ELA
Mrs. Harrison
February 10, 2017
As a modern audience, do you think that Shylock deserves the punishment that he receives? Why or why not? Also, how do you think an Elizabethan audience would have felt about this (would they have thought he deserves his punishment)? Why or why not?
In my opinion I think that Shylock deserved his punishment. His role in the play was a money lender, and back then it was common for Jewish people to lend money to others. In the book I understood why he was mad at Antonio for not paying him back because that is a lot of money. On the other hand when Shylock wanted to cut a pound of Antonio's flesh, that caught me off guard.
I liked how Portia played her part on how not to make herself noticeable by the other men in the room. In the video that we watched in class we saw that Portia told Shylock that if one drop of blood were to shed from the pound of flesh, he would die. This caused a bunch of stuff to happen with Shylock and Antonio and eventually Antonio punished Shylock. I think that Shylock deserved his punishment with losing all his money, but for him also to become a Christian? In class I saw that this was very traumatic towards Shylock which in those times that was a serious and humiliating thing.
I think that in the Elizabethan audience would have mixed opinions only because everyone's opinion is different depending how they are. Some people might think that it is ridiculous that Antonio got away with all that debt, and some people might think that Shylock was overreacting and deserved everything that happened to him.
Wow, really interesting that you thought he deserved the punishment. You said that when Shylock wanted to cut the pound of flesh from Antonio that caught you off guard, but Antonio did agree to this earlier on. I think the Elizabethan's would've felt mostly happy with this outcome when you consider that the majority of them were anti-semitic.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty interetsting that you think Shylock deserved the punishment. I also agree with Andrew about the Elizabethan audience, people were very anti-Semitic back then and I'm sure they would think that Shylock deserved everything that happened to him even though Antonio was actually the guy who deserved to be punished for not paying back his loan (at least in my opinion).
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Shylock was a little harsh in his revenge. Killing someone is a bit extreme when all they did to you was make fun of you, your religion, and beat you. However, I don't think it was needed to force him to change his religion.
ReplyDeleteNice post kayleyyyyyyy!! I thought it was interesting that you thought Shylock deserved it. Im glad you took a different approach. I also agree with Gross and Teja about the audience back then was VERY anti-Semitic. GOOD JOB
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you when you said that Shylock deserved most of the punishment he got. He deserved everything except for being forced to change his religion, which is changing his entire lifestyle. I also think Antonio should have been punished as well.
ReplyDeleteShylock did not deserve his punishment at all. If Antonio was the least bit worried about getting a chunk of flesh taken out of him, he should not have made the agreement in the first place. Shylock however is doing no wrong, he is entitled to their bond and therefor should not be penalized just because Antonio did not receive the outcome he desired. Anyway, good post
ReplyDeletei agree with you completely, shylock did deserve some of his punishments. however, making him convert and become a christian is very humiliating.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Francesco, Shylock didn't do anything thing he was under the impression that the law was ok with him cutting a pound of flesh off. The only reson Antoneio is still alive is because Portia found some loophole putting the law on the Christians side. I do agree with the last part of what Sage is saying about how it was humiliating he had to convert for those reasons.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how the punishment has been discussed. On the one hand, Shylock deserves the punishment, but his mental state and prejudices against him make you feel sympathy for the character. The manner in which the punishment is given also might sway the reader in favor of Shylock. The punishment itself, however, will cause significantly more harm than good.
ReplyDeleteBased on his attempt to kill Antonio I think he did deserve his punishment. Yes, the way Shylock was treated was unfairly, but a lot of other jewish people where treated this way as well. I feel sympathy for him, because no one should ever have to go through that. But he became blinded by vengefulness, which inevitably lead to his downfall.
ReplyDeleteGreat conversation from everyone on this post! Whether we think that he deserved his punishment or not, an Elizabethan audience would have been cheering for Antonio. Julian brought up a salient point in his post about how the idea of mercy would have been far more compelling to an audience that was brought up to be devoutly Christian. I also think that sexism plays a part in the court scene, as Shylock is not only punished, but is outfoxed by a WOMAN no less.
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