The Importance of Writing an Essay on Merchant of Venice
Writing an essay on Merchant of Venice is important as it allows students to critically analyze the themes, characters, and messages portrayed in the play. It also helps in developing critical thinking and analytical skills, as well as improving writing ...Read More
The Importance of Writing an Essay on Merchant of Venice
Writing an essay on Merchant of Venice is important as it allows students to critically analyze the themes, characters, and messages portrayed in the play. It also helps in developing critical thinking and analytical skills, as well as improving writing abilities.
When writing an essay on Merchant of Venice, it is important to carefully analyze the characters and their motivations. For example, Shylock’s character can be explored in depth to understand the themes of prejudice, justice, and revenge. Additionally, the themes of love, friendship, and loyalty can be examined through the relationships between the characters.
Furthermore, it is crucial to consider the historical and social context of the play, as it provides a deeper understanding of the themes and messages conveyed by Shakespeare. For instance, the portrayal of anti-Semitism in the play reflects the societal attitudes of the time, and this can be analyzed in the essay.
When writing the essay, it is important to provide evidence from the text to support the arguments and analysis. This can include direct quotes, references to specific scenes, and interpretations of the characters’ actions and dialogue. Additionally, it is essential to structure the essay in a coherent and logical manner, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a strong conclusion.
In conclusion, writing an essay on Merchant of Venice is important for students to develop critical thinking, analytical, and writing skills. By carefully analyzing the characters, themes, and historical context of the play, students can gain a deeper understanding of the text and its significance.
Best Merchant of Venice Essay Topics
The portrayal of Shylock as a villain or victim
The role of women in The Merchant of Venice
The theme of mercy and justice in the play
The symbolism of the bond and the caskets
The use of language and imagery in The Merchant of Venice
The significance of the title in relation to the themes of the play
The role of friendship and loyalty in The Merchant of Venice
The portrayal of prejudice and discrimination in the play
The relationship between Antonio and Bassanio
The concept of appearance vs reality in The Merchant of Venice
The motif of money and wealth in the play
The portrayal of love and romance in The Merchant of Venice
The role of religion in the play
The use of comedy and tragedy in The Merchant of Venice
The significance of the courtroom scene
The portrayal of power and authority in the play
The role of fate and destiny in The Merchant of Venice
The theme of deception and manipulation
The portrayal of outsiders and insiders in the play
The relevance of The Merchant of Venice in today's society
Merchant of Venice Essay Topics Prompts
Imagine you are Shylock's defense attorney. Write a closing argument that challenges the court's decision.
Write a letter from Portia to Bassanio, expressing her feelings about the outcome of the bond and the caskets.
Create a modern-day adaptation of The Merchant of Venice, set in a different cultural or social context.
Write a dialogue between Antonio and Shylock, exploring their conflicting views on money and morality.
Imagine you are a journalist interviewing Jessica after she elopes with Lorenzo. Write a series of questions and answers that reveal her motivations and feelings.
Introduction Throughout the Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare presents a multi-faceted presentation of Shylock. Although Shakespeare’s presentation of Shylock conforms to the stereotypical views of Jews in many ways by presenting Shylock as villainous and the problem that needs to be overcome in this Shakespearean...
In Shakespearean plays, the female roles are consistently more complex than the male ones, and though the protagonists are often male, the action is frequently directed by a woman. Though the female characters are often perceived to have a definite aspect of craftiness to their...
William Shakespeare’s The Comical History of the Merchant of Venice depicts an odd juxtaposition of love in the romantic sense with wealth in the monetary sense. The characters in the text acknowledge both senses as valuable virtues, yet comparatively, said virtues are measured against each...
The definition of loyalty is a strong feeling of support or allegiance. In The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, dependability, integrity, honesty, and faithfulness are key character traits that exhibit the true meaning of loyalty. Each one of these traits demonstrates how a character...
‘The Merchant of Venice’ is a comedic play written by William Shakespeare during the time of 1596 or 1597, when there was a constant altercation between that of Christians and Jews within the Venetian society. Shakespeare wrote the play in a time where Jews were...
In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare crafts a dynamic female character uncommon to his collection of plays. Portia, the lovely and wealthy heiress, exemplifies stereotypical feminine qualities but also exhibits independent and intelligent thought. Most of Shakespeare’s female roles function as static characters designed to...
Inequality is a theme that is continuously occurring in The Merchant of Venice, a play written by William Shakespeare in the 16th century, which portrays racism and prejudice that till this day, remains an important symbol of unequal opportunities and discrimination against a certain group...
