Journal Feb. 23

1. I believe that Shylock is a tragicomedic character; however, I think the play is a comedy. The play is a comedy because is comedies the character who causes the problem usually dies or is banished. In Merchant of Venice, Shylock, who causes the problem, has a spiritual death. He is forced to convert to Christianity, and to him it probably felt like he was disobeying Judism and that he would go to hell, which is worse than death. However, I believe that he was a tragicomedic character. He clearly has some traits of being a comedic villain. One of the main characteristics of a comedic villain is that they are stupid. Back when Shakespeare wrote this play, the audience probably thought that Shylock was one of the stupidest people on earth. They probably thought this because he was a Jew, and Jews were hated. He was also threatening a Christian's life. They thought that Christianity was the best religion and threatening a Christian was a very stupid thing to do. Another characteristic of being a comedic villain is that they are pure evil. The audience of this play back when Shakespeare wrote it probably thought that Shylock was pure evil because he was a Jew and he was threatening a Christian. However, I think that Shylock changes from being just a comedic villain to a tragicomedic character at loc. 3437. This is when Shylock gives his "Hath not a Jew" speech. During this speech, he shows that he is a tragic character. He says that he is doing this for revenge just like what a Christian would do if a Jew wronged them. He also shows that he is just a human and is not evil, he is just acting like how a Christian would if a Christian were in his position. This is why I believe that he is a tragicomedic character. 

Journal Feb. 15

1. I believe that the Merchant of Venice is a tragicomedy. However, I am not 100% sure since I have not finished reading it. From what we have read so far, it makes since for the play to be a tragicomedy. In tragedies, the main character usually does at the end. In the Merchant of Venice, it seems like Antonio, one of the main characters, is going to die at the end. He is going to die because if he doesn't pay Shylock back, then Shylock gets to take a pound of his flesh. This sentence, "hath an argosy cast away coming from tripolis" makes it seem like Antonio lost one of his ships which was carrying a lot of his money. If this ship was carrying most of his money than he won't be able to pay back Shylock. This is makes it seem like Antonio has bad luck which is another characteristic of a tragedy. However, this story also has many characteristics of a comedy. One main characteristic of a comedy is that at the end there is either a big feast, wedding, or party. in the Merchant of Venice, it seems like it will end with a big wedding since Portia getting married has been such a big part of the play. At the end of Act III, we find out that Portia is getting married to Bassanio. When Bassanio says, "Fair Portia's counterfeit" we know that they are going to get married. I believe that this is a tragicomedy because it has many characteristics of a comedy but also has dark overtones (Antonio and Shylock's deal).

Journal February 9

2. I feel like the Merchant of Venice fits the Green World Theory very well. It has to separate lands, Belmont and Venice. In my mind, I see Venice as the normal world, and I see Belmont as the Green World. One example of this is that the normal world is usually run by males. Venice fits this part of the theory because the main characters in Venice are all male (Antonio, Bassanio, Shylock). Also in  the green world, the females are usually the ones running it. Belmont fits this part because Portia and Nerissa are really the only characters that we have seen in Belmont. They are also both women, and Portia seems to run Belmont because she is able to choose her man. Usually in those days, the men would choose the women, but Portia can tell any man that he can't participate in the contest for her love. The normal world often has many laws and has order. This is shown in the quote, " Three thousand ducats—’tis a good round sum. Three months from twelve, then. Let me see. The rate. " this was said by Shylock when Shylock was giving Antonio and Bassanio a loan. This supports the theory because the idea of loans means that there would have to be some laws. Romance is usually a major theme in the green world. This quote, "Therefore the lottery that he hath devised in these three chests of gold, silver, and lead, whereof who chooses his meaning chooses you, will no doubt never be chosen by any rightly but one who shall rightly love" supports this idea. Nerissa is explaining the lottery to Portia and the audience. This lottery is for Portia's hand in marriage. If a suitor comes along who wants to try the lottery, Portia gives them a choice of picking one of three caskets. One casket contains gold, another contains silver, and the third contains lead. If the pick the on with the gold in it, then they get to marry Portia. However, if they pick the other two, then they can never talk to Portia again. This fits in with the green world theory because this lottery has to do with romance. In the end, I believe that Belmont is the green world, and that Venice is the normal world. However, this could change as the book goes on.

Journal February 1

2. I believe that it is very useful to study Shakespeare. First of all, he created if 2000 words when he was alive. This is an amazing task and reading Shakespeare would certainly improve anyone's vocabulary skills. Another reason that it is important to read Shakespeare is because Shakespeare is an important historical figure. He is the figure head for writers in that time period and changed the style of writing. His works are also still relevant to this day. They talk about problems that are still relevant. They also give us a look into the past unlike other stories. We also have more work from him than other writers of that time which is another reason why we choose Shakespeare over other writers. Shakespeare was also a wonderful story writer. His stories were often very complex and contained many twists and turns. His characters were also wonderfully created. He didn't just have them black and white like other stories of that time. He gave depth to them. He made some seem good and then do a bad thing or too. They weren't just good or bad, some were in between. He has also influenced our culture, and many stories now are based off of his stories, like the Lion King. Many people use quotes from Shakespeare and in order to pick up on these quotes one must read Shakespeare. Those are the reasons why I believe  Shakespeare is still useful to study.