Shylock, one of the most prominent characters in Merchant of Venice, acts as a comedic figure, a villain, and one who readers can feel sympathy towards. His Jewish background makes him an easy target for comedy and to be a villain, however, Shakespeare uses that to show how horrible Jewish people were treated in the Elizabethan times.
As a comedic figure, his greedy nature makes him one that can easily be picked on. After Shylock had just lost his runaway daughter as well as some of his fortune to a Christian, he goes about the streets and yells about his ducats as well as his daughter. He shouts many more times about his ducats than his daughter, however, making this a humorous scene.
Shylock plays the villain the majority of the time in Merchant of Venice. He has waited to seek revenge and finally has the chance. When Antonio is not able to complete the bond, Shylock is begged to show mercy but stands on his bond. In Act 3 Scene 3, Shylock states, “I’ll have my bond. Speak not against my bond. I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond. Thou call’dst me dog before thou hadst a cause…The Duke shall grant me justice…”
Since Shylock is a Jew, and Elizabethans did not think highly of them, he takes a lot of criticism. When speaking with Antonio, he states, “Signior Antonio, many a time and oft…you call me misbeliever, cutthroat dog, and spet upon my Jewish gabardine.” Antonio returns with saying, “I am as like to call thee so again, to spet on thee again, to spurn thee, too.” The general behavior towards Shylock from others makes readers feel for him. He is a man that is disliked because of his religion, which is a sad reason to single him out.
January 16, 2009
So far in Merchant of Venice, anti-Semitism has been prevalent and the Christians of the time treat the Jewish as if they were not people. Shakespeare gives us a peek into the Elizabethan days where being Jewish was not a pleasant religion to be associated with. Shakespeare is not Jewish and is a product of his time. In Merchant of Venice, he both challenges and reinforces stereotypes. He adds comic relief into his play by making fun of the Jewish using Shylock and his greed for money. Anti-Semitism is shown all through the play by the Christians and it reinforces the stereotype of the Jewish. However, Shakespeare gives Shylock a voice which challenges all of the negativity towards the Jews. In Shylock’s speech he speaks about how people are all the same. (Do we not all eat the same, speak the same, bleed the same…) He also has Shylock asking for justice and being allowed to seek his revenge. By giving Shylock that voice he challenges the Christians and also the stereotype. Of course in the end, Shylock loses the justice he was seeking because Shakespeare was writing this in the time where the Jewish were not social equals to the Christians. Even though Shakespeare was not Jewish and lived in the time where Jewish were so poorly treated, he wrote this play and brought out the fact that Jewish people are the same as Christians and made people aware of the poor treatment. He danced on the top of a serious situation of human rights and did it in a comedic way so people would not be angry with the fact that he states that the Jewish are like the Christians.
January 13, 2009
A. Antonio is a merchant who invested in ships and his friend Bassanio has come to ask for money so he can go get Portia to marry. Antonio’s money is tied up in the ships, so they go to Shylock, the Jew and make a bond for 3000 ducats.
B. Argosies: Large merchant ships.
Vailing: Lowering
Gudgeon: A fish said to swallow anything.
C. 1. Why did Bassanio not marry Portia when he saw her last?
2. Will Antonio lose all of his money in the ships?
3. Why is Shylock so creepy?
January 5, 2009
A. Mona and Jonah are down in the shelter as tornadoes and ice-nine are destroying the world above them. Jonah turned to the books of Bokonon for spiritual comfort and then to Mona. They continue to be stuck down there for 7 days and the tornadoes have now moved up half of a mile, so they finally exit the hole and explore around above ground. They came to a place where all of the people of San Lorenzo were sitting in boko-maru and frozen from ice-nine facing the middle of a clearing. In the clearing was a rock that had a note writted by Bokonon on it. Mona asked if Jonah would want any of those people back, he was too slow to answer and she touched her lips and died. Then, Newt and the Crosby’s came and found Jonah and took him to their taxi that was spared from the storm. Frank survived too and they all live together in an igloo-like creation and as they live there for the next 6 months, they all start to go a little crazy. Newt and Jonah take a car ride to find Newt some paints, and Jonah discusses how he should die. Just then they pass Bokonon who sitting on the side of the road on a rock and wrote about how he would die.
B. Mitigate: to lessen in force or intensity, as wrath, grief, harshness, or pain; moderate.
Oubliette: a secret dungeon with an opening only in the ceiling, as in certain old castles.
Sordid: morally ignoble or base; vile: sordid methods.
C. 1. How did Bokonon survive?
2. Will all man die since there are so few left?
3. Does Bokonon die after he writes his last sentence?
December 14, 2008
A. Frank, Angela, Newt and Jonah all are cleaning up the ice-nine mess when Jonah asks them about the Christmas their father died. They tell the story of Newt and Frank wandering and finding a lab and bringing it back as their father had been messing with ice-nine in the kitchen. When they got home, their father was laying in his wicker chair as they found food for the dog, and Newt discovered ice-nine first as he threw a rag into a pot with some in it. The rag froze and then the dog also froze. They later found their father, also frozen. When they finished cleaning, they went to go watch Minton deliver his speech and give the wreath away. Minton did not read over his prepared speech, but spoke truthfully about how stupidity and mankind killed the men/children that they were celebrating for. One of those children was his son, and he read a poem by Edgar Lee Masters. One of the planes went down and crashed causing rock slides all over, and down went the Minton’s together and to the sea. Out fell Papa and the sea turned into ice-nine. Chaos was everywhere and Jonah and Mona took shelter in a bomb shelter that Papa had.
