“Stories make us more aware of how human imperfections shape the way composers represent human

experiences.” Critically analyse this statement with close reference to your prescribed text.

As representations of diverse human experiences, stories capture the complexity of human nature
which is stitched by a complex web of inconsistencies of paradoxes, human imperfections. Shakespeare
situates his play Merchant of Venice (1596), in Venice where religious stratification and inhuman
ghettoization perpetuated by Christians colludes with venture-capital. Shakespeare asserts that both
Christian and Jewish groups were motivated by a desire to maintain and gain power, resonating
particularly with his Elizabethan audience, institutionally separated by The Great Chain of Being.
Shakespeare represents the christian’s maintaining of power occurring through their formation of
transactional relationships and through their paradoxical subjugation of the Jewish minority through
which they undermine their own code of morality. By contrast, Shakespeare critiques this vilification
through his rehumanising portrayal of the jewish individual Shylock, who is emotionally galvanised to
gain power by his experiences of disparagement, yet antithetically parallels their behaviours. Thus,
Shakespeare encourages audiences to recognise the futility of separating themselves from others and to
rather recognise humanity as universally flawed with an inherent complexity which collectively levels us
as humans

Shakespeare illuminates the flawed nature of the christian’s implementation of morality, against which
they subjugate their jewish counterparts, as they dually undermine it themselves through the vilification
of the jewish minority and through the transactional relationships which they form. Shakespeare
illuminates incongruencies in the christian’s implementation of morality that subjugate their jewish
counterparts and maintain their power. The Christians’ vulgar use of invectives, such as Antonio’s
anthropomorphic ”cutthroat dog” in Act 1 Scene 1 and influx of derogatory adjectives throughout such
as ““villain,” “faithless,” “currish,” reflects their brutalising of him, empowering their dismissal of his
humanity and justification of their own diatribe. . Antonio discusses Bassanio’s loan with Shylock,
exhibiting disgust towards Shylock’s justifying of usury. Shakespeare’s use of apostrophe to “the devil”
as Antonio accuses Shylock of falsely appropriating the bible in, “Mark you..Bassanio,/The devil can cite
Scripture for his purpose,”  expresses the belief that the Shylock as a figure of evil however in turn
reflects Antonio’s power as part of the dominant christian group. While they condemn Shylock’s
practice, their hypocrisy is evident as Bassanio exploits the money which he gains within the wealth and
person of Portia–and in essence functions as a userer himself. This is evoked through Bassanio’s
introduction of Portia to Antonio as Bassanio is represented as highly rational first and foremost praising
her wealth in, “ a lady richly left,” use of financial jargon and classical allusion as he describes her as,
“nothing undervalued/To Cato’s daughter, Brutus’ Portia”, and the syntaxically positioning of this first
demonstrates that her material value is privileged before any other qualities within the highly
mercantile society. Shakespeare represents as money as inherently corroding the motivations of the
christians, through his representation of the unvirtuous, rather monetarily-motivated relationships they
develop in order to gain power. Thus, While the christians attempt to delineate themselves from their
jewish counterparts, in practice their behaviours directly contradict the values which they theoretically
uphold and which they utilise to justify their marginalising of the jewish collective, thus Shakespeare
highlights flaws inherent to the human condition.

By contrast, Through the dramatic aside of Act 1 Scene 3,Shylock utilises upon Antonio’s arrival to fix
Bassanio’s loan, he confesses his hatred for Antonio the audience is privy to Shylock’s motivation to seek
revenge.  Shylock’s feelings, must be conveyed in private, through the aside emphasising his own lack of
power. The use of gustatory imagery in, “If I catch him upon the hip/I will feed fat the ancient grudge I
bear him,” and fricatives, “feed fat” create a harsh, bellicose effect allow us to view Shylock’s hatred
from his own perspective and to draw sympathy with his human emotions, when his capacity to feel is
completely disregarded by the christians.  

Shakespeare represents Shylock galvanised, through his subjugating individual experiences of

vilification, paralleling his Christian counterpart's motivations fuelled by power yet in doing so he
parallels the behaviours of his tormentors themselves. Through depicting, Shylock’s emotional response
of deep seated vengeance and hatred fuelled by his individual experience, and as a motivator for his
attaining of power Shakespeare highlights that Shylock is not innately immoral, but rather a product of
his own experiences. This is seen in his open soliloquoy form where Shylock is directly addresses

in Act 3 Scene 1 where Shylock justifies his further insistence on attaining Antonio's flesh to satisfy the
terms of the bond. Shylock’s ability to express his thoughts openly is reflected through the use of
accumulating rhetorical questions and  repetition in, “If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do
we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die?”. Here, Shylock confronts the audience directly, as “if
you” directly addresses them as well as prevents the christian voice from dominating the discourse. In
doing so he directly interrogates the christian’s dehumanisation of jewish people as a collective and the
binaries which they construct to marginalise them, by suggesting that both christians and jews alike
share common human experiences.  Shylock further utilises the physical threat of his request for
Antonio’s threat, as part of the terms of the bond to exact a power over his christian oppressors, and in
doing so objectifies Antonio in the same way that he dehumanised him. His use of metaphor which
parallels Antonio's derogatory dehumanisation of Shylock  depicts Shylock’s attaining of power through
the use of bestial imagery in,   “ Speak not against my bond. Thou call’d me dog before thous hadst a
cause, But since I am a dog, beware my fangs``. The use of Antonio’s racial epithet, underscores that
Shylock exhibits the same cruelty as his christian oppressors. Furthermore, there is a role reversal here
compared to Act 1 of the play, where the use of the imperative, “speak not” expresses Shylock’s
commanding tone. His establishment of agency through enacting his exploitation of the legal system, in
turn jeopardises the life of his christian counterpart Antonio, therefore his insistence on Antonio’s
pound of flesh is a physical manifestation of Antonio’s own dehumanising verbal violence. Thus,
Shakespeare depicts how Shylock is anomalously empowered by the same denial of the christian’s
shared humanity, and his ability to express it outwardly, and ultimately enact it  establishes how
humanity is universally motivated by the desire to attain power and is thus commonly flawed. 

