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The Merchant of Venice Portfolio Reflection

Throughout this unit, I feel I truly have grown in multiple ways. To begin with, I chose my speaking goal to be that of performing characters in a way that brings their tone, emotions, and character to life accurately. I was able to do this by working with Johena, Henry and Milton outside and practicing different scenes together. I chose this goal because I had always enjoyed acting as well as reading out lines in class. I found that by selecting a goal I had an interest in, it was easy to move towards it and achieve it. We started off by grouping together and moving out of the classroom. I told the others that we should practice at the “stage” area that we performed the reduced format of Hamlet at. Once there, we decided to test our abilities by selecting a scene at random just as long as we had read up until then. This was for obvious reasons since we didn’t want to need to pause and figure out the context of the situation prior to acting out each line. This worked in our favor since we were all quite familiar with our characters, and so we began. It was fun to choose a scene at random since it really put me on the spot at first, but I felt that I eased into my character at a rapid pace, which helped me build confidence and furthered my acting abilities. I tried my best to think about what my character would be thinking in that very moment, the way in which the words would be said, the pacing and the hand gestures!

In my previous classes, reading out plays had always been something I wanted to be more fun. I would always feel like I, including maybe two to three other people would always be the only ones who actually tried to put some emotion into the characters assigned. So, for this to have been an optional criteria to be assessed on was definitely something I greatly appreciated! Overall, I felt I put in a lot of effort into bringing out emotion in my words, demonstrating a sense of knowledge of the character and being able to interact fluidly with the others in my group!

Next, for my comprehension and writing goals, I chose to do three fifteen to twenty minute quick writes! My comprehension goal was to follow and examine anti-semitic sentiments. I chose this comprehension goal since I myself, am Jewish, and thought it would be interesting to read through the story and see how such elements could be implemented. As for the writing goal, I felt that these quick writes would be the perfect way for me to improve on something I have always had issues with, which is focusing in on one question and answering it by giving specific textual evidence. This problem most commonly shows up when doing in class essays on AP questions. I typically have a hard time pinpointing a specific topic I want to talk about because my annotations run wild, and so do my ideas. I have made it my goal to tame these crazy thoughts of mine, and to hone it to WRITE THESE ESSAYS PROPERLY!!! But, I felt as though I still hadn’t come close to fixing this problem since I had still been performing quite badly on in class essays, normally due to time constraints and my lack of focus initially, which caused me to lose a lot of precious minutes of writing. So, I chose to do these quick writes to help me with selecting questions I felt confident in answering and getting to the point.

As for my execution of these quick writes, I felt I did a relatively good job!! I remember enjoying the quick write homeworks given to us on the schoology commenting assignments, so this seemed like it would be something I could feel comfortable writing. I took my time selecting my questions, making sure I had at least one that had to do with anti semitism. I ended up writing for around 35-40 minutes on my first prompt since it had to do with imagery, which is something I find to be really cool! I found that it was quite difficult to understand what the Prince of Morocco meant the first time around, but after reading it over and double checking my interpretations with “No Fear Shakespeare”, I found that I had grasped the concept of it, and was able to put my focused ideas into words. Despite being able to write it in a way I felt was acceptable, I still felt that I failed in the sense that I had gone over the limit of time. This worried me since I was afraid that I wasn’t going anywhere in terms of improving on time efficiency, but after attempting my second quick-write, I was able to see that I was improving!

I could see that the words came out of my fingers more fluidly, that I could formulate my ideas in a way that I didn’t need to go back and erase or rearrange since it made sense before I started writing it out. This served as a major confidence booster, which is why I am glad I chose this writing goal as opposed to the 40 minute AP Question 3 response. I can see now that this was more helpful to me because I realised I needed a lot more work on my focusing skills and time management before I could dive into another AP Question.

I feel like I met my comprehension goal in terms of viewing the multiple ways in which Shakespeare brought Shylock’s Jewish aspects to light, and how at the time, it would make sense to have the character be portrayed in such a way. I was also able to see things from my modern perspective, giving Shylock more of a 3D image as opposed to a 2D one. I felt that this activity assisted me in practising my reading skills and comprehending texts of another period.

The Merchant of Venice was a pretty interesting book, and I felt that I was able to fulfill all my goals in a way that satisfied me, and built upon my previous goals made during our parent teacher conferences. I enjoyed the tasks, and felt that I learnt from this opportunity!

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3. How does Shylock perceive himself as a master and a father? Give evidence from the text to support your answer.

