THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

Genre of the play

By Ben & Fernanda

WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT TO SEE IN SHAKESPEAREAN

PLAYS?

Light humorous tones

Deception and disguise

Family dramas

Multiple plots with twists and turns

Iambic pentameter

GENRE

Drama• Shakespearean Drama

• Family drama• Love affairs

Comedy• Types of Humor:

• Outright • Opinion on suitors

• Sexual• “Go to dinner” connotations of “go to bed”

IAMBIC PENTAMETER

× / × / × / × / × /

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

A Recipe for Comedy

2 table spoons of 2-dimensional characters 1/3 cup of stereotypes A pinch of humorous tone ½ cup of superficiality

A pinch of deception and a dash of disguise

BAKED TO DECEPTION!

• Shylock and Portia (masked by virtue)• Obdurate • Greedy• Selfish• Shylock:• loan shark• Portia:• false impersonator (lawyer)• Jessica:• Deceives father, disguises as a boy

FAMILY DRAMA

Jessica – internal conflicts between her and her father

Lancelot- cruel jokes on his blind father

Bassanio- Loyal to friends (more than his wife)