Finding Emo
While Hamlet may be Shakespeare’s mopiest character, Antonio sure gives him a run for his money. When the play opens on the streets of Venice, Antonio appears onstage and tells his buddies that he’s totally bummed out but doesn’t know why: “In sooth, I know not why I am so sad. / It wearies me, you say it wearies you” (1.1.1).
So why’s this guy so emo? Solanio suggests that Antonio’s “mind is tossing on the ocean” because all his money is tied up in various mercantile ventures (1.1.1).
But Antonio gives a pretty detailed explanation of why that’s not true and declares, “my merchandise makes me not sad” (1.1.2).
When Solanio says, “Why then, you are in love” (1.1.2), Antonio’s response seems half-hearted. “Fie, fie” (1.1.3), he says, which isn’t exactly convincing. So is it possible that Antonio is lovesick?
His depression certainly suggests that he is. In the 16th century, people thought love really could make a person sick, or “melancholy.” This, by the way, is why in Hamlet, Polonius thinks Hamlet is acting like a madman. Ophelia’s dad is convinced that everyone’s favorite Danish prince is “mad for [Ophelia’s] love” (Hamlet, 1.2.8).
Bromance
If Antonio is in love, who’s the object of his affection? For a lot of audiences and literary critics (like W.H. Auden) the answer seems to be his BFF, Bassanio. As soon as Antonio has a chance to speak to his friend privately, the first thing on his mind is the woman Bassanio is wooing. It becomes clear that Antonio has asked about it before and has been promised an answer this day. One might clearly draw a link between Antonio’s sadness and the weight of Bassanio’s impending courtship – Antonio is suffering because he is about to lose his friend.
The Essay on True Love In Hamlet
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, (1.4.89) Marcellus so wisely stated not knowing the precision behind his words. Various dialogue exchanged throughout the play discretely summarized events that took place. Horatio proved this point when he stated Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, of accidental judgments, casual slaughters, of deaths put on by cunning and [forcd] cause, and in this ...
The question in the subtext is whether the feelings Antonio has for Bassanio go well beyond the bounds of friendship and cross over into the territory of romantic love. This might explain Antonio’s sadness, his willingness to do anything for Bassanio, and most important, his constant need to contrast his friendship with Bassanio to Portia’s love for him. He calls Bassanio away from what should be his wedding night to see him in Venice, and as he prepares to die in court, he tells Bassanio to have Portia be the judge of these proceedings. She will have to decide whether “Bassanio had not once a love.” (That is, if he had ever had a love before.)
Antonio cannot love Bassanio the way he wants to; he can give him neither marriage nor money (as Portia can).
If he were to sacrifice his life for Bassanio, he would be doing something greater than Portia ever would or could. His offer of a pound of flesh is a symbolic chance for his flesh to be meaningful to Bassanio. Even after Antonio is off the hook, he pressures Bassanio to give away Portia’s ring, claiming that his own love for Bassanio and what Balthazar deserves should be more important than Portia’s commandment.
This tension is weakly resolved at the end of the play when it is revealed that Portia has given Antonio his life back twice – once in court disguised as Balthazar and once more with the news of the successful ships. Portia has warmly welcomed Antonio, but her actions have managed to assert that her love for Bassanio, and her power (shown by what she can give) supersede Antonio’s friendship with Bassanio to her marriage.
Antonio According to Actor Jeremy Irons
Not everyone reads Antonio this way. In an interview with NPR, actor Jeremy Irons said he sees Antonio as a melancholy “father-figure” to Bassanio. “He rather loves the boy like a son,” says Irons, who even goes so far as to invent a back-story for the character that’s not original to Shakespeare’s play. When Irons played the role in the 2004 film adaptation, he imagined that Antonio had once been married and, after losing his wife during childbirth, he decided to surround himself with young friends like Bassanio. Hmm. We certainly have some ideas about this back-story, but what do you make of it? You can listen to the entire interview here.
The Essay on Antonio Bassanio Love Portia
Antonio is never with a woman in the play and the only time he talks about love it is about his love for Bassanio. In Act IV, scene 1, Antonio says" Commend me to your honourable wife. Tell her the process of Antonio's end. Say how I lov'd you, speak me fair in death and when the tale is told, bid her be judge. Whether Bassanio had not once a love." Antonio loves Bassanio so deeply he is willing ...
Self-Sacrificing Martyr
Antonio sure seems like the most devoted BFF ever, but, as you’ve probably noticed, he’s also kind of a martyr. When he’s hauled off to jail and it’s looking like Shylock is going to get his pound of flesh, Antonio writes a letter to Bassanio, asking his friend to return to Venice:
“Sweet Bassanio, my ships have all
miscarried, my creditors grow cruel, my estate is
very low, my bond to the Jew is forfeit; and since
in paying it, it is impossible I should live, all
debts are cleared between you and I, if I might but
see you at my death. Notwithstanding, use your
pleasure: if your love do not persuade you to come,
let not my letter.” (3.2.16)
Hmm. Is it just us, or is Antonio trying to guilt-trip Bassanio into leaving Belmont (and Portia!) in order to prove his “love” for his self-sacrificing friend? Sure, we can understand why Antonio wants his pal by his side as he faces almost certain death at the hands of Shylock, but Antonio lays it on a little thick here. Later, at the trial, Antonio says dramatically: “Give me your hand, Bassanio; fare you well. / Grieve not that I am fall’n to this for you” (4.1.8).
It seems like Antonio is enjoying wallowing in the fact that his life is about to be sacrificed for his friend’s sake.