Shakespeare illuminates Shylock's loss of power as an individual coinciding with the Christian collective’s
reassertion of their power, the destructive repercussions of which represent the lacking moral integrity
of the dominant dominant group. Shakespeare highlights this through the juxtaposing the theocratic
extension of christian morality into venetian law, with the barbaric forced conversion of Shylock to
Christianity. Portia appeals to Shylock’s mercifulness, which is evoked using ethos and religious imagery
in, “The quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven,” yet simultaneously
asserting the way in which
“From here, she instills her argument with ethos and religious imagery to prove that “mercy is above”
the law of common men as it is “in the hearts of kings” who have a Divine Right to rule; hence, “it is an
attribute to God himself” which it expected that even a Jew must respect. Shakespeare depicts the
differences in these opposing experiences before revealing their similarities, but addresses the complex
nature of human behaviour by portraying Portia who contradicts the values of her Christian faith which
so obviously defines her identity.

. Portia is portrayed as a very meticulous planner, seen in the mischievous way she waits until the final
moment in the courtroom to strip Shylock of his identity. “Take thou thy pound of flesh, but in the
cutting it, if thou dost shed one drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods are … confiscate.” By using
ironic politeness in her condemning of Shylock, Portia marks the poignant climax moment of the play.
She uses the courtroom as a way to display her cruelty as she exacerbates Shylock’s humiliation by
prolonging the trial through her many attempts at persuading him to forfeit. While Portia appeals to the
contextual audience as a heroine who saved Antonio, a strong ironic tone is evoked by bringing to light
Portia’s paradoxical actions and values. She completely strips Shylock of everything his identity is
comprised of; his family and his religious identity, and has worked tirelessly for; his wealth and status.
The inconsistent nature of the relationship between the Christians’ values and their practice highlights
the complex nature of human behaviour, outlined through the hypocritical nature of individuals in

This is represented through the portrayal of Shylock’s loss of identity through his forced loss of wealth. 
Shylock’s initial reaction to the Duke’s declaration of Shylock’s punishment being his loss of wealth, “You
take my life/When you do take the means whereby I live,”reflects this. Here the use of the  where
Shylock draws the connection between his economic loss akin to his loss of life, as it is ultimately his
amassed fortune which provides him with status within the venetian society,  and thus his sole means of
agency within venetian society. Furthermore, Antonio’s imperative language as he further expresses
that, “For this favour/He presently become a christian,” reflects Antonio’s ironically further empowered
to actively strip Shylock of his religion, an intrinsic aspect of Shylock’s identity as a jewish zealot which is
ultimately demoralising to Shylock, as it rescinds his identity as part of the jewish collective, his “tribe”.
This is reflective of the christians’ cruelty which is further accentuated by the fact that Shylock’s
conversion to christianity is portrayed as a means of his moral salvation, his punishment expressed by
the duke as “a pardon” yet his defeat is paradoxically portrayed as a means of return to normalcy. It is
Shylock’s abuse of power through the which incurs the recompense of the christian, further establishing
their flawed moral code. 
 
Ultimately, Shakespeare presents a resounding message: humanity must relinquish it’s dogmatic search
for absolutist power in favour of acceptance of the inevitable flux and inconsistencies within the human
experience.

It is through this which Shylock confronts the christian paradigms which entrap him, yet paradoxically
exhibits the christian group’s own behaviours. Shylock’s accumulation of material wealth is the only
means through which he retains some semblance of power within mercantile Venice, hence are prized
before his relationships to individuals. This is evident through his overly protective treatment of Jessica,
through his use of imperatives, “Do as I bid you, and his emphasis on the anaphoric proverb, “Fast
bind/Fast find” coupled her a reflection of deep-seated paranoia of his possessions, and the cumulation
of his Through comparing himself to the prodigal son Bassanio highlights his own sense of entitlement
and Antonio’s obligation, in turn to provide unconditional financial support, as the forgiving father
figure, manipulating Antonio’s sense of filial duty towards him and convincing him to lend him money
despite being an undoubtedly shrewd merchant

emphasises the way in which Shylock equates

naphora,exclamation- impliesthatDuetohis loveof money,he dismisseshis- Venice:

commercialcity,valueofShylockregardshisdaughteranddaughter,inconsistenttothecollectivewealthmoney
tobe of equalimportance,andhumanexperienceof the importanceofhis
greedoutweighshislovecreatingfamilialbond

Shakespeare represents Shylock’s of vilification motivates his attaining of power, allowing him to
confront the christian paradigms which entrap him yet paradoxically exhibiting their behaviours. This is
represented through the way in which these individuals ar
 

Plan:

Question: do you suggest changing the order of the

Sort of a dilemma:
- If I talk about purely the christians in the first paragraph  that will diversify my point
more, however I will need to jump back into Act 1 of the play in the second paragraph
where they discuss Shylock
- If I talk about Shylock in the second paragraph, it becomes too repetitive in the
- Some Major construction work needs to happen with my argument:
- Convey the way in which the christians face
- Christians:
- Editing the way in which individuals convey their sense of fragmentation

Thus, Shakespeare critiques the façade of morality subsumed by the christians through invocation to
religion, against which Jews remain where the corroding of virtuous motivations towards love are a
testament to a disjunction between the values they uphold and their behaviours as they possess
inherent flaws.