The Merchant Of Venice - Shylock: Villain Or Victim? Essay -- Merchant

Many people are villainous in the way they behave. Their villainous acts may be attributed to their desire to destroy others and in turn elevate themselves to a higher financial or social level. However, the root cause of their villainy may be a response to the treatment they have endured at the hands of others. In short, they have been taught villainy, rather than it being an integral part of their personality. In such instances, revenge can be a key motivator in inspiring them to act in a villainous way. It is on such occasions, where villains have themselves been exposed to villainy, that the distinction between villain and victim becomes blurred. Victims are usually characterised in the way that they are persecuted for circumstances, which are beyond their control for example their appearance. In plays and novels, the victim is sometimes a character included to highlight the prejudices and pre-conceptions of the social climate in which the play or novel was written. In the †˜Merchant of Venice’ it can be argued that Shylocks character undergoes a metamorphosis from villain to victim. However, in this essay I hope to discuss whether in fact Shylock can be defined as either villain or victim and to form an opinion of what Shakespeare intended. First we shall look at the aspects of the text that portray Shylock as a villain. We are first introduced to Shylock in Act I Scene iii where we learn of his usury. It is in this scene that Bassanio seeks Shylock out and asks to borrow money from him in Antonio’s name. Also in this scene do we learn of Shylock’s hatred for Antonio and the Christians: ‘ How like a fawning publican he looks! / I hate him for he is a Christian; ’ (Act I Scene iii) Shylock also displays elements of belligerence in his refusal to ever forgive the Christians. We also learn of his intent regarding Antonio’s life: ‘ If I can catch him once upon the hip, / I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.’ (Act I Scene iii) Shylock also shows himself to be devious and cunning by hiding his hatred beneath a faà §ade of friendship in order to entice Antonio to become indebted to him, not just with money but with his life. Antonio is very naà ¯ve regarding the terms of the bond taking the ‘pound of flesh’ clause to be a show of friendship not hatred: ‘ The Hebrew will turn Christian: he grows kind.’ (Act I Scene iii) Perhaps he receives the terms... ...uted among his sworn enemies. Although Shylock pursues his revenge fervently he still has the audience’s sympathy because of the unfair and harsh punishment he receives. It strikes a modern day audience as grossly unfair that the severity of his punishment reflects not his crime, but his race. He is a victim of the Christians’ intolerance of other races and ideas. In conclusion, I feel that ultimately Shylock is a villain. The way he treats those he is close to, for example his daughter Jessica exposes his vindictive and ultimately evil character. He lets his lust for vengeance engulf all other aspects of his life and his complete lack of mercy towards Antonio renders him a villain in the eyes of the audience. We can only guess at the way in which Shakespeare intended Shylock to be portrayed. I feel that Shakespeare intended Shylock to be victim, he was created to challenge the pre-conceptions and ideologies of the Elizabethan era. Having said this, I feel personally that it is not productive for us to simply categorise Shylock as either victim or villain. Through Shylock, Shakespeare explores the way in which the line between the oppressed and the oppressor can become blurred.

