Sunday, February 9, 2014
Belmont vs. Venice
In the Merchant of Venice, I think it is obvious that Shakespeare separates the cities of Belmont and Venice into different "worlds". I thing that Belmont is the "Green World" and Venice is the "City World". Reasons for this is that like Belmont, the "Green World" is (for lack of a better word) ruled by women. So far, the only characters we have seen in Belmont are two female charecters (Portia and Narissa). In the city world, the "rulers" are the men, and so far we have seen Shylock, Bassanio, and Antonio in Venice, which are all men. Although the women and the men rule their respective areas, in the end, the men rule over "their women". An example of this is that although Narissa is the ruler of the Green World, her deceased father is ulitimetely the one who choses how her husband will be picked, and essentially gives her no choice. Her husband is chosen by a "lottery that [her father] hath devised in... three chests of gold, silver, and lead, whereof who choses [her father's] meaning choses [Narissa]".
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I agree that Belmont is the green world. Another example of Belmont being the green world is that romantic things are happening in Belmont. Usually in the green world, romantic stuff goes on. Also Venice, clearly has order because they are giving loans and to give a loan you have to have laws. The city world usually has things to do with laws or order.
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