Answer TWO of the following:
Q1: In Act V, Barabas tells the audience, “Thus, loving
neither, will I live with both,/Making a profit of my policy” (331). In the
same way, Shylock does business with Christians, though admits in an aside, “I
hate him for he is a Christian” (29). Does Shylock seem to have the same
reasons for his “policy” with the enemy? Is he doing it simply to make money,
or are hints of revenge woven into his cloth?
Q2: The Merchant of Venice exploits prose far more
than any previous play in class. Discuss a passage where a character (or
characters) venture into prose from poetry. Why is this? How does it help us
understand the relationship between these characters, and when do they resume
speaking in iambic pentameter?
Q3: Antonio has nothing but contempt for Shylock, as we see
in his response, “I am as like to call thee so again,/To spet on thee again, to
spurn thee, too.” (35). How might this interaction help us understand why
Ferneze turns on Barabas in Act V, ultimately betraying him to the Turks and
boiling him alive in a cauldron?
Q4: In Act One, Scene Two of The Merchant of Venice,
we get the first scene in any of our plays where only women speak (not counting
the brief appearance of the Serving Man). In this play, what makes the women
stand apart from the men? How does he characterize their language and
relationship? Related to this, why would we never mistake this scene for a
passage in Marlowe?
3. Possibly because neither characters enjoy dealing with someone who would (and has) sold them out before based solely on profit. Those that fancy themselves incredibly moral usually don't have much patience for those that are decidedly NOT moral. Why keep a traitor who can, and will, betray you again if given half the chance and a smidge of a reason to?
ReplyDelete4. Well, for one, women are actually talking. And having a conversation that propels the plot forward, which isn't exactly a hallmark of Marlowe. Their language is also rather poetic but casual at the same time. It's easy to imagine them just relaxing and talking about 'would be' suitors. We also get a mild complain about how difficult her position is. She can't marry a man unless they pass her father's test, but she can't refuse them either, because as a woman, she doesn't have the social or legal agency to do so. If it was a man, there wouldn't even be an issue, because they get to choose, women typically do not. Not without serious repercussions, of course.
What's amusing about Act 5 is that Ferneze's portrayal seems quite underhanded and nasty, especially since Barabas, for all his crimes, truly offered him mercy. He was in a position of complete power, but relinquished it to restore Malta to its glory. While you can't exactly sympathize with Barabas, to have him betrayed like this makes Ferneze and his crew look despicable and ends the play on a very weird note. While the audience of the time might have seen this as a villain getting his just deserts, it just seems like evil wins in the end and the cycle will be repeated, over and over again.
DeleteDaniel Bonar
ReplyDeleteQ1: While Shylock’s actions reflect the policy of Barbaras, his motives are different in that he holds the Jew’s history of religious persecution against people of different faiths than his. In act 1 scene 3 Barbaras says that he hates Antonio because he is a Christian and he “hates our sacred nation” (31) and therefore it’s Shylock’s perceived duty to undermine and prey on the ‘gullible Goyem’- if you will. So while Shylock doesn’t kill for a living or go out of his way (so far) to inconvenience the infidel, he does get his revenge in the form of financial debauchery.
Q3: The scene that takes place on page 35 perfectly explains why Ferneze turns on Barbaras because it gives us some insight into the day to day interactions that the Non believing populous of the ancient world had with Jews. Xenophobia has long been rampant and the days of Shakespeare were no different. Anti-Semitism seems almost synonymous with Europe and Shakespeare makes it clear that The Merchant was not exempt from these notions. The Christians and Muslims hated the Jews and the Jews weren’t exactly fond of the Goyem, either.
Yes, unlike Barabas, her refuses to indulge in comical revenge which could undermine his position in society. He's not a criminal ,after all, but someone who uses the law to his advantage. Christians weren't allowed to practice usury, only Jews, so he excelled in this role until even Christians had to acknowledge him. And now he's all too willing to play on their greed and pride to get his revenge--in this case, on his true foe, Antonio, who he hates even more than bagpipes! (see Act 4).
DeleteElyse Marquardt
ReplyDeleteQ2: I think it is really interesting that the characters speak in prose when they are close friends. In Act 1, scene 2, Portia and her maid servant spend practically the entire scene discussing intimate details of Portia’s life in prose. This reminds me of the scene in “As You Like It” when the two main women are bemoaning the banishment of Rosalind’s father. Shakespeare has several scenes like these in his plays, when close secrets are being shared or serious bonding moments are occurring. In all these scenes, prose is used to show the intimacy of the moment and to show how close the two characters are growing. They always resume speaking in iambic pentameter when other people are around and a more formal atmosphere is required.