B. Pomp: stately or splendid display; splendor; magnificence.
Reticule: a small purse or bag, originally of network but later of silk, rayon, etc.
Charwomen: a woman hired to do general cleaning, esp. in an office or large house.
C. 1. Why did the plane crash? Just from regular engine failure?
2. Did the angel figure in the poem Minton read have to do anything with the angel sculpture earlier?
3. Are Jonah and Mona the only survivors from the whole ice-nine/tornado explosion?
December 11, 2008
A. Mona does Boko-maru with everyone since she believes that love is for everyone and Jonah started to demand that she do nothing only if it is with him. Jonah settled to take her religion, and they got married and he accepted becoming the next president. On a drive to get Papa’s blessing, Jonah finds out from Frank that the only sacred thing to Bokononists is man. They arrive at Papa’s and Jonah walked by the hook that was labled just for Bokonon himself. Papa saw Jonah and then Dr. VH did the last rites for him, however, he did not die just then. Papa also told Jonah to really kill Bokonon and teach the people truth and science with Frank. At the gathering to give away the wreath and announce his presidency, Jonah wanders off after getting sick and runs into the Dr. who takes him to see Papa. Papa died from taking ice-nine and now is a marble-like statue. Next to die of ice-nine was the Dr. Frank had givent the ice-nine to Papa for his job, Angela to her husband, and Newt to the Russian midget.
B. Cetacean: belonging to the Cetacea, an order of aquatic, chiefly marine mammals, including the whales and dolphins.
Machicolation: an opening in the floor between the corbels of a projecting gallery or parapet, as on a wall or in the vault of a passage, through which missiles, molten lead, etc., might be cast upon an enemy beneath.
Crenel: any of the open spaces between the merlons of a battlement.
C. 1. Why would Frank buy his way to a job by giving Papa something as dangerous as ice-nine?
2. How did the ice-nine not crystallize everything?
3. Why did Newt throw up? Doesn’t he know the effects of ice-nine and how to fix it like Frank does?
December 10, 2008
A. When talking with Julian Castle, Jonah finds out that San Lorenzo is made up of Bokononists and that it was agreed between McCabe and Bokonon to separate so there are two sides- good and bad. Later, Angela, Jonah, Newt and Castle sat around drinking and Angela was begged to play her clarinet which is the one thing that gives her true happiness. Then, Frank calls Jonah and alerts him of something that he needs to tell him, so Jonah meets up with Frank. Frank then tells Jonah that he wants him to become the next President of San Lorenzo. The only catch is that he should marry Mona, which leaves Jonah quite excited…
B. Chagrin: a feeling of vexation, marked by disappointment or humiliation.
Apoplexy: a sudden, usually marked loss of bodily function due to rupture or occlusion of a blood vessel.
Lechery: unrestrained or excessive indulgence of sexual desire.
C. 1. Why did Angela and Newt grab their ice-nine when the blackout happened?
2. Why did Frank choose Jonah to become the president?
3. Why does Newt always say see the cat, see the cradle?
December 10, 2008
A. Jonah continues to read the manuscript and looks through the index under Mona, and finds out that Mrs. Minton can see people by the type of index they write. She tells Jonah about Mr. Castle and he reads on more about the history of San Lorenzo. McCabe and Johnson wanted to make San Lorenzo a utopia, and Johnson created a new religion (Bokonism). The plane finally landed and they were greeted by Papa Monzano as well as Frank and Mona and people from San Lorenzo. Papa gave an introduction but then passed out from pains he was having, soon after he gained a little consciousness and told Frank that he was to be the next President of San Lorenzo. Later, Jonah and the Crosbys were taken to their hotel where a man was painting a mosaic. It was the son of Julian Castle and owned the hotel. Jonah gets his room and catches painters doing a Bokonist ritual in a couple rooms down from him. He assures them that he will not turn them in and then he gets a phone call from Frank to come visit him right away. He goes to Frank’s house and finds Newt outside with a painting of a cat’s cradle. Then Frank, Angela and Julian Castle come outside and discuss the painting just before Mr. Castle chucks it over the side of the balcony.
B. Tumid: wollen, or affected with swelling, as a part of the body.
Paltry: idiculously or insultingly small: a paltry sum.
Feculent: full of dregs or fecal matter; foul, turbid, or muddy.
C. 1. Why did Newt call his father the ONLY father of the atomic bomb?
2. Why is Mr. Castle’s hotel the only place where people are practicing Bokonism eventhough it is against the law?
3. Why did Julian Castle throw Newt’s painting over the balcony?
December 8, 2008
A. After finding that he was related to the people with the Angel sculpture, Jonah stops by a hobby shop where Frank used to work. He gets a picture of who Frank was by the owner of the shop, and they discuss the gangsters that killed him. Later on Jonah comes to find that Frank is still alive and in San Lorenzo. He takes a plane to San Lorenzo and meets the new ambassador and his wife as well as two other characters. The ambassador has the history of San Lorenzo and lets Jonah read it. It gives an overview of Bokonon and the history and while Jonah is reading, the plane picks up more people who are then revealed as Newt and Angela. He speaks with them and finds out that Frank is getting married to Mona Monzano, the “love of his life.”
B. Cadaverous: of or like a corpse
Nihilistic: total rejection of established laws and institutions.
Debauch: to corrupt by sensuality, intemperance, etc.; seduce
C. 1. Will Newt and Angela find out that Jonah knows about Ice-Nine before they get off of the plane?
2. Why is Mona Jonah’s love of his life?
3. Why did Frank give up his citizenship and go out to San Lorenzo?
December 7, 2008
