Merchant of Venice Comparison of the Marriage Plot and...

It is worthwhile to take a close look at the marriage and trial plots in The Merchant of Venice. The antagonists of the respective plots have similar goals; they seek access to power and privilege. However, the types of power they seek is very different. The methods they use of gaining power are also differ. Bassanio succeeds with his intent, but Shylock fails. Focusing on the before mentioned plots, one may draw some conclusions concerning the reasons of success and failure in this play. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Let us look at the marriage plot. Already in I,i Bassanio reveals his plans of wooing Portia. He describes his undertaking as a quest; her sunny locks/ Hang on her temples like a†¦show more content†¦And if he fails in his quest, he is barred from the company of Portia and he is barred from access to the elite. But Bassanio does not fail. So what were the means to his success? Again, according to Whigham, Bassanio succeeds because he is (consciously or subconsciously) aware of the language and outer credentials of style that Portia relates to. Bassanio shares Portias assumptions and views of the world, and is therefore able to choose the right casket by using their shared credentials of style. By denouncing gold and silver Bassanio gains access to gold and silver (i.e. the wealth of Portia). By scorning choices based on style, he uses a certain mode of style to get what he wants. His rhetoric and his goals are not exactly in concord, but he gets what he wants; wealth and access to the elite. If we look at the trial plot, it is quite clear that Shylock also wants power. But he does not want to be included into Christian society, he seeks power over it. His reasons, although obscure to the Venetians of the play, are not incomprehensible. Antonio has tried to ruin his business (I, iii, 39-40) and in view of the treatment he has been given of the Christians of the play (I, iii, 106-123), it is natural that he might find his position somewhat undeserving and even worthy of revenge. Shylocks means of getting in power are different than Bassanios. Shylock is trying to defeat the system by using the system. He does not want toShow MoreRelatedSympathizing with Shylock in William Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice1596 Words   |  7 PagesSympathizing with Shylock in William Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice In the Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare creates an atmosphere throughout the play, which causes the audience to sympathize with Shylock. Shakespeare uses key events, and dialogue to influence the audience. At the time Shakespeare wrote his plays, and they were performed, the contemporary audience would have mainly consisted of Christians. Jews were often persecuted, as they were the minority.Read MoreA Picatrix Miscellany52019 Words   |  209 Pagesmake a digression on overt and covert meaning and the relation of this distinction to the psychology of cognition. The various ways of knowing God are given as an example. Parts of the argument are to be found in a minor work by al-Gazzà ¢là ®. The comparison, frequent in Islamic literature, between the incomprehensibility of God and the intolerable brilliance of light, is used by way of illustration (pp.177-79). This is followed by speculation as to the reason why, of the twenty-eight letters of the