock really wanted and that Shylock did not have the power to take Antonio's life.
Love is one of the big issues in the play as it formed the subplots and added to the main plot. There were two main types of love in the play, the type that Bassanio and Portia, along with Jessica and Lorenzo had, and the type Shylock had for his daughter Jessica, before she ran away with Lorenzo. In such a night, Did Thisbe fearfully oer trip the dew, and (Act 5 Sc 1) From this quote Jessica and Lorenzo are comparing themselves to famous lovers in history, while in the garden in front of Portia's house. The love between Bassanio and Portia is one of the bigger subplots in the play, Portia did not have the choice of who she married, the man the picked the right casket is the one who got her hand in marriage.
Shakespeare presented the love between the characters by interlinking it with other plots; such as Jessica running away from her farther and ruining the love he had for her fuelled his revenge against Antonio. Shakespeare also created the atmosphere of love in scene such as where Jessica and Lorenzo are in a garden and comparing themselves to famous lovers in history. Revenge plays one of the biggest issues in the play, as Shylock wants his revenge against Antonio for years of bad treatment. His daughter running away with Lorenzo also fuels Shylock's revenge and Shylock gets his chance for revenge when Antonio cant repay the bond. and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge (Act 3 Sc 1) This quote is from Shylock's famous speech about justifying his revenge against Antonio made to Solanio and Salerno.
In the court Shylock has a strong case and Antonio is ready to face the consequences of not repaying the bond, but by the word choice of Portia, Shylock does not get a chance to get his revenge on Antonio. The way Shakespeare presents revenge, as an issue in the play to his audience is by the way he created the characters Shylock and Antonio with strong beliefs and with a history of conflict with each other. The way Shylock was behaving and his word choice in the scene where they are at the court, showed the audience, that Shylock really wanted to get his revenge on Antonio. Shakespeare interlinked these main issues with each other to show the importance of these issues in the play. The Atmosphere and the general feeling that Shakespeare created also reinforce these issues with the audience.
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Research essay sample on Merchant Of Venice Word Choice
