A Dose Of Drama Essay Research Paper

A Dose Of Drama Essay, Research Paper

A Dose of Drama:

How Much Wit Can You Take?

Antonio is the namesake of Shakespeare & # 8217 ; s The Merchant of Venice, but in add-on to lending to the rubric, his changeless hunt for emotional martyrdom adds an air of deepness and play to an otherwise lighthearted and absurd drama. Like many of Shakespeare & # 8217 ; s best characters, Antonio could easy be overlooked as a mere plot-device. However, upon farther review, he & # 8217 ; s more than merely planar ; he has a history, a personality, and a raison vitamin D & # 8217 ; ? tre.

Entering with ailments of apparition depressions, Antonio explains his sufferings to two of his friends, Salerio and Solanio.

ANTONIO:

In sooth, I know non why I am so sad.

It wearies me, you say it wearies you.

But how I caught it, found it, or came by it

What material & # 8217 ; Ti made of, whereof & # 8217 ; Ti Born

I am to larn.

And such a want-wit unhappiness makes of me

That I have much bustle to cognize myself ( I.i.1-7 ) .

The audience ne’er does larn the cause of this depression. Nor, it seems, does Antonio. Many speculate it is boding of his melancholy to come, while others say it is merely a show of Antonio & # 8217 ; s default attitude: romantic unhappiness. His emotions are non those of a cell-bound manic-depressive, but instead those of a big hearted individual doting endlessly for the unachievable. Why does this open the drama? Shakespeare frequently smartly manipulated his characters & # 8217 ; actions for the interest of secret plan disclosures. For case, Shakespeare uses his depression to allow Salerio and Solanio inquiry him about his personal businesss, therefore presenting him to the audience. Throughout the drama, the reverberations of many escapades fall upon Antonio ; his 3,000-ducat debt, and Shylock & # 8217 ; s subsequent resentment, every bit good as the devastation of his ships all must be placed on his shoulders. However, in the terminal, while everyone else finds love, he is entirely. It about seems that Antonio welcomes these negative events, as they fuel his cryings and groans. This is non to state that he is a wimp, but instead that he does what he can to stay romantically sad.

ANTONIO:

I hold this universe but as the universe, Gratiano,

A phase where every adult male must play a portion,

And mine a sad one ( I.i.81-83 ) .

This quote rather bluffly states how Antonio feels it is his fate, his Dharma, to be depressed.

So, if he is non a secret plan device with legs, what is Antonio?

Although his love involvements seem non-existent, Antonio seems to be the lover of the narrative ; he is sensitive, doting, and generous ( every bit good as individual! ) & # 8211 ; all common features of Shakespearian romantics. However, Bassanio, a worthier suer ( he seems to hold a more positive look-out on life ) takes this function. Antonio is non amusing alleviation, since the Gobbos fill that. Any hatred the audience might experience is directed at Shylock, so the lone thing Antonio can draw from the viewing audiences is sympathy. It seems Antonio is at that place to provide the & # 8220 ; dramatic relief. & # 8221 ; One can merely take so much levity before it becomes sickening! The Merchant of Venice is categorized as a comedy? possibly Shakespeare felt he needed to blend up the emotions. And this is true? Antonio & # 8217 ; s emotions, if examined, seem to be some of the truest of the drama, although few investigate the subtext.

His cordiality with Bassanio is a close one, worthy of words like & # 8216 ; love & # 8217 ; : & # 8220 ; BASSANIO: To you, Antonio / I owe the most in money, and in love ( I.i.137-138 ) . & # 8221 ; This shows reasonably evidently how Bassanio is indebted to Antonio non merely in borrowed money, but besides in love. Antonio concurs with this a few lines subsequently, stating & # 8220 ; My bag, my individual, my extremest means / Lie all unlocked to your occasions [ demands ] ( I.i.145-146 ) , & # 8221 ; reminding his friend that his money, aid, love and assist are available to him. The phrasing is interesting though. Stating that his offerings are & # 8220 ; unbarred & # 8221 ; to him implies that to everyone else, they are locked. Possibly Bassanio entirely can pierce through Antonio & # 8217 ; s fog of heavyheartedness. Most male friends, even thos