Q4: This scene is so important because it shows the close relationship between the two women. They stand apart from the men because they are given so much “screen time,” where the spotlight is put on them and on their personalities. They are characterized through the prose that Shakespeare gives them, which shows the more personal parts of their lives better than any formal poetry could do. It shows their close relationship, and it also reveals the secret aspects of their characters. Marlowe would never do this because he is more focused on the caricature. He likes to exaggerate one aspect of a person and make that become the identifying factor. But Shakespeare enjoys showing the complex sides of a person, revealing them to the audience as a human being worth listening to.
Elyse Marquardt
Oh yes, good connection--this is straight from As You Like It, and Portia has a lot of Rosalind in her. In fact, both plays are comedies, too, so it might be interesting to compare them, since they don't feel like the same kind of play. What makes Portia's role in this play different, since in this play she also dresses up like a man to win the day? How is the manner of her victory different, and how does also have to woo and win her husband in a different fashion? But I think by meeting Portia in prose, we get an unvarnished look at her character without artifice, as she would have looked behind closed doors.
DeleteQ1. I think that, similar to Barabas, Shylock is forced into the stereotypical role of a Jew. Because this role is low class and seen as dirty he is in it to be the best, and receive at much money as possible because it is his only choice, but also to seek revenge for the people who treat him as less than anyone else because of the role he is forced to fill. We see this clearly as he speaks to Antonio, getting heated and eventually talking down to someone who is higher than him in society.
ReplyDeleteQ3. I think that this scene is also playing with the stereotypes of being a Jew and what people expect of you if you are in that role. While Marlowe's Barabas is a money hungry stereotype, Shylock is not only in it for the money, but revenge, and is perhaps for that reason more of a threat and more dangerous in Antonio's eyes, as well as to the audience.
Yes, even from Act 1, you can see the role society places Shylock in, even though he tries to smile and look the other way (even if he sneers in private). But unlike Barabas, he doesn't want to plot revenge in secret; he wants his revenge to be lawful and upheld by society. Against all odds, he's become a person of power in Venice, and he can finally see a way to do in his rival. But note that instead of poisoning him as Barabas is, he plays on his pride and his love. And once in his net, he never lets go...it's the first time he's tasted revenge and wants to hold onto it (to his doom, alas).
DeleteQ2: There are several passages that show characters that speak in prose, which is surprising to me. However, there were scenes that showed characters going from prose to poetry. The one that stood out the most to me occurred in Act 1 Scene 1, around line 120. Bassiano starts speaking to Antonio in prose after Gratiano and Lorenzo leave. He's basically beating around the bush. Antonio doesn't, and demands what he was to be told about some girl, in verse. This kind of pushes Bassiano back, and he switches right back to verse. I think it helps us understand Antonio and Bassanio's relationship better - it gives us insight that they are pretty good friends, but when Antonio responds back in verse, we are left with the inclination that he's upset with Bassanio.
ReplyDeleteQ4: Like you said in class today, the women are definitely my favorite characters in the play. I always love to see the molded role of the women broken in plays. These women not only get an entire scene to themselves, they use that scene to bash and make fun of men! (My favorite thing to do...I'm joking). Anyways,it breaks the mold in that way, but also in the language. These two women, mistress and servant, are speaking prose to each other. Because they are, this gives us, as reader's, an insight to their relationship. They are best friends - almost like sisters. I don't think, even in an alternate universe, we would see something like this in Marlowe. For one - the women are actually getting lines. The only time a woman gets lines in Marlowe is when they're being ordered around or talked down to.
Yes, the manner of speech always indicates the social class and the relationship of the characters. So when it changes abruptly, that says something about the dynamic between the characters. I love that Antonio speaks verse to him, as if to keep him on a more formal level, OR to show displeasure. Note how quickly Bassanio follows suit and changes his language to match him! I think he was hoping they could be casual, but realizes that he's going to have to work for his money!
DeleteQ3: First of all, it should not be overlooked that Ferneze was Christian, and Barabas was the perfect portrayal of the stereotypical Jewish man. The stereotype used in the Jew of Malta, paints Jews as greedy tight-wads who will do anything to hold on to as well as make more money. They’re made out to be despicable and even murderous, (Barabas does not help his peoples’ cause, seeing that he is all of those things). So, other than the fact that these are two instances of the age-old disputes and rivalries between people of the Christian and Jewish faith, I believe that Ferneze sees Barabas for the liar that he is, and doesn’t want to make a deal with him, because he believes that could have just as well turned on him, like he planned to do to Calymath.
