Elizabethan times play
By: carolyn2010 | Posted: 26th February 2010
In this act the importance of friendship is depicted in two ways. First there is true friendship and bad friendship. In Portia and Bossanio this is not a true relationship as Bassanio is just befriending Portio because of the debts that he has and therefore he is after money. On the other hand Antonio shows true friendship when he tells Bassanio that he would lend him the money out of love but not because of business. Shylock also shows a feeling of love for humanity when he says that Christians and Jews should not hate each other because of their beliefs. Good friendship is like that of Antonio to Bassanio where he wants to assist him from his heart. Another kind of friendship is the one where Shylock suggests that Jews and Christians should love each other because this is all what human relationships entail. This is admirable as there should be no differences to make people fight (Janik 2003).
According to the speech shylock is hurt by the bad blood between the Christians and the Jews. He does not like the way the two groups feel happy when the other is suffering because they have grown together and have undergone the same problems. He feels that all people should bond as one because he does not like the existing relationship of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth (Janik 2003).
I feel sympathetic towards him because of the pain and agony in his heart as exposed in his speech. He regrets the fact that when the two groups wrong one another, they revenge, forgetting that they all should live as one.
The song makes the theme of the play clear. It starts with two questions and then the third line is a demand for an answer to allow for more reflection of the play. It has a high tone as can be seen in the third line where there is a demand for an answer. This depicts the intensity by which the actor would like the theme to be understood.
It has some questions which need answers as it is being sung so that the audience can reflect and change their actions for the good of the community.
References
Janik, V. (2003).The merchant of Venice: a guide to the play, Green wood publishing group.
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Tags: two ways, reflection, revenge, debts, intensity, agony, human relationships, true relationship, bad blood, true friendship