Common Module: Advanced English Essay - Merchant of Venice

[Ash290]

Hi,

I was just wondering if I could get some feedback on this response I wrote for the Common Module? It would be amazing if someone would be able to give me their thoughts on it. Thank you, I really appreciate it!!

Ayesha x

Through the telling and receiving of stories, we become more aware of ourselves and our shared human experiences.
 
 

 
Texts question the motivations present within the human condition by highlighting the contribution of wealth in debasing human behaviours and relationships. Shakespeare explores the rise in wealth within a Mercantilist society and projects the inherent loss of human compassion and values as a result. This is explored the complexity of Antonio's character, as a just and kind Merchant and yet also an ignorant and bigoted man, who embodies the racially motivated fables of Elizabethan England. The alliterative asyndeton in "my purse, my person, my extremest means" creates a dramatic effect by building tension within the sentence, illuminating the responder the commercialism of Antonio's commercialism as he 'purchases'  his friendship with Bassanio. The monetisation of human relationships is further enunciated through the repetitive alliterative use of "My daughter, O my ducats, O my daughter! […] O my Christian ducats!" denouncing Shylock as father as he grieves for his loss of wealth rather than his only living family. Furthermore, the rise of Mercantilism in Elizabethan England, created more business opportunities for the English and Jews, through trade and money lending, further prompting rivalry and competition between the two 'classes' of people. The consequences of a racially motivated society is evident as Shylock angrily declares that “the forfeit be nominated for an equal pound of [Antonio’s] fair flesh, to be cut off” The alliterative and juxtaposing use of ‘forfeit’ and ‘fair flesh’ emphasises the perversion of human compassion to become corrupted by mercantilism, elucidating to Shylock’s material greed and corruption, as he monetises the purity of flesh to exact his revenge on Antonio. However, here Shakespeare appeals to the pathos of the audience, through Shylock's protagonist antagonism, as he embodies and reflects an almost comedic take on the prevalent view; that Jewish money lenders in the Elizabethan Era, were guilty of usury and blood libel. Hence, the corruption of human relationship is largely attributed to the wealth and greed introduced through a Mercantilist society, often prompted by racial prejudice.