Saturday, February 15, 2014
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).
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I think your point of view on this is interesting because in class we tend to discuss it from a "who is Shylock" perspective. You take it from a different angle, making the other characters the main character and Shylock as the problem the main characters face. I think the most interesting part about this book is we never get to really learn who the main character is so we never know from which perspective to look (we never find out who the merchant of venice is!!!). I, however, think some of your points make me think the other way around. When I see the Antonio almost dies scene, I sort of think of it in the comedic sense, where there is an evil character that is about to win, but then something happens and the villain ends up being defeated. A tragedy is all about the main heroic character falling from grace and... well never getting back up again. I think you bring up an excellent point about the wedding and how that is a main characteristic of a comedy. You gave me a lot to think about :) Great Job.
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