TASK for submission:
i. Based on your reading of Acts 1 and 2 of the play, choose 1 main character from The Merchant of Venice in whom you are interested (Antonio, Shylock, Portia, Bassanio, Jessica).
ii. Comb through Acts 1 & 2 (after reading both acts) and find 8-12 lines of dialogue spoken by or about your character that you think are quite useful in helping readers/audiences understand them (by conveying their personality traits, conflicts, desires, etc.). These will probably not occur all together, so you can pick a couple of different areas/scenes in which the character speaks key lines or key lines are spoken about the character.
iii. Copy these lines and cite where they are from [FORMAT = (II. i. 47-51) = (Act. scene. line numbers)]
iv. Write an explanation of WHAT these lines show readers about the character, including his/her personality traits, relationships, conflicts, desires, etc., and HOW? (unpack the textual evidence to prove your ideas). You should have a short paragraph for each section of quotations you choose for your character.
v. Add any THEMES that emerge from the lines you have chosen (Ex: the role of friendship, the negative effects of discrimination, appearance vs. reality, etc.) and explain what they reveal about the text’s central ideas.
**NOTE: You will probably want to work on this as a google or word document until you're finished to ensure you work is saved. When you're ready, copy and paste your work into a single blog post entry.
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Sample of what you are required to do (in part) for Jessica:
** NOTE THAT THIS EXAMPLE EXTRACT IS 4 lines long, and you are required to do 8-12 lines, so you will likely have a minimum of 2, and possibly up to 3 separate extracts and mini paragraphs to submit!
"Alack what heinous sin it is in me
To be ashamed to be my father’s child!
But though I am a daughter to his blood
I am not to his manner."
(II.iii.15-19)
In this extract from Act 2, Jessica states that she is ashamed to be her father's daughter. It is clear that she has an Internal conflict (person vs. self) due to this, as she is conflicted about her decision of what to do and how she feels about her own father. Her inner strife is evident when she says that to "be ashamed to be [her] father's child" is "a heinous sin”. The connotations of "heinous" and "sin" are very negative, with "sin" suggesting that she has done something morally wrong and "heinous" suggesting that it is vile and deplorable. So, even though she sees that she is Shylock's daughter, she is not similar "to his manner" and feels different from him; this is also an example of her person vs. person conflict with her father, Shylock. Furthermore, Jessica is shown in this excerpt to be an independent person, as she wants to escape her father’s domineering hold over her life and being her own person with her own ''manner''. Finally, this relates to yet another conflict, which is person vs. society, where Jessica, as a woman in a very patriarchal society, is bound to her father and his wishes, despite her own desires. This last conflict strongly ties to one of the major themes of the play, which is the oppressed and unequal role of women and unequal power in relationships.