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Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare
Tag Archives: The Merchant of Venice
“We look back at Shakespeare and regret our absence from him because it seems an absence from reality.”
Conclusion to The Play’s The Thing Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————————- Honestly, I can’t believe it’s over. For two and half years, We’ve been reading and talking and thinking about Shakespeare. And to help bring this to a close, … Continue reading
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Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, All's Well That Ends Well, Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, Comedy, Coriolanus, Cymbeline, drama, Falstaff, Hamlet, Henry IV, Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, Henry V, Henry VI Parts One Two and Three, Henry VIII, Julius Caesar, king henry iv, King John, King Lear, language, Love's Labour's Lost, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Pericles, Prince Hal, problem play, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard II, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, sonnet, The Comedy of Error, The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Two Noble Kinsmen, The Winter's Tale, Timon of Athens, titus andronicus, tragedy, Troilus and Cressidas, Twelfh Night, Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Master, I marvel how the fishes live in the sea./Why, as men do a-land: the great ones eat up the little ones.”
Pericles Act Two By Dennis Abrams ————————————————- Scenes 5-9: As news arrives regarding Trailart’s plot, Pericles once again leaves, but is shipwrecked in a storm. He is washed up on the shore near Pentapolis, where he is looked after by … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, drama, entertainment, Gloucester, Hamlet, intelligence, King Lear, language, late plays, literature, Macbeth, Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Richard II, romance, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, tempest, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Tyre, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Uncover, dogs, and lap.”
Timon of Athens Act Three By Dennis Abrams ———————— Act Three: One by one, Timon’s so-called “friends” refuse to help him, all making the feeblest of excuses. As the servants of Timon’s creditors move in pressing their claims, Timon enters … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Three, cannibalism, Christ figure, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, eucharist, grace, language, literature, Measure for Measure, Shakespeare, the last supper, The Merchant of Venice, Timon, Timon of Athens, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing
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“No care, no stop; no senseless of expense/That he will neither know how to maintain it/Nor case his flow of riot”
Timon of Athens Act Two By Dennis Abrams ———————– Act Two: Timon’s creditors are getting restless and send their servants to request that he pay off his debts. Flavius is attempting to stall them when Timon appears and demands to … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, Comedy, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, Flavius, language, literature, misanthrope, portrait of a man, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, Shylock, The Merchant of Venice, Thomas Middleton, Timon, Timon of Athens, utter disbelief, vivid portrait, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Such harmony is in immortal souls,/But whilst this muddy vesture of decay/Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.”
The Merchant of Venice Act Five By Dennis Abrams ————————– Act Five: Returning in triumph to Belmont, the men are met by their wives, who are not all impressed to learn that Bassanio and Graziano have given away their wedding … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, anti-Semitism, Antonio, Bassanio, Belmont, Christian, Christians, Comedy, drama, homoeroticism, Jessica, Jews, Judaism, language, literature, Lorenzo, moneylender, religion, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, Shylock, The Merchant of Venice, three caskets, Venice, William Shakespeare
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“I am glad that Shakespeare made Shylock a Jew.” — W.H. Auden
The Merchant of Venice Act Four, Part Three By Dennis Abrams ——————————— Before we move on to Belmont, Act Five, and the absence of Shylock, there’s a little more I’d like to talk about concerning Act Four and…Shylock. First I’d … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Four, anti-Semitism, Antonio, Bassanio, Comedy, courtroom, drama, language, literature, moneylender, Portia, religion, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, Shylock, The Merchant of Venice, the quality of mercy, theology, Venice, W.H. Auden, William Shakespeare
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“Which is the merchant here and which the Jew?”
The Merchant of Venice Act Four, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————————————- As much as I appreciate and respect Harold Bloom on all things Shakespearean, I think when it comes to The Merchant of Venice, he is too wrapped up … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Four, Al Pacino, anti-Semitism, Antonio, Bassanio, chooseth, Christian, Comedy, courtroom, drama, Gratiano, harold bloom, Jew, language, literature, merchant of venice, moneylender, Portia, pound of flesh, quality of mercy, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, Shylock, spiritual gold, The Merchant of Venice, theology, three caskets, usury, Venice, William Shakespeare
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“If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh?If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us do we not revenge?”
The Merchant of Venice Act Three By Dennis Abrams —————————- Act Three: Shylock is incensed by Jessica’s flight and the fact that she has stolen money and jewels from him, but is cheered (or is he?) by the news that … Continue reading
“I never heard a passion so confused,/So strange, outrageous, and so variable/As the dog Jew did utter in the streets…”
The Merchant of Venice Act Two By Dennis Abrams Act Two: Lancelot informs his old father that he has decided to leave Shylock’s service and the pair ask Bassanio if Lancelot can serve him instead. Shylock’s daughter, Jessica, is also … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, anti-Semitism, Antonio, Bassanio, Belmont, Christian, Comedy, drama, ducats, gold, Jessica, Jew, language, lead, literature, Lorenzo, moneylender, Portia, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, Shylock, silver, The Merchant of Venice, theology, three caskets, usury, Venice, William Shakespeare
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“I would be friends with you and have your love,/Forget the shames that you have stain’d me with,/Supply your present wants, and take no doit/Of issuance for my moneys, and you’ll not hear me.”
The Merchant of Venice Act One, Part Three By Dennis Abrams ———————————– I have to admit that I’m amazed at how much material there is to cover on Act One – but given how much of the play is set-up … Continue reading
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Tagged act one, ancient grudge, anti-Semitism, Antonio, Bassanio, Comedy, drama, Jew, Judaism, language, literature, moneylender, politics, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, Shylock, The Merchant of Venice, usury, William Shakespeare
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The Play's The Thing 