vitamin E in Shakespeare, don’t flip “love” about lightly. While some dismiss it as nil but word pick, others dig deeper. Homoerotic underplays are cited legion times throughout the drama, and these are deserving look intoing. First off, the fact that, even with such obvious word picture as “the lover” , Antonio fails in make fulling that responsibility could be symbolic of his homosexualism. The correlativity is noteworthy between his and Portia’s “world-weariness” , and at foremost a reader may believe the two seem destined to be together? but he remains a unmarried man. This leads one to wonder…if he is so in love, and with no adult female ( for Shakespeare leaves no emotion un-exploited ) , who with? However, Bassanio’s love for Portia is echt, as we see. Antonio’s love for Bassanio is fervent and passionate. He is willing to bear all his agony at Shylock’s custodies for the interest of his friend, and Bassanio declares often that he will offer his life en stead of Antonio’s “pound of flesh.” Again, this could be close friendly relationship, but one must inquire oneself? would you give your life up for merely any friend?

Some critics opine that Bassanio is bisexual. His offering of his marrying ring to the handsome immature & # 8220 ; male & # 8221 ; attorneies can be inferred as a mark, depending on the position of the two & # 8217 ; s relationship. Would it impact the narrative one manner or another? Possibly. It would explicate the ardor with which Antonio AIDSs Bassanio, every bit good as why he remains a unmarried man through out the drama. This could in bend besides explain why Antonio is depressed. His close friend, and possible object of fondness, is involved with a faraway adult female, to whom he would no doubt do hastiness, go forthing Antonio entirely. But he seems to accept his station in the secret plan & # 8212 ; in life. He about seems to bask this hurting, like some kind of emotional masochist. He even states this, naming himself the & # 8216 ; feeble lamb of the flock, apt for decease & # 8217 ; :

ANTONIO:

I am a corrupt wether of the flock,

Meetest for decease. The weakest sort of fruit

Drops earliest to the land, and so allow me ;

You can non be better employed, Bassanio,

Than to populate still, and write mine epitaph ( IV.i.116-120 ) .

He begs Antonio to allow him decease for this. Possibly Antonio thinks a life without Bassanio is non deserving life. Or possibly he says this to prove him, trusting for the response he gets:

BASSANIO:

Antonio, I am married to a married woman

Which is as beloved to me as life itself,

But life itself, my married woman, and all the universe,

Are non with me esteemed above thy life:

I would lose all, ay, give them all,

Here to this devil [ Shylock ] , to present you ( IV.i.294-299 ) .

But even with his worth recognized by Bassanio, Antonio & # 8217 ; s overall temper remains unchanged. He is sad, about anhedonic, in that he ne’er attains any genuinely positive feelings. This being a comedy, his depression radiances through the wit like, as Portia provinces in act V, a taper in a dark hallway. Were this a play, he would suit in absolutely. In the expansive strategy, Antonio & # 8217 ; s gender is non the of import thing found while wading through the subtext of the drama. Whatever they may be, Antonio & # 8217 ; s determinations are ever tainted, if non full of the end of farther unhappiness.

So Antonio, the established & # 8220 ; dosage of play & # 8221 ; , acknowledges that he is best ( and most utile plot-wise ) when sad, and possibly subconsciously does what he can make to maintain himself this manner. And he does: by hankering for a adult male he can ne’er hold, delving himself into debt with Shylock ( even when aware of the dangers ) , and dramatically wailing, even without a good ground to. While most characters change from get downing to stop, Antonio merely additions in his somberness. He begins sad, and ends unrealized. Portia references briefly that his ships have returned safely, but this slightly unreal ( and all excessively convenient ) alleviation is non what he wants. He wants to stay himself: to stay dejected, forlorn and disconsolate. For if he remains himself, than the drama has reliable play and emotion.

Bibliography

Shakespeare, William. & # 8220 ; The Merchant of Venice & # 8221 ;