Week 4

Although I haven’t finished it yet, the beginning of The Merchant of Venice intrigues me. The last half of Act 1 Scene 3 strikes me, particularly lines 102- 177. In this passage there is no rhyming and Shylock confronts Antonio while they are making a deal for a loan. Shylock states his claim on line 103 with “In the Rialto you have rated me/about my moneys and my usances.” He also uses a good metonymy in line 117 saying, “ ‘Hath a dog money? Is it possible A cur can lend three thousand ducats?”, referring to himself. He doesn’t understand why Antonio would say such things about him and also be asking him for money. Shylock sees it more of a deal between friends. But Antonio held his ground in line 125 saying “I am as like to call thee so again.” I love this part because it reminds me of a mafia movie of some sort arousing my conscious with a sense of danger. Antonio says the deal isn’t about friendship, in fact, they can be enemies. And Antonio implores Shylock to condemn him as an enemy if he doesn’t pay up. But Shylock counters by saying he will indeed loan him the money without interest but keep him as a friend also. This is where I see trouble; Shylock is still willing to be friends with this guy after his comments. I get the feeling he is naïve. And this sets the tone of their interactions, which are open for some drama. Antonio then seems overconfident in his following statement when he says he will have earned three times as much as he owes in a month before the loan is due. Shylock then stipulates that if the loan is not paid in time that he will not hold Antonio to a pound of his flesh if he not pay in time. It seems as though he leaves the penalty unanswered. The scene ends with them being oh so sweet to each other and parting ways.

This section of the play really struck a cord with me. I feel a familiarity to this since I have lent people money with the anxieties that I will not get it back and had to unfortunately GO GET IT back. I think this is a part of the play many people can connect to and just oozes with a foreshadowing in my mind knowing that Antonio is a little untrustworthy and Shylock is a little to nice and maybe looking for something more than a plutonic friendship.

Week 2

In Shakespeare’s two sonnets, # 116 and # 147. The speaker expresses that love is eternal. But the feeling the speaker has about this eternity has a stark contrast between these two sonnets.

Sonnet 116 expresses that love is everlasting and unhampered. On line 12 the speaker says love “bears it out even to the edge of doom”, he takes this stance throughout the entire sonnet. The theme of youth is present here but not as I expected. While he is not necessarily talking about youth he personifies love as a youth. The youth of love is explained only briefly in lines 9 and 10 when the speaker states, “Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks/ Within his bending sickle’s compass come.”

Sonnet 147 takes a darker look at love. The opening line explains the speaker’s disdain for love: “My love is a fever, longing still.” There is a battle within the speaker for control. His reason which he personifies as “the physician to my love” is the force which could possibly keep him from love has abandoned him and he has no choice but to love. What is interesting is that the speaker does not want to love, and his reasoning is unknown which leaves the reader with the question why, or to insert their own answer.

I love the contrast between these two sonnets. Sonnet 116 has a positive view on love and 147 simply is not feeling the vibes. This is a very good starting point if a person was to explain the dynamics of the human condition in terms of love. To put very simply, sonnet 116 could depict the thoughts of a happy individual in the psychological approach while 147 obviously illustrates someone who is not happy with life. It sounds very elementary but if this idea were to be fleshed out a ten page paper could be in the works!