Shylock perceives himself as both a master and a father, and it is shown quite clearly throughout the text of the scene. We can see that Shylock acts like a father when he calls out to Jessica, his daughter, saying she shouldn’t eat too much or sleep and snore and wear her clothes out, “Thou shalt not gormandize As thou has done with me. -What, Jessica!- And sleep and snore, and rend apparel out- Why, Jessica, I say!”. This interaction is reminiscent of a typical father, daughter conversation since parents are often portrayed to remind their children to do things properly, or scold them when such activities are performed incorrectly. We can also see how Shylock perceives himself to be master when he leaves Jessica with the keys to the house, telling her to watch the house carefully since he feels something bad may happen while he is gone. This is shown when he states, “There are my keys.” and “Jessica, my girl, Look to my house. I am right loath to go. There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest, For I did dream of money bags tonight”. This may also show how Shylock perceives himself to be a father since if we look at it from a different perspective, he may not be as worried about the house as he is with his daughter’s safety.
Shylock says, “Hear you me, Jessica. Lock up my doors, and when you hear the drum And the vile squealing of the wry-necked fife, Clamber not you up to the casements then, Nor thrust your head into the public street”. This shows that Shylock had both the intention of protecting his house as well as protecting his daughter. This is an interesting way for Shakespeare to characterise Shylock, since the audience may have simply seen Shylock as being worried about his house, thinking he was ordering Jessica around as a “master” to make sure the house is well guarded. But, by looking at it from an alternative perspective, one can see that Shylock may have been acting as a father, giving a reason for Jessica to lock the house and make sure she is safe while he is away. This was a great way to play on the stereotype of Jewish people mostly taking their possessions into consideration: by blurring the boundaries between the two possible intentions of his words through the use of anti semitism at the time.

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1. Examine the Prince of Morocco’s opening lines. What issues does he address? Look at the language he uses in ll.1-12 and 22-38. How does the imagery in his speech reflect the Elizabethan perception of Moors?

In the Prince of Morocco’s opening lines, he firstly addresses the possible fear or mistrust Portia may feel regarding his appearance, culture and ancestry: being Moors. During the Elizabethan period, the English treated the Moors with an uneasiness stemmed from a lack of knowledge of their culture and type of religion. He starts off with, “Mislike me not for my complexion”, then goes into detail with imagery describing his appearance and saying that he’s more trustworthy than even “the fairest creature northward born, where Phoebus’ fire scarce thaws the icicles”. This most likely means that the Prince of Morocco is saying he’s more trustable than even the most handsome white men. This can be inferred since he described the “fairest creature northward born” as living in a place where Phoebus’ fire is scarce, likely referencing the sun, saying the people there would have a lighter complexion. He then goes on to further prove his worthiness by saying, “And let us make incision for your love To prove whose blood is reddest, his or mine”, showing a sense of loyalty towards Portia in that he would draw blood from his own flesh to show that despite his Moors heritage, he is more trustable and worthy of her hand in marriage than others who may be light skinned.
The Prince of Morocco continues by recounting his multiple accomplishments, and boasting his strengths and bravery. He says, “By this scimitar That slew the Sophy and a Persian prince, That won three fields of Sultan Solyman”, which shows how he has had experience in battle, killed the Shah of Persia, a Persian prince and defeated the Sultan Suleiman three times. Additionally, he uses unique imagery to explain how he is the bravest of them all, “Outbrave the heart most daring on the earth, Pluck the young sucking cubs from the she-bear, Yea, mock the lion when he roars for prey, to win thee, lady”. The imagery used illustrates how he would be brave enough to take the cubs from a scary mother bear, mock a starving lion, all in an effort to have Portia to himself. Following this, the Prince of Morocco addresses the issue of the nature of the way he is to obtain her hand in marriage, being that of luck and chance. He states, “But, alas the while! If Hercules and Lychas play at dice Which is the better man, the greater throw May turn by fortune from the weaker hand;”, which shows how he compares himself to Hercules, a son of God, and his servant Lychas rolling their hand at dice to see who would be the one to marry Portia. By explaining it in such a way, the Prince of Morocco both further shows his superiority to other competitors as well as makes clear that the way in which the “game is played” has issues in itself as it is all up to chance and “blind Fortune”.

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2. Why does Launcelot want to leave Shylock’s service? How do his comments affect our perceptions about Shylock?

Launcelot desires to leave Shylock’s service because he feels he has been treated horribly! In his meeting with his father, after playing around and pulling a small prank, Launcelot finally reveals to Gobbo that he is actually his son. Shylock’s treatment begins to be painted when Gobbo cannot believe that he is his son due to his appearance being drastically different. Gibbo states, “Lord, how art thou changed!” and “Lord worshipped might he be, what a beard hast thou got! Thou hast got more hair on thy chin than Dobbin my fill-horse has on his tail.”, which portrays Launcelot’s appearance to have an ungroomed beard, and to be unrecognisable from his past self.

Furthermore, Launcelot fortifies this impression of Shylock’s treatment by stating how he desires to run away, and that the gift his father wants to give Shylock should be replaced with a noose. This is shown when Launcelot says, “I have set up my rest to run away, so I will not rest till I have run some ground.” and “My master’s a very Jew. Give him a present. Give him a halter”. The emphasis placed on Shylock being Jewish adds to the perception of Shylock since at the time, there was quite a lot of anti-semitism. Jewish people were treated quite differently and looked down upon, as well as the presence of abundant amounts of stereotypes. This scene focuses in on the stereotype of Jewish people being greedy. This is shown when Launcelot explains how Shylock has been starving him to death, “I am famished in his service. You may tell every finger I have with my ribs”. This is a great form of imagery as the reader can imagine Launcelot pointing to his visible ribcage, and counting them off with his fingers! The graphic way in which it is described only furthers the stereotype of greed and adds a negative perception to Shylock’s character. At the time, this would have been something all people could relate upon, or possibly find comical due to the abundant presence of anti semitism, thus it was effective in building onto the audience’s perception of Shylock, that being of a greedy man who will take from others and starve his servants.