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The Merchant Of Venice Foil Essay

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Both William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta employ anti-semitic stereotypes to portray their main Jewish characters, Shylock and Barabas. Both of these characters embody exaggerated and stereotyped Jewish characteristics that directly juxtapose with the traits of their Christian foils. Through the comparison of these two religious depictions, these negative portrayals of Jewish characters can bring out either the positive or negative elements in Christianity. In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock's selfishness and greed is presented as a foil to Antonio's good and selfless morality, meanwhile, Barabas' barbarity brings out revenge, violence, and immorality in even the most pious Christians in …show more content…

Where moments before Shylock was seemingly desperate to take Antonio's life regardless of money, when the tables are turned Antonio insists that Shylock's life be spared. Thus, Antonio's Christian mercy is presented in contrast to Shylock's Jewish rage and bloodlust. The contrast between these two characters can be seen most evidently in their separate interpretations of the biblical story of Jacob and his sheep. Shylock views Jacob as a businessman, cleverly breeding and collecting all the spotted sheep for his 'interest', "This was a way to thrive, and he was blest. / And thrift is blessing, if men steal it not" (?????). In this interpretation, Shylock equates himself to the thrifty Jacob, merely breeding his money as Jacob did the sheep. However, Antonio, a Christian, interprets Jacob's earning as a blessing sent from heaven, not a result of intentional thrift or cunning, but instead a reward that Jacob earned from diligently tending to the sheep. Shylock's twisting of this Christian story puts further emphasis on the righteousness of Christianity and of Antonio, all while further incriminating the Jewish

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He is subjected to insults and mistreatment by the Christian majority, who view him as an outsider. Shylock's poignant speech in Act III, Scene 1 reveals the effects of prejudice on his own identity: "Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? If you prick us, do we not bleed?" Through this powerful monologue, Shakespeare emphasizes the humanity and shared experiences of individuals, regardless of their religious or cultural

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178 Words | 1 Pages

Mercutios relationship with Romeo is a foil because their beliefs are extremely controversial with each other's. Fates, dreams and love are few of the thoughts where they disagree, and there opinions on each matter were shown a myriad throughout the play , this is shown to be true when Romeo states, "In bed asleep, while they do dreams come true" (1.4, lns 52). This quote supports my answer because Romeo is stating that your dream are prophecies where Mercutio, "...nothing but fantasy" (1.4, lns 98) believes that they mean nothing and are just childish thought. Another quote from the text that supports my answer is between Romeo and Mercutio, "And, to sink in it, should you burden love- too great oppression for a tender thing" (1.4, lns 23-24)

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Literary devices help in such a way that need them to survive; they help by showing what are the meanings of sentences and how they work. They usually make the sentence that make more powerful and more vibrant to the reader and show that sentences can be more stunning in a way. In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, are many different foils in the play. The two families, the Capulets and the Montagues, they differ from just how do not like each other, and on how they battle most of the time. These fights usually happen from one person getting mad at a person from a different family, some might fight from one liking a person and the person might have person that wants to be with them but they are not letting that happen.

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848 Words | 4 Pages

William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet, provides great foils for the main character, Romeo. Shakespeare includes many foils throughout his stories to make his character’s emotions, attitude, and characteristics more apparent. Romeo’s character traits, lovestruck, cowardness, and emotional are highlighted through his foils, best friend Mercutio, and enemy, Tybalt. Romeo’s foils help to make his character’s personality stronger and clear. One character trait that’s highlighted through Tybalt is Romeo’s complete awe and love for Juliet.

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Some say that opposites attract; in some cases they do and in some they do not. A foil is a character who is opposite of another character in order to highlight certain characteristics in both characters. An example of foils in a play that Shakespeare wrote, Romeo and Juliet, including rambunctious Tybalt and the tranquil Benvolio. Another example is the obnoxious funny Mercutio and the lovey dovey Romeo. Romeo and Juliet was a Shakespearean play written 1595 by William Shakespeare.

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Morality- Does Murder Define an Immoral Character? Throughout history, many scholars and common people alike have troubled themselves with the task of defining morality. What makes a human good or bad? It can be agreed that actions speak louder than words, so therefore committing crimes can show a person’s evilness.

