Merchant of Venice: Response Project

         For my response project for the Merchant of Venice, Sage, Francesco, Xander and I created an alternate ending to the Merchant of Venice Court Scene. We filmed the court scene at my house, and we changed the ending of the story. 

I feel like the movie went really well. We spent a long time recording and putting it together and it was really great to see the final product. When we finished putting the movie together, it was longer than I expected it to be. I think the court scene was a bit long for the final length of the movie and the other parts were somewhat short. When writing the script these other scenes seemed that they would be an adequate length, but in the final video I thought they could have been longer. I really enjoyed making the movie and would definitely do it again. Editing the movie was time consuming, but I also really enjoyed doing this. I plan to look for more opportunities doing this in the future. 

Is the Play Anti-Semitic? Is All Bigotry Criticized?

For my final post about the Merchant of Venice I have decided to write about the discrimination not only towards Jews, but towards all different people. I’m also going to discuss whether the play is truly trying to convey an anti-semitic message. 

In the Merchant of Venice anti-semitism is clearly common, but there there are other instances of discrimination towards each side. For example, Portia mentions how she would never marry the Moroccan prince because he was black. The Christians are also criticized in Shylock’s speech.  It’s not completely clear if they play had an anti-semitic message because of all of these perspectives. If I was to make an assumption about the author without knowing who it was, I would think that it was someone who was very open minded, trying to convey a message about bigotry. It seems as if Shakespeare was pointing out bigotry during that time from all points of view. If the play truly had an anti-semitic message I believe that Shylock would not have been portrayed as the victim at any instance. Shylock’s words may be Shakespeare’s way of criticizing the prejudice against other races or religions.

The Merchant of Venice: Shylock's Punishment

As a modern audience, do you think that Shylock deserves the punishment that he receives? Why or why not? Also, how do you think an Elizabethan audience would have felt about this (would they have thought he deserves his punishment)? Why or why not?

     In the final scene, Shylock and Antonio went to court. Shylock was very determined to receive the pound of flesh from Antonio as agreed upon in the contract. Portia, disguised as a man, encouraged Shylock to show mercy,  but he did not. The main argument in this scene was "Justice versus Mercy." Shylock was going to kill Antonio, but Portia declared that he would have to do so without shedding a drop of blood. Shylock backed off, but he agreed to take the money instead. Portia and the Duke now rejected that, saying that he would have to face punishment. Shylock had his fortune taken away, and was forced to convert to Christianity.

     I don't think that this punishment was fair, judging from each character. Shylock was only seeking justice for what Antonio had done wrong. Shylock's actions were depicted as very horrid, but in reality, Antonio agreed to this punishment if he were to fail to pay back the loan. I think the punishment was justified in the book because he was a Jew. I think the Elizabethan audience would have been satisfied with this outcome. These people were generally against Jews. Everything Shylock had was gone, he was forced to convert to Christianity, and he would still be ridiculed by the anti-semitic people. Overall this seems like a very strong punishment for anyone, and seems that the Elizabethan people would agree that a Jew was deserving of this. Not only was Shylock punished harshly, but Antonio and others had a "Happy ending." Antonio's ships were actually not destroyed and the social order was restored. The Elizabethan audience likely would have been very satisfied with this ending.

The Merchant of Venice: Shylock's Speech

"On page 49 (Act 3, Scene 1) Shylock gives his speech that seems to be sympathetic to the plight of Jews ("I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes?..."). Considering the rampant anti-Semitism in the play, why do you think Shakespeare would have included this speech? How does it change what we think of Shylock? “

In this scene, Shylock’s character gives a speech essentially explaining that all people are human. He explains that a Jew “is fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, and warmed and cooled in the same winter and summer as a Christian…” This is a very powerful speech and the message of the speech itself goes against the anti-semitism which was prevalent at the time. This speech seems to allow the audience to sympathize with Shylock, even though he is using this message as reasoning for revenge. I think today’s audience might sympathize with him, but I don’t think that was the goal when Shakespeare wrote the play. Shylock is still depicted as the stereotypical greedy Jew throughout the play, and this small speech may have seemed like a positive message, but when reading the play in its entirety it doesn't seem like a positive message about Jews was the goal. For me, this speech from Shylock helped me understand what I consider as Shylock’s true character, not just a fictitious character who’s acts and words only support the writers intended message. While these are my beliefs, we still don’t know what Shakespeare’s true intentions were. Shakespeare could have truly been against anti-semitism, or he could have written it like this to allow for many different interpretations from different audiences.