The merchant of Venice is a book written by Shakespeare which was adapted as a movie in 2004.
The story is about a man, whose name is Bassanio, who needed money in order to go to meet Portia, a wealthy girl who was waiting for a man that could win her love. Bassanio asked for Antonio’s help. Antonio didn’t have any money so he decided to go to a money lender who turned to be Shylock, a man who days before was offended by Antonio because he was Jewish. At the end of the story Bassanio won Portia’s love and nor Bassanio or Antonio paid the debt they had with Shylock. Antonio went to court and Shylock claimed his pound of flesh. Portia dressed up as a man, defended Antonio and she won the case. She said Shylock could take his pound of flesh, but without make Antonio bleed. Shylock was only supposed to take Antonio’s flesh, but not his blood.
This entire story started because of an Anti-Semitism differences that was taking place during 1600. Antonio spat in Shylock’s face as a reaction against Jewish people. All the prejudice against the Jewish was bringing a lot of problems to the Jewish. They were not allowed to have the same jobs the rest had, so they were force to work as money-lenders. Antonio never believed he would need Shylock’s help. On the other hand Shylock was furious and he was going to took advantage of the first opportunity to take revenge on him. Antonio learnt his lesson earlier than Shylock. Antonio learnt his lesson and that is why he did not ended as bad as Shylock did. Shylock ended with nothing. He was punished for his need of revenge, and he not only lost the case against Antonio, but he also lost a big part of his goods.
A completely different relationship was the one between Antonio and Bassanio. It was absolutely amazing to see how the loyalty was presented here. I am not sure if Bassanio felt the same to Antonio, but it was pretty clear that for Antonio, Bassanio was like a son. Antonio was capable of giving his life in order to help Bassanio. The values that join Bassanio and Antonio were many, as an example we have; Solidarity, love, loyalty, honesty, etc. I believe Shakespeare was trying to reflect a lot of important values by using this relationship as an example of them.
It was shocking to see the character of Portia. During those days it was common to see that men were more important than women. In fact friendship among men was sometimes more important than their own wife. The personality Shakespeare gave to Portia was not common those days. Even though Portia was from the royalty it was clear that she not even control her own life. His father stipulated (before he died) that Portia will married with the man who choose the correct chest. Here we have an example of how Portia was not allowed to choose on her own. If Portia didn’t love the man who choose the correct was not important, she was supposed to obey his father’s will. At he end Portia was able to prove her intelligence and safe Antonio from a terrible death.
To finish I would say that the movie is good, but the book is much better. It is really interesting for me the character of Shylock. How greedy he was and how blinded he was because of the necessity of revenge. I learnt a lesson; I learnt to forgive my enemies and to help when I can. Shylock should have accepted the arrangement they had offered to him and everything would have ended in a completely different way. Selfishness would not lead us for a good road; on the contrary, it would make us be a bad person day after day.
The story is about a man, whose name is Bassanio, who needed money in order to go to meet Portia, a wealthy girl who was waiting for a man that could win her love. Bassanio asked for Antonio’s help. Antonio didn’t have any money so he decided to go to a money lender who turned to be Shylock, a man who days before was offended by Antonio because he was Jewish. At the end of the story Bassanio won Portia’s love and nor Bassanio or Antonio paid the debt they had with Shylock. Antonio went to court and Shylock claimed his pound of flesh. Portia dressed up as a man, defended Antonio and she won the case. She said Shylock could take his pound of flesh, but without make Antonio bleed. Shylock was only supposed to take Antonio’s flesh, but not his blood.
This entire story started because of an Anti-Semitism differences that was taking place during 1600. Antonio spat in Shylock’s face as a reaction against Jewish people. All the prejudice against the Jewish was bringing a lot of problems to the Jewish. They were not allowed to have the same jobs the rest had, so they were force to work as money-lenders. Antonio never believed he would need Shylock’s help. On the other hand Shylock was furious and he was going to took advantage of the first opportunity to take revenge on him. Antonio learnt his lesson earlier than Shylock. Antonio learnt his lesson and that is why he did not ended as bad as Shylock did. Shylock ended with nothing. He was punished for his need of revenge, and he not only lost the case against Antonio, but he also lost a big part of his goods.
A completely different relationship was the one between Antonio and Bassanio. It was absolutely amazing to see how the loyalty was presented here. I am not sure if Bassanio felt the same to Antonio, but it was pretty clear that for Antonio, Bassanio was like a son. Antonio was capable of giving his life in order to help Bassanio. The values that join Bassanio and Antonio were many, as an example we have; Solidarity, love, loyalty, honesty, etc. I believe Shakespeare was trying to reflect a lot of important values by using this relationship as an example of them.
It was shocking to see the character of Portia. During those days it was common to see that men were more important than women. In fact friendship among men was sometimes more important than their own wife. The personality Shakespeare gave to Portia was not common those days. Even though Portia was from the royalty it was clear that she not even control her own life. His father stipulated (before he died) that Portia will married with the man who choose the correct chest. Here we have an example of how Portia was not allowed to choose on her own. If Portia didn’t love the man who choose the correct was not important, she was supposed to obey his father’s will. At he end Portia was able to prove her intelligence and safe Antonio from a terrible death.
To finish I would say that the movie is good, but the book is much better. It is really interesting for me the character of Shylock. How greedy he was and how blinded he was because of the necessity of revenge. I learnt a lesson; I learnt to forgive my enemies and to help when I can. Shylock should have accepted the arrangement they had offered to him and everything would have ended in a completely different way. Selfishness would not lead us for a good road; on the contrary, it would make us be a bad person day after day.