Antonio’s Relationship with Shylock
Antonio is clearly very generous, and he most definitely loves his friend Bassanio, but he’s got an ugly side as well. A blatant anti-Semite, Antonio is hostile toward Shylock and is always running around the Rialto talking trash about Jews and their practice of usury (charging interest on loans, especially overly-high interest).
(Did we mention that Antonio gives out interest-free loans to his Christian friends in order to undermine Shylock’s money-lending business?) At one point, Shylock complains:
The Term Paper on Laws Of Venice Belmont Antonio Shylock
The play, ^The Merchant of Venice^ by William Shakespeare has two main settings. One setting is Venice, a city where many businessmen live, a place full of unhappy and unkind people. It a world of commercial and law. Venice has been portrait ed by Shakespeare as the ^real^ world. The other setting is Belmont, a city which houses a rich, happy and sophisticated society of beautiful people. Belmont ...
[…] he hates our sacred nation, and he rails,
Even there where merchants most do congregate,
On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift—
Which he calls interest […] (1.3.9)
When Antonio is confronted about his aggressive behavior, he’s completely unapologetic. Even after Shylock reminds Antonio that he’s called him a “misbeliever, cut-throat dog” and has spat upon his coat (1.3.17), Antonio doesn’t deny it: “I am like to call thee so again,” he says. “To spit upon thee again, to spurn thee too” (1.3.8).
Antonio’s not the only one who taunts Shylock, but he sure seems like the worst offender, don’t you think? So does Antonio’s abuse at least partially explain Shylock’s villainy? Shylock thinks so, especially when he declares: “the villainy you teach me I will exe-/cute” (3.1.6).
Although the plot turns on Antonio’s predicament, his character is not sharply drawn. He is a rich man, and a comfortable man, and a popular man, but still he suffers from an inner sadness. One obvious, dramatic reason for Antonio’s quiet melancholy is simply that Shakespeare cannot give Antonio too much to do or say without taking away valuable dialogue time from his major characters. Therefore, Shakespeare makes Antonio a quiet, dignified figure.
One of Antonio’s most distinguishing characteristics is his generosity. He is more than happy to offer his good credit standing so that Bassanio can go to Belmont in the latest fashions in order to court Portia. And one of the reasons why Shylock hates Antonio so intensely is that Antonio has received Shylock’s borrowers by lending them money at the last minute to pay off Shylock; and Antonio never charges interest. He is only too happy to help his friends, but he would never stoop to accepting more than the original amount in return. Antonio’s generosity is boundless, and for Bassanio, he is willing to go to the full length of friendship, even if it means that he himself may suffer for it.
Antonio is an honorable man. When he realizes that Shylock is within his lawful rights, Antonio is ready to fulfill the bargain he entered into to help Bassanio. “The Duke cannot deny the course of the law,” he says. And later, he adds that he is “arm’d / To suffer, with a quietness of spirit . . . For if the Jew do cut but deep enough, / I’ll pay it presently with all my heart.”
The Essay on Friendships Wealth Antonio Shylock Differences
There are many characters in William Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice. Two of these characters are Antonio, who is a Christian, and Shylock, who is a Jew. These two men are very much enemies. Clearly Antonio and Shylock will have many differences in their friendships, wealth, and morals. However the pair also have similarities in these same areas. In their friendships life Antonio and Shylock ...
Antonio’s courage and goodness are finally rewarded; at the end of the play, when the three pairs of lovers are reunited and happiness abounds at Belmont, Portia delivers a letter to Antonio in which he learns that the remainder of his ships has returned home safely to port.
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Antonio
Antonio is the merchant of Venice, the titular protagonist of the play. He is about forty years of age and has lived his life to the fullest. He is a successful businessman, owning a fleet of trade ships. Surprisingly, Antonio appears in relatively few scenes of the play, but he is the driving force behind much of the action. Antonio is the model Christian, as defined by Elizabethan society. He represents, among other things, the ideal of nobility in friendship. He is also kind and generous, both to his friends and to the poor of Venice. Although he is now more philosophical, gentle, and quiet, he can still appreciate the frivolous nature of youth, as portrayed by his beloved friend, Bassanio. Aside from his love for Bassanio, he is unattached. Perhaps his lack of love is the reason for his melancholy.
Antonio’s principles are against the borrowing or lending of money for profit. He reflects the medieval attitude that money should be lent for Christian charity. His noble generosity for his friend, however, leads him to cast aside these principles and to take a loan from the merchant, Shylock. He borrows money and pledges his flesh as the bond. When his ships are lost at sea, he cannot repay the loan and accepts the fact that he must pay Shylock with a pound of his flesh.
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Antonio’s warmth and generosity, however, save him. Portia, who has marrried Bassanio, comes to Antonio’s aid. Even though she has never met Antonio, she loves him for his generosity to her husband. She appears in court as a young, intelligent lawyer and turns the law against Shylock, saving Bassanio’s dear friend in the process. Antonio, with characteristic generosity and mercy, spares the life of Shylock and gives the Jew’s wealth to Lorenzo and Jessica, the rightful heirs. Antonio’s good fortune continues when he learns that his ships are not lost at sea, but have returned laden with goods. As the symbol of Christian warmth, kindness, generosity, and love, Antonio truly receives his just reward during the play when all turns out well for him.
The Term Paper on Cruise Ship Industry
Cruise Ship Industry Before we proceed to our discussion of cruise ship industry I believe we should first submerge in the notion of tourism in order to see the very model of peoples motivation, which makes them join cruises. MacCannell, in The Tourist (1999), portrayed the tourist as being on a pilgrimage, a search for authenticity. To define "authentic," MacCannell drew upon the distinction made ...
