![]() ![]() A story is about to unfold, and those key words reveal the kind of tale it will be. These words offer a reader a sense of excitement and expectation, a sense of anticipation. How would it begin? Would it start “Once upon a time,” or “A long, long time ago,” or “In a faraway land,” or “You’re not going to believe this, but ” This entry was posted in Keywords and tagged Jessica, shylock, the merchant of venice on Jby. Maybe we can aspire to the vision of gentleness given by Portia in her famous speech-though religiously tinged-that is figured in the rain, falling “Upon the place beneath”: indiscriminately. I’d also question if at the end of the play we are to believe Jessica has had a happy ending-she’s with a man who will always be uncomfortable with where she is from, and she has participated in her father’s ruin. To answer that, in a line, I’d point back to that conversation with Antonio, and to the ugliness and cruelty evident in our Merchant of Venice. To open that up, though, is to go back to Shylock, and to ask if he is presented sympathetically or if he’s the evil moneylender. Now, I’ve spent this post inquiring into what the characters mean, but not what the play does. But will these things in collusion ever make her gentle? Will they ever correct for her birth? Seeing as, unlike the other two couples, he never calls her gentle while she’s present as a term of endearment, I doubt how completely Lorenzo ever lets her convert in his own mind. ![]() He can convert her and then he can marry her. The fact he feels the need to convince someone so close to both of them already is telling of his own doubts. Lorenzo seems to be emphasizing the gentleness she was born with though not into to justify their marriage, and explain how she is unfit to remain with her father. What is his intent? Lancelot has worked for her father and knows her. He’s speaking to Lancelot, in Act II Scene 4, before he’s stolen her away from her father. Lorenzo uses the word twice to describe Jessica, both times before her conversion, and neither time to her face. It’s that gentleness is a quality of a Christian, and the only way Shylock could ever hope of attaining it is through conversion. It’s not just that Shylock hasn’t been courteous. The second line clarifies exactly how gentle is an insult. It’s due to this escalation that we see Shylock demand his price and is outright given a rationale for it’s severity by Antonio.Īt the end of their talk, Antonio derides him with, “Hie thee, gentle Jew, / The Hebrew will turn Christian he grows kind.” Even without the second line, the sarcastic intent of gentle is clear. If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not / As to thy friends…” (122-130).Īccording to Shylock, their animosity is fueled by Antonio’s anti-Semitic remarks, and Antonio just as well owns up to that and threatens more of the same. You called me dog, and for these courtesies / I’ll lend you this much money.”” Antonio answers, “I am as like to call thee so again, / To spit on thee again, to be spurn thee too. Shylock says, ““Fair sir, you spit on me Wednesday last, / You spurned me such a day, another time. In Act I Scene 3, before Jessica has run off and confused-for the viewer maybe at least-the source of Shylock’s anger, Shylock most clearly explains why he’d desire a pound of flesh from Antonio. ![]() This definition was solidified by the King James Bible, which was in development at the time of “Merchant of Venice,” but still offers a window into two relationships in the play. One oversimplification is that gentile refers to someone who is not Jewish and/or is a Christian. But money does not mean you are of gentle birth.Ĭonsidering the root of the word, as given in the OED, gentile, there are complicated and frankly confusing Biblical allusions and centuries of interpretation at play. Gentle reader meaning trial#Up until the trial Shylock is far and away the most financially well-off of the Venetians. The word gentle gets more complicated when applied to Shylock and his daughter. Sometimes it more obviously has the undertones of class and birth, as when Bassanio calls Portia a “Gentle lady” in Act III Scene 2. Sometimes it seems a moniker of affection. Gentle, when applied by the characters of “The Merchant of Venice” to each other, assumes each of these meanings and interpretations at least once. What do I mean when I call you “gentle”? Is it out of affection, because you are courteous and polite? Do I consider you a person of distinction? Or am I reflecting on the character of your birth?Īnd if I am, is it in derision, praise or with the intent of reinventing you? ![]()
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