A View from the Bridge. By Arthur Miller Essay

A View from the Bridge is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play is set in 1950s America, in an Italian American neighborhood called Red Hook near the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. The main character of the play is Eddie Carbone, an Italian American longshoreman, who lives with his wife, Beatrice and an orphaned niece named Catherine. Eddie is Catherine’s uncle, but they are not blood-related. Eddie is very over-protective of Catherine and that he is almost possessive of her. He gets jealous very easily when other men look at Catherine. Eddie’s feelings for Catherine are very strong and he may also have sexual feelings for her. At the beginning of the play, Eddie and Catherine have a very intimate and happy relationship. Eddie has given her the best life he can afford, and in return Catherine loves and trusts him completely. However, their situation changes quite rapidly once Beatrice’s cousins arrive from Italy. After their arrival, a gap seems to form between Eddie and Catherine. Eddie gradually becomes obsessed with trying to stop destiny from changing his life. This obsession soon leads to the violation of every moral he has ever believed in. In Act I of the play, we see that Catherine has a desire to be noticed by Eddie. Her excitement when he arrives home is almost childlike. Catherine also has a desperate requirement of approval she seeks from her uncle. â€Å"You like it? I fixed it different. † Her thirst to be accepted by him seems unnatural. On the contrary Eddie seems to enjoy Catherine in need of his attention, as he continuously draws the topic of conversation back to her. The conversation turns from â€Å"†¦ He’s here B.! † from Catherine, to â€Å"Beautiful†¦Lemme see in the back† from Eddie. It is also that at this very early point in the play we might get suspicious of Eddie’s true feelings for Catherine. This is a result of his constant comments on her physical appearance. While Eddie’s references to her short skirt and her ‘ walkin’ wavy’, could just be a protective father’s worries about the attention she is getting from other men, his intentions are still questionable. When Catherine tells Eddie that she got offered a job, Eddied asks questions and becomes very over-protective, ‘Near the Navy Yard plenty can happen in a block and a half. And the plumbin’ company! That’s one step over the water front. They’re practically longshoremen. ’ Eddie knows that men are going to be looking at Catherine because longshoremen and sailors would be walking up the wards. He does not like the idea of her working in a place where there would be men, who he knows from his own experiences, could take advantage of his pure and innocent Catherine. Eddie shows that this is how he thinks of her, when he calls her ‘a Madonna’. The way in which Miller uses the word ‘Madonna’ is symbolic as just like the Virgin Mary, who most Catholics worship, in his own way Eddie does almost idolize and worship Catherine. When Eddie finally allows her to accept the job, Catherine’s reaction is very childlike in the way she does not control her emotions. She runs up to Eddie and hugs him. This shows the intensity of Catherine’s love and respect for Eddie. This is not only because of her reply to Eddie when he jokes about her leaving him, but because of the way she ‘grasps’ onto his arms, as she shouts out ‘no please! ‘ The very idea of going away from Eddie hurts her. The next scene is the arrival of Beatrice’s cousins, Marco and Rodolfo, who have entered the country illegally, hoping to leave behind hunger and unemployment for a better life in America. Marco is an exceptionally strong man, said by Eddie’s friends to be ‘a regular bull. ‘ He also has a starving family in Italy (a wife, and 3 sons, one with tuberculosis). Rodolfo is in his late 20’s, fair skinned, blond, and unmarried. After their arrival, Catherine starts showing interest in Rodolfo which makes Eddie jealous. Eddie notices this fascination and tries to pre-occupy Catherine with making coffee and other tasks. Later in the conversation when Rodolfo begins to sing ‘paper doll’, Eddie realizes that Catherine is impressed in him and decides that he has to stop him. He makes up the excuse, ‘Look, kid; you don’t want to be picked up, do ya? ’ Eddie says that if Rodolfo sings, people might hear him and he might get ‘picked up’ by the Immigration Bureau. This is just an excuse because Eddie does not want Rodolfo to be impressing Catherine. As the play progresses towards the end of the first act, Catherine and Rodolfo start to go out. As a result Eddie discusses with Catherine about her feelings towards Rodolfo to which she replies by saying, ‘Yeah. I like him’. Eddie is amazed by Catherine’s straightforwardness and as he dislikes Rodolfo, he poisons Catherine’s mind against Rodolfo and tried to turn her against him, by coming up with excuses such as, ‘He don’t respect you’. He says that Rodolfo did not ask him for permission to go out and is disrespecting him. When Catherine denies this, Eddie makes up yet, another excuse, ‘Katie, he’s only bowin’ to his passport’ which means that. Rodolfo is only going to marry her just so that he can become an American citizen, which deeply hurts Catherine and almost poisons her mind against Rodolfo. Towards the end of Act One, Eddie cleverly introduces the subject of boxing, which is fittingly a masculine activity for Eddie, and while pretending to teach Rodolfo how to box, he hits him in the mouth. Eddie believes that he can prove himself right to Catherine by fighting Rodolfo. For Eddie, this demonstrates to Catherine that Rodolfo is weak and feminine while he is the stronger and masculine one. When Rodolfo falls down, Catherine rushes to Rodolfo’s side which horrifies Eddie as he clearly sees where Catherine’s loyalties lie as she shouts ‘Eddie’, which displays her anger. Eddie was trying to put Rodolfo out of picture as he was ‘stealing’ Catherine away from him. Eddie then tells Rodolfo, ‘I’ll teach him again. ’ which could have a double meaning as it could mean another lesson in boxing, or a lesson not to go near Catherine again. This also shows that as the play is progressing, Eddie’s actions are becoming more aggressive. In conclusion, at the end of Act One, Eddie’s love for Catherine has become aggression towards Rodolfo. Eddie’s anger and stress is building up which is told to us by the stage direction of Eddie ‘unconsciously twisting the newspaper’. Here, Eddie is transferring his feeling of anger and frustration to the newspaper. He twists the paper into a tight roll and then bends it which suddenly tears in two. The newspaper represents Rodolfo and he is therefore tearing Rodolfo and getting rid off him. This is what Eddie actually wants to do to Rodolfo.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Written and Unwritten...

Identify and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of written and unwritten types of constitutions. A constitution is a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or organization is governed, especially when embodying the rights of subjects. A constitution sets out how all the elements of Government are organized and how power is carved up among different political units. It contains rules about what power is wielded, who wields it and over whom it is wielded in the governing of a country. As a kind of deal or contract between those in power and those who are subjected to this power, a constitution defines the rights and duties of citizens and the devices that keep those in power in check. A†¦show more content†¦In Argentina a state of emergency was declared 52 times to bypass constitutional guarantees. Non political judges are able to police the constitution to ensure that its provisions are upheld by other public bodies. The judiciary is unique in that it is not elected, but it is independent. Judges in Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the Commonwealth Caribbean are appointed by the various Judicial and Legal Service Commissions. As a result no one, especially a corrupt politician can interfere in the work of the constitutional courts. The constitution is protected by the legal bodies of the courts, such as the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Courts or the High Courts of the various countries. The responsibility of the court is to protect constitutionally established rights and freedom. Any constitutional violation by the executive, such as a politician who abuses the power of his established office can be held accountable in court. This was evident in Trinidad and Tobago, where many felt that the last Prime Minister, Patrick Manning abused the powers of his office, and on ma ny occasions was taken to court for judicial review. The German Constitutional Court is a special court dedicated solely to the protection of the constitution. Constitutional courts are powerful instruments of judicial review with the power to declare â€Å"unconstitutional† a law that is deemed incompatible with the constitution. France has aShow MoreRelatedAdvantages and Disadvantages of Written and Unwritten Constitutions3287 Words   |  14 PagesIdentify and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of written and unwritten types of constitutions. A constitution is a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or organization is governed, especially when embodying the rights of subjects. A constitution sets out how all the elements of Government are organized and how power is carved up among different political units. 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