ReplyDeleteQ4: The very fact that this play includes a scene strictly between women is unique to the work of William Shakespeare. Some believe Shakespeare to be the first male feminist of his time, or the closest to one that he was able to be. Shakespeare takes this scene, and allows something very informal and casual to take place through the women’s conversation. It’s almost relieving. It’s just two girls having a conversation about potential suitors. That’s something we can all relate to.
Yes, in the end, Christians have more in common with Muslims than with Jews (according to the audiences' beliefs), so it was natural that they would turn on Barabas. Even though Barabas is morally compromised, it was still a dirty thing to do, especially since Barabas is able to offer mercy in a way that Shylock (a much more likable character) was never able to do. But this also sets the stage for Act 1 of The Merchant of Venice, where we see the natural antagonism between Shylock and Antonio. But here, is it Antonio who refuses to relent and says, basically, "I'll continue to spit on you, Jew, even if you do give me this loan."
DeleteQ2: Shylock and Bassiano use prose to converse. This could be for several reasons; the first being that they are lower class citizens. However, we can immediately remove this option because we know that Bassiano is not lower class, and technically, neither is Shylock because of his wealth. We can only assume they speak this way because they are close friends. My initial reaction was that Shylock and Bassiano are using prose to merely act friendly in order to close a deal.
ReplyDeleteQ4: This scene is utterly shocking, not because the only characters involved are women, but the women are bashing men. This was also seen as voyeuristic because of the intimacy between the women. This conversation is in prose, meaning that it is not meant to be shared with anyone other than the two women, thus, making it feel slightly taboo for the audience to be hearing it. A good analogy would be reading the private letters between two best friends, especially if the letters contained gossip. This entire scene is uniquely Shakespearian; Marlowe never allows women to be this “independent”.
Maybe they aren't friends per se, but they are familiar: it shows that Bassanio knows the Jewish quarter quite well, as he needs to borrow money quite often. So for Shakespeare's audience, it might make us not trust him completely--unlike Antonio, who never consorts with such people. However, this is also a play that gives much more dignity to Shylock than they would expect; and even Bassanio comes out ahead of Antonio by Act 4, I think. So the language is a way of setting us up, but like the women in scene 2, it also shows people not acting, but simply being natural in one another's company. This is a new kind of realism that Shakespeare strove for, rather than the more theatrical, over-the-top aspect of Marlowe.
DeleteQ2: In Act 1, Scene 1, there are a few pages of poetry in which Antonio, Lorenzo, Bassanio, and Gratiano all dialogue with one another about trading expeditions and Bassanio's request for money to travel and marry Portia. It's a scene between four seemingly aristocratic men, trading wits and stories. However, after two of the men leave, Bassanio moves swiftly into speaking prose with Antonio. This suggests a movement of ease and familiarity between the two men - at least on one side. In this moment, Bassanio appears to let his guard down as he allows himself to use his language to be himself rather than play a role of intelligence and charisma as he once did in his poetry. Shakespeare seems to do this to nod towards the underlying intimacy between Bassanio and Antonio. However, Antonio uses this moment to keep his guard up and continues to speak in poetry, almost as an indicator of putting an emotional wall between him and Bassanio, who quickly puts back on his "face" and speaks to Antonio is iambic pentameter as well for the remainder of the scene.
ReplyDeleteQ4: So far, in what we have read in Act 1, the women of The Merchant of Venice are different from the women in any of the other plays we have read and different from the men in the play itself due to the fact that they seem to only speak in prose - indicating that they are "real" and not speaking only to prove their role and social status like the men have been. Portia speaks pages of prose to her servants as we assume her intimacy with them as well as Portia's own authenticity. Portia isn't the goddess they speak of scene 1, and she also isn't the poor, voiceless victim we've seen in the past. She's an outspoken human being who doesn't seem to care about what is expected of her, defying the stereotypical daughter of the Roman empire.
Shelby Pletcher
Yes, this is the first real theatrical woman we've seen so far in the plays, which is all the more fascinating since it would be played by a young boy/teenager. And yet she is not the stereotype they make her out to be elsewhere in Act 1, and by Act 5, it's clear who really runs the show in this play! Her ability to master prose and verse shows us her total command of the play, and suggests that she can play many roles and be whoever she needs to be (which comes in handy when she disguises herself as a young man in Act 4).
Delete