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Dakotah Guzman Mr. John Blaszczak English IV: British Literature 1st Period December 2, 2014 Macbeth Motif: Final Foils as a motif in The Tragedy of Macbeth A foil, according to our textbook, is defined as “a minor character whose attitudes, beliefs, and behavior differ significantly from those of a main character.” (Glencoe Literature British Literature 319). The motive of a foil in a book is to bring attention to the imperfections of a main character and present an idea of the main character had they not had any of these flaws. Throughout William Shakespeare’s well-known tragic play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, the main character Macbeth was presented with many contrasting minor characters that serve the play as his foils.

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With the laws of Venice miles behind them, the characters of Othello seem to have entered a Hobbesian state of nature where anything is permissible so long as it furthers the individual interest. Indeed, upon arriving in Cyprus, the majority of the characters have lives that are “poor, nasty, brutish, and short” (Hobbes 76). Othello is the perfect illustration of the dangers of rhetoric. Iago exemplified the type of rhetoric that made the Greek demagogues threatening.

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To be a foil character, one must “contrast with other characters in order to highlight particular qualities of the other characters.” Throughout Hamlet, four prominent characters are foil characters to Hamlet: Laertes, Fortinbras, Horatio and Claudius. In many cases, Hamlet and the foil characters react differently for each other in varying situations but yet show similarities in their reactions. The relationship created between Hamlet and Laertes takes a shift from the beginning of the book towards the end.

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The concept of justice varies depending on the country, their cultures, and on individual people. Justice and mercy are important themes in The Merchant of Venice and are supported by quotes in the play; it is clearly seen that these two virtues cannot be achieved simultaneously. Justice calls for “an eye for an eye” and mercy asks for forgiveness and compassion towards the one who did wrong. Using examples from The Merchant of Venice, it can clearly be seen that these two human virtues can not be pursued at the same time. There are various definitions as to what justice truly is.

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709 Words | 3 Pages

In the story, “The Merchant of Venice,” there is a character named Shylock. Shylock is a Jewish citizen who lives in Venice, a place where Jewish people are one of the lowest class of citizens. This piece by Shakespeare creates this controversial character that can be viewed as a villain or victim. In this play, through the archetypal lense, we can see that Shylock is a villain because of his hatred and his desire for revenge. Some people may see Shylock as a victim because during the time period in which the story is wrote, jewish people were treated like animals and given nearly no rights or role in society.

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In Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Miller’s Tale” he uses symbolism as a literary element to create an underlying Christian theme that portrays the characters in the story as biblical figures. Each character of the story represents a different figure from the bible such as, Nicholas and Alisoun representing Adam and Eve, John the carpenter representing a Great Divine and Absolon representing The Devil. Throughout the story, there are many different aspects that highlight the Christian theme and allow the readers to truly see this interpretation. Throughout the story readers may recognize the alignment between Nicholas and Alisoun and Adam and Eve.

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726 Words | 3 Pages

Once again, Shakespeare was able to bring his characters to life. By blending love, emotion, tension and anticipation together, a masterpiece was created. Through his art work, a number of characters evolved. Julius Caesar was not only the main character, but he was a man made up of words, words of Shakespeare, that perfectly represented the three views that made him complete; the inner personality of Caesar, his physical traits and other characters' views of him. An important figure in Rome, a part of the ruling council and a great leader that was admired by all.

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I plan to dive deeper into the making of the Jew in this paper. The Merchant of Venice is a play spurred into action by love and to a far extent by hate. Hate has been associated usually with Shylock ,it was hate which made him exact revenge through his profession, however, evidence points it to all of the characters of the play. It was hate which made him exact revenge through his profession.

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1062 Words | 5 Pages

‘The Merchant of Venice’ written by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and ‘The Jew of Malta’ written by Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) were both written during a period when anti-semitism was prevalent in England. Anti Semitism is the intense dislike for and prejudice against Jewish people. The Jews were considered a despised race and were deeply resented by the Christians. They bore the plaque of disgrace and hostility. As a Jew, Shylock too faced such discrimination.

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