Unlike tragedy, tragicomedy intermingles people of the aristocracy with lower-class characters such as the Jewish Merchant Shylock and the clown Launcelot Gobbo. Besides, there are some recurring characters in the comedies like the drunk, the fool, the clever servant, and young lovers. They are often funny characters to offer enough extent for the audiences to laugh. Gratiano is a such type of character.
A tragicomedy is engulfed with trickeries and comic languages. By trickery, Shakespeare has applied his proverb that is:. However, from the outset of the play to the end, comic language and trickery entertain the audiences very much. I had it of him: pardon me, Bassanio;. For, by this ring, the doctor lay with me. They provide a harmonious blend of the two.
Even the same character shows great interchange of tragic and comic strands. In a very artistic way, comedy is used to bring relief from the sorrow or pain and create a level of resolution and reconciliation along.
To put it differently, humor is used to assure that human life is not always delighted or despaired but often it is both. Indeed, seen from any angle, The Merchant of Venice is not a very funny play, and we might gain a lot if, for the moment, we ceased to be bullied by its inclusion in the comedies.
Graham Midgely, qtd. Walter Cohen: In the 19th century then it was re-interpreted as tragedy, whereas a parallel tradition put the main stress on the fairy tale elements in the piece.
This paper shall try to solve the problem of assigning TMoV to a specific dramatic category by firstly giving an insight as to what criteria constitute different genres. In a second part, the plot structure will be analysed in order to illustrate that TMoV can indeed be seen as a mixture of different genres, but also to show the weaknesses of some arguments that are provided with the intention of forcing TMoV into certain schemes.
The aim of a third section is to investigate the position of the Jew and Shylock, because he seems to be the key character in the reading of TMoV , as the multitude of interpretations of his role in the play demonstrate.
As already mentioned in the introduction it is rather difficult to definitely place The Merchant of Venice among one of the various existing dramatic forms.
Different experts applied different criteria to the play in order to classify it, depending on the main interpretative emphasis. It is, however, important to also take a closer look at several dramatic forms and their definitions to build the foundations for a further discussion of assigning The Merchant of Venice to a certain genre, as it is not merely content but also form that characterize a play. In early times this implied that those forms of drama mostly included enormous battle scenes, whereas the Shakespearean era playwrights started to recount the lives of royal personages.
However, the main differentiation of tragedy and history lies in the depiction of a social and political situation in a particular era in the latter, rather than focussing on a single person. This aspect, though, will not be further discussed in this paper Cuddon: , Shabert: This tradition became the basis for the development of dramatic tragedy in Greece. The famous Aristotle described tragedy as:. The imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in language with pleasurable accessories, each kind brought in separately in the parts of the work; in a dramatic, not in a narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions.
Plots are either simple or complex, since the actions they represent are naturally of this twofold description. These should each of them arise out of the structure of the Plot itself, so as to be the consequence, necessary or probable, or the antecedents.
Also quite usual for tragedies, the story commences, in contrary to comedies, with happiness and concludes in disaster which the heroes brought upon themselves.
It is moreover mentioned that tragedies involve persons of high rank, that is kings or queens, and are centred upon great individuals. Consequently, in case TMoV is read as a tragic drama, Shakespeare revolutionarily modified the concepts of tragedy, since there is no royalty involved in the miseries of the play. The comedy was in the first place, comparable to the tragedy, connected with the honouring of Dionysos; however, the differences are that the comedy deals with the lives of the common people in a rather amusing way, and experienced misfortunes are are not as severe and solved in the end as it is possible to observe within TMoV Cuddon: Although one may have difficulty in fully accepting TMoV as a comedy, it is moreover important to mention that a comedy in Shakespearean times did not necessarily exceptionally contain humorous elements and the calamity of the flesh bond plot with Shylock was probably not of much importance.
The play could easily be one that is dealing with issues of Jewry and usury that were very contemporary. Bassanio as a romantic hero is not a lovesick languishing figure but his motives are rather dubious.
The climax of the play is not the love story, as it should be in a romantic comedy but in the trial scene that comes rather late. All these elements are typical of tragicomedy. He evokes an interest that is beyond the scope of the play. Shylock is a wealthy Jewish moneylender in Venice. By placing a pound of flesh as collateral, Shylock is able to envision his revenge all too clearly. By eliminating Antonio, Shylock will not only fuel his thirst for vengeance but would also eliminate his leading competition.
Antonio by lending money at no interest had thwarted Shylock in his bid to acquire even more gold, which he valued more than anything else. So when Antonio defaults on his loan, Shylock relentlessly demands absolute compliance with the terms of the agreement. However, it is simply too easy to label Shylock as a hate driven moneygrubber bent on killing Antonio. In fact, when one looks at the terms of the agreement, and the treatment Shylock has received over the years, one could argue he is completely justified.
Shakespeare is successful in creating an environment rich with people but exclusive to only Christians. For a lone Jew in a sea of Christians it appears life can be very lonely. By displaying his utter disregard for Shylock, Antonio creates an enemy who simply salivates at the prospect of some payback when Antonio comes to ask for a loan.
Treated as less than a second-class citizen for far too long, Shylock found it more than a bit hypocritical that the same Christians who cursed and spit upon him for being a moneylender now came willingly to him in their time of need.
This is a crucial moment in the drama, and outlines a clear moral dilemma. At this point, we beg for Shylock to practice a truly humane principle, thus teaching his tormentors then true meaning of religion. The fact that the Christians knew about it and later taunts him about it shows the extent of prejudice that existed in that society.
If a Christian wrongs a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The above mentioned quote, briefly, explains Shylocks motives and drive in his pursuit of a pound of flesh. Justifiably bitter over his treatment by a hypocritical Christian society, Shylock focuses his revenge so sharply, that he is blind to anything else. Our understanding of this fact does not lessen the horror we feel at his cruelty towards Antonio but, we are able to remember that the passion for revenge is a common human failing.
In my opinion, Shylock was justified in seeking revenge, but he takes it too far. He was victimized but one is also repulsed by his treatment of his daughter and his mercenary attitude. Although I think that his seeking revenge against Antonio was reasonable, his way of executing it was not.
The striking difference between these two settings helps to capture and maintain our attention. There are differences in the value of systems of the people belonging to the two different cities. To understand the play we must first look at the setting. The play is not set in the year it was written. Instead, Shakespeare looks back in time to the beginning of the Renaissance. Venice, a city-state in Italy, was a crossroads for crusaders, a money-lending centre of Europe.
Venice fascinated the Elizabethans, as it was commercially hospitable to people from all parts of the world e. Greeks, Jews and Protestants.
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