The Merchant of Venice is a painful read—much more than Shakespeare’s other plays—because it portrays oppression without taking a stance one way or the other. Portia is undermined by societal gender inequalities, the Prince of Morocco battles racism, and Shylock was written so audiences could...
The daughters of Elizabethan England were predominantly subject to their father’s wishes. This is particularly evident in terms of the main female character, Portia, who must obey her father even after his death: Made-to-order essay as fast as you need it Each essay is customized...
Among the many and varied plotlines interwoven throughout Shakespeare’s comedy, The Merchant of Venice, the story of Bassanio’s rivalled affections for his friend Antonio and for his eventual wife Portia is one of the more significant. Bassanio begins in the story firmly in the affections...
An Overview of Shylock: His Significance in the Narrative In William Shakespeare’s play, ‘The Merchant of Venice’, Shylock is a central figure in the narrative. His character is intricately linked with major themes of the play: justice, mercy, and prejudice, particularly racial and religious. Shylock’s...
It is said that “Prejudice is a learned trait, you’re not born prejudiced; you’re taught it.” Within Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’ and past society, religious prejudice and prejudice based on ethnicity were social beliefs and people were consciously making these choices to be discriminatory. People...
The ‘Merchant of Venice’ is filled with racial and religious issues that appear possible from almost all characters. These contrasting actions are displayed by many people throughout the Merchant of Venice text, and can easily relate to the actions and motives of people in this...
Enter the Jew. In this way does Shakespeare usher the character Shylock into his play The Merchant of Venice, and here begins the greatest controversy that plagues this work. The Elizabethan era, the time in which Shakespeare lived, was a time brimming with hostility toward...
Introduction Here in Canada, we do not have the death penalty as punishment. Our judicial system shows mercy even to the worst of criminals by sparing their lives. Yet even to this day, in some countries like the USA, the death penalty still exists for...
The Merchant of Venice has been interpreted over time as both a defense and an attack on Jews. (“Shylock”) While it would seem improbable that Shakespeare was forward thinking enough to completely reject the anti-Semitic sentiment of his time, the play is too complex to...
Shakespeare’s play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ displays an array of human experiences, lived out by the characters. These experiences differ between people due to the context of the play. Set in Venice, the atmosphere is multicultural, exotic and extremely money and power driven. This text...
It is often observed that William Shakespeare’s comedies feature some uncomfortable scenes that leave audiences unsure as to whether characters are participating in harmless, theatrical farce or a meaner brand of mockery that borders on the cruel. Such scenes involve trickery that seems funny enough...
Few Shakespearean plays have aroused such controversy and debate throughout the centuries, as has The Merchant of Venice. This potentially tragic play masks itself in comedy, giving its audience a glance at the inherent social prejudices of Renaissance Europe. But just at the moment when...
Introduction to the Father-Daughter Relationship in Shakespearean Literature The topic we will be examining within the cultural context of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is the relationship between father and daughter in Shakespearean literature. Our specific focus is on Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice....
In William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice it is important to notice that the title is not The Tragedy of the Merchant of Venice, but rather, just The Merchant of Venice. Although many people find it a rich tapestry of controversial topics, one must wonder...
William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice has a big focus on many issues that are still prevalent in our 21st century, marriage and relational commitment being one, but it is portrayed as convenience or for an individual’s profit, instead of love. In the play, love...
Introduction William Shakespeare attained literary immortality through his exposition of the various qualities of human nature in his works. Such works include the romantic comedy, “The Merchant of Venice”, which displays the deliberate use of deception. This human quality is a tool utilised for many...
Perhaps no other play in Shakespeare’s repertoire has provoked greater controversy regarding its fundamental moral and religious attitudes than The Merchant of Venice. To understand Shakespeare’s treatment of the Jews in this play, we need to understand Judaism as seen in the Elizabethan era. The...
Antisemitism, Antonio, Arnold Wesker, Christopher Marlowe, English Renaissance theatre, Henry Irving, History of antisemitism, Israel, Jacob Pavlovich Adler, Jews
Perhaps one of William Shakespeare’s most famous comedies, The Merchant of Venice presents the game of three caskets with the high stakes of marriage to the wealthy and beautiful Portia if you choose correctly, or a life of solitude should you fail. The character Bassanio...
There is a method to the madness that is Shakespearean Comedy. Every Comedy has an outline and “The Merchant of Venice” is no exception. This highly social dilemma centers on the pursuit of love and money and concludes with the joyous acquisition of just that....
Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare wrote plays in England during a time when Jews were banned from the country, making it unlikely that Jewish characters in their plays would amount to more than anti-Semitic stereotypes. Both Marlowe’s Jew of Malta and Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice...
Antisemitism, Blank verse, Christianity, Christopher Marlowe, David Bevington, Edward Alleyn, Elizabeth I of England, English Renaissance theatre, Israel, Jews
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play that reveals its scaffolding. Behavior and motive are explained for comic consistency and unity, almost as if the playwright did not trust our capacity to intuit them. This is seen most starkly in Act V, Scene I,...
In ‘The Motives of Eloquence’, Lantham describes Shakespearean drama as the art of “superposition”. One arc of action is performed over others so that “[d]ramatic motive is stronger than ‘real’, serious motive”. The justification of a characters action occurs as theatre. “Drama, ceremony, is always...
In “The Merchant of Venice”, William Shakespeare explores the cities of contrast which are Venice and Belmont. These two locations in Italy are so antithetic to each other that even characters’ behaviours fluctuate from city to city because of this disparity between them. This Shakespeare...
Antonio, an antisemitic merchant, takes a loan from the Jew Shylock to help his friend to court Portia. Antonio can't repay the loan, and without mercy, Shylock demands a pound of his flesh. The heiress Portia, now the wife of Antonio's friend, dresses as a lawyer and saves Antonio.
Theme
The Merchant of Venice is structured partly on the contrast between idealistic and realistic opinions about society and relationships. On the one hand, the play tells us that love is more important than money, mercy is preferable to revenge, and love lasts forever
Characters
Antonio, Bassanio, Gratiano, Lorenzo, Portia, Nerissa, Balthazar, Stephano, Shylock, Jessica, Tubal, Launcelot Gobbo, Old Gobbo, Leonardo, Duke of Venice, Prince of Morocco, Prince of Arragon, Salarino and Salanio
Based on
The forfeit of a merchant's deadly bond after standing surety for a friend's loan was a common tale in England in the late 16th century. In addition, the test of the suitors at Belmont, the merchant's rescue from the "pound of flesh" penalty by his friend's new wife disguised as a lawyer, and her demand for the betrothal ring in payment are all elements present in the 14th-century tale Il Pecorone by Giovanni Fiorentino, which was published in Milan in 1558.
Popularity and influence
The Merchant of Venice is one of the most famous plays of Shakespeare. The play is frequently staged today, but is potentially troubling to modern audiences because of its central themes, which can easily appear antisemitic. Critics today still continue to argue over the play's stance on the Jews and Judaism.
Quotes
“You speak an infinite deal of nothing.”
“With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.”
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”
“All that glisters is not gold.”
References
1. Shakespeare, W., Shakespeare, W., & Kaplan, M. L. (2002). The merchant of Venice (pp. 25-120). Palgrave Macmillan US. (https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-137-07784-4_2)
2. Lewalski, B. K. (1962). Biblical Allusion and Allegory in" The Merchant of Venice". Shakespeare Quarterly, 13(3), 327-343. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2866826)
3. Halio, J. L. (2006). The Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare Bulletin, 24(2), 63-68. (https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/199046/summary)
4. Ferber, M. (1990). The Ideology of The Merchant of Venice. English Literary Renaissance, 20(3), 431-464. (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1475-6757.1990.tb01442.x?journalCode=elr)
5. Willson, M. J. (1994). View of Justice in Shakespeare's the Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure. Notre Dame L. Rev., 70, 695. (https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/tndl70&div=24&id=&page=)
6. Metzger, M. J. (1998). “Now by my hood, a gentle and no Jew”: Jessica, The Merchant of Venice, and the discourse of early modern English identity. PMLA, 113(1), 52-63. (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/pmla/article/abs/now-by-my-hood-a-gentle-and-no-jew-jessica-the-merchant-of-venice-and-the-discourse-of-early-modern-english-identity/51E9B840D2AB9DB0ABAB356C6FBC0B20)
7. Moisan, T. (2013). " Which is the merchant here? and which the Jew?": subversion and recuperation in The Merchant of Venice. In Shakespeare Reproduced (pp. 196-214). Routledge. (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315018584-15/merchant-jew-subversion-recuperation-merchant-venice-thomas-moisan-188)
8. Sokol, B. J., & Sokol, M. (1999). Shakespeare and the English Equity Jurisdiction The Merchant of Venice and the Two Texts of King Lear. The Review of English Studies, 50(200), 417-439. (https://academic.oup.com/res/article-abstract/50/200/417/1531451)
