The Merchant of Venice Group at eNotes

The moral of the play Merchant of venice does not confine to a single...

Thu, 15 May 2008 09:58:51 PST

The moral of the play Merchant of venice does not confine to a single moral message but it gives us numerous messages on the following:Friendship: the beautiful message that william shakespeare has portrayed through the friendship of Antonio and Bassanio proves that a true friend remains by your side when he himself is in credit he does his best to help his friend.

It seems to me that the moral of the story can be summed up with...

Sun, 11 May 2008 09:14:35 PST

It seems to me that the moral of the story can be summed up with Portia's famous speech to the court and to Shylock:The quality of mercy is not strained.It droppeth as the gentle rain from heavenUpon the place beneath. It is twice blest:It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomesThe throned monarch better than his crown.His scepter shows the force of temporal power,The attribute to awe and...

What is the moral of "The Merchant of Venice"?

Sun, 11 May 2008 00:48:25 PST

What is the moral of "The Merchant of Venice"?

Like Portia and Bassanio, Nerissa and Gratiano are in love and get...

Thu, 1 May 2008 09:39:42 PST

Like Portia and Bassanio, Nerissa and Gratiano are in love and get married during the play. The eNotes study guide describes the two marriages as "almost a mirror image":Nerissa imitates the actions and embraces the values of her mistress. In the copycat wedding of Nerissa and Gratiano and in the parallels of the ring subplot, The Merchant of Venice offers a lesson in Elizabethan social conduct: lower-class persons should mimic...

What is the relationship between Nerissa and Gratiano in "The...

Thu, 1 May 2008 07:15:41 PST

What is the relationship between Nerissa and Gratiano in "The Merchant of Venice"?

how does the prince of morroco othered by portia?

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 08:50:02 PST

the prince f morroco is a black unlike other poeple in venice so, they look at him as being different from them

What kind of relationship does Bassanio and Portia have? And what type...

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:43:10 PST

What kind of relationship does Bassanio and Portia have? And what type of problems they had?

The Merchant of Venice can be considered a comedy an older sense of the...

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:05:02 PST

The Merchant of Venice can be considered a comedy an older sense of the word: all the characters we're supposed to be rooting for get married and grow wealthy, and they live, as far as we know, happily ever after. There are also some funny or potentially funny sections of the play, as well as sections that would have seemed funnier to a period audience than they might today: the insults, the disguises, the contest with the caskets, the...

Discuss the aspect of comedy in The Merchant of Venice.

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 06:56:16 PST

is merchant of venice a comic play?

He's the right choice in two key ways: Portia clearly favors him,...

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:35:10 PST

He's the right choice in two key ways: Portia clearly favors him, showing the possibility of love, and he demonstrates that his mind works like her father's, showing the likelihood of a match of characters. In that he's superior to the suitors we're shown.That said…he's a pretty weak match. Look at how quickly he essentially abandons his promises to her later in the play. The only way he's the right choice is in a doubly rigged game: in a...

In "The Merchant of Venice," do you agree that Bassanio is the...

Sat, 5 Apr 2008 08:50:17 PST

In "The Merchant of Venice," do you agree that Bassanio is the right choice as Portia's husband? Compare him to the other suitors.

Revenge, hate, pure and simple. He says this when they offer him three...

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:47:34 PST

Revenge, hate, pure and simple. He says this when they offer him three times the money and he refuses it. (Act IV Part 1 Line 60-61) "So can I give no reason, nor will I not, more than a lodged hate and a certain loathing" In other words, what reason do I need to hate him?~Tell me if this was sufficient

In The Merchant of Venice, what reason does Shylock give for wanting the...

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:53:58 PST

In The Merchant of Venice, what reason does Shylock give for wanting the pound of Antonio's flesh?

Interesting question! We learn that women really did not have many...

Thu, 6 Mar 2008 08:11:07 PST

Interesting question! We learn that women really did not have many choices in life, and this included both Christian and Jew, rich and middle-class (and probably poor, too). Portia, a wealthy heiress, is still being controlled by her dead father because of the will he left, stating precisely how a husband would be selected for her. Jessica, a middle-class Jew, is controlled by her father, Shylock, who she resents and despises so much...

What do we learn about the lives of women in Shakespeare's times from...

Thu, 6 Mar 2008 02:55:57 PST

What do we learn about the lives of women in Shakespeare's times from reading The Merchant of Venice?

Love is addressed many ways, including love of a parent and a...

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 08:28:41 PST

Love is addressed many ways, including love of a parent and a child and romantic love. The issue of Portia's father and the method he used for getting her a husband after his death doesn't sound very loving to our modern ears, and yet he was probably trying to choose a good man - someone who wouldn't be drawn to silver or gold. Portia didn't like this arrangement, yet out of love and respect for her father, she stuck to it. There is also...

How are the themes of love, possession, and commerce addressed in...

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:52:34 PST

How are the themes of love, possession, and commerce addressed in "The Merchant of Venice"?

I think you need to consider this question from both of their points of...

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:52:05 PST

I think you need to consider this question from both of their points of view - Shylock's and Antonio's. From Shylock's point of view, absolutely not - he's been stripped of everything that he holds dear - his fortune, his faith, his dignity...He's been forced to become a Christian, but he'll never really be accepted as a Christian by the Christians of Venice. He's a man without a country.Antonio is definitely the winner in this situation,...

Is the outcome of "The Merchant of Venice" a fitting...

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:50:42 PST

Is the outcome of "The Merchant of Venice" a fitting resolution to the clashes between Shylock and Antonio?

Money control's Bassanio's destiny to a fairly large degree, but not...

Wed, 9 Jan 2008 16:23:06 PST

Money control's Bassanio's destiny to a fairly large degree, but not completely. Yes, he has to borrow money from Shylock to turn his life around, but that's because Bassanio's wasted his money, not because of money per se. When he decides to marry, he seeks a rich girl and ends up with Portia, a good and loving woman. In that sense, money controls his destiny; he couldn't have married her if she were poor. On the other hand, he's just lucky...