Sarah
Adler
10/26/14
Portfolio
B Option 3
Shakespeare
uses Shylock’s defensiveness in his monologue to convey his internal pain from
his abundance of misfortunes, driving him to seek revenge on Antonio. When the
Duke pressures Shylock to have mercy on Antonio, he retorts, “You’ll ask me why
I rather choose to have/ A weight of carrion flesh than to receive/ Three
thousand ducats. I’ll not answer that, / But say it is my humour”(4.1, 39-42). Shylock is wary in his answer because he’s
eager to enact his revenge on Antonio and obtain his pound of flesh. He says,
“it is my humour”, attempting to blame his brutality on one of the four bodily
humours believed to control people’s personalities. This uncharacteristic
violence is due to Shylock’s despair towards recent events such as losing his
daughter and money. Shylock alludes to his vulnerable state when he comments,
“…but of force, / Must yield to such inevitable shame/ As to offend, himself
being offended;” (4.1, 55-57). Shylock is explaining that when a person does an
inexplicable act, such as his burning desire for revenge, they feel ashamed for
being looked down upon. Shakespeare conveys the hurt Shylock is wrestling with,
which is disguised as desire for harsh punishment for Antonio. Shylock states
his contempt for Antonio with conviction, exclaiming, “So can I give no reason,
nor I will not, / More than a lodged hate and certain loathing/ I bear Antonio”
(4.1,58-60). Shylock refuses to elaborate on his insatiable craving for
revenge, but describes his hatred for Antonio. This deep-rooted hatred stems
from Antonio’s mistreatment of Shylock, although he did nothing to irk or
disrespect Antonio. His disgust of Shylock was solely because Shylock is Jewish,
which caused Shylock pain. Shylock exacts his revenge on Antonio because now he
has the law on his side. Shylock uses the hurt he’s been feeling and transforms
it to anger towards Antonio, which is why he refuses to alleviate the cruelty
of Antonio’s punishment for not paying him back; shown through his guarded
monologue.
I'll take this one
ReplyDeleteI liked the way you integrated each of your three quotes into the text. The transition into each new quote from the text was very smooth, and the thoughts following each quote provided the reader with a good idea of the context and meaning of each quote in the play as a whole. After looking at your ideas in this portfolio, I agree with your overall thesis. Shylock's internal pain is influenced greatly by his painful loss of his daughter, following which he was claimed to have cried: "'My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! / Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats! / Justice! The law" (2.8.15-17). When Shylock loses his daughter, the first of his misfortunes begin. He is distraught that his daughter has left him for a Christian, and she took lots of his riches with her. This loss of fortune and family causes Shylock to resent Christians, and any Christian associated with Antonio. Shylock's initial disgust for Christians is illustrated with his surprise that his daughter has "fled with a Christian". Had she fled with a Jew, then Shylock would have only lost his ducats, but because she has fled with a Christian, Shylock has lost his legacy and his ducats, intensifying his hate towards Christian.
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