Merchant Of Venice Choice Analysis

2014080254 金秀珍 Sue Kim

Professor Ivy

英语戏剧选读

22 June, 2016

The Problem of Choice in The Merchant of Venice The Merchant of Venice written by William Shakespeare is classified as a comedy. However, some people hold controversial issues about the genre of this play because there are various interpretations of the play by different point of views. The reason why this play has been a subject of controversy is because the play includes confliction between Jews and Christians, law and mercy, love and friendship, merchant and usurer and all of which contains social issues. Besides, there are different interpretations of the character Shylock which can influence the atmosphere of the play. To understand the play, considering social issue is important

There are many choices lying at the center of these characters' action. In the play, each character are faced with the choice involving some risk and they accept the consequences as a result of their choice. What are the different kinds of choices that character make in the play? Shakespeare frequently expresses the word choose and choice and uses it as keywords in the play. He shed the light on human life by highlighting the choice of the character and the process of it. This paper aims to research the diverse choices of each character in The Merchant of Venice and the meaning of those choices. In this paper, the choice can be divided into three main parts: the choice of self realization of Shylock, the choice of harmony for self and others of Portia and the choice of self-sacrifice of Antonio. The first choice appear in The Merchant of Venice is in the character Shylock. In the society of Venice, Shylock is completely isolated and left out in the society because he is a Jew and usurer. He can be described as a 'Jew', 'heretic' and 'evil'. However, the opportunity comes to him which is the bond. The purpose of the bond is to take Antonio's flesh if Antonio cannot repay the

The feminist accept Portia as a women who subverts social status and overcomes the suppression of women's right in a patriarchal society. On the other hand, she is criticized that her choice is a repression of minorities. And she decides the case against Shylock and aggravate Shylock's isolation. Though, there are different opinions in her choice, she is highly respected for her action to overcome the restriction against women in courtroom and excel ability of men. Thus, there is no doubt that Portia is a wise women who displays her abilities as a women. Her choice influences on many other characters such as Antonio, Shylock and Bassanio. Her choice makes different results and it lead them to make a different choice. The last choice appear in The Merchant of Venice is in the choice of Antonio. He can be defined as a unlucky and depressing royal merchant who is lacking of fund ( Bloom, 1986 ). If Shylock and Portia are main characters leading the whole plot, Antonio is a character who played a huge role in affecting the choice of Shylock and Portia. What is the choice of Antonio that affects other characters in the