Common Mod

Question 1

Hatred/Religious Animosity 1

Answer 1

“Your worth is very dear in my regard”
Characterisation
Kinship between Christian merchants through warmth and humour
Human ability to identify with a community and experience affection and connection relevant throughout time to all audiences

Question 2

Hatred/Religious Animosity 2

Answer 2

“dog Jew” or “the devil incarnate” against “the Christian fools”
antonomasia and animalistic imagery as Shylock is metonymic for the Jewish community when he is stripped of his name
dramatic form of opposing groups on stage to create conflict
depersonalises Shylock and groups him with the collective
shows the tunnelled perspectives through the collective hatred of a community influencing the views of individuals
Christian value of mercy conflicts with Old Testament
new testament deemed usance sinful leading to heating jewish and Christian conflict

Question 3

Hatred/Religious Animosity 3

Answer 3

“the villainy you teach me I shall execute”
Shylock’s dramatic monologue
Depicts conflict is a learned behaviour and is eternalised through the cycle of hatred and revenge
capacity to identify with society should be a positive and soul-affirming notion and dramatic tension is generated when this is subverted and warped into a catalyst for corrupted exclusion

Question 4

Greed and Vengeance 1

Answer 4

“if it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge”
repetition of “feed” evokes animalistic imagery symbolising the animal-like greed for revenge

Question 5

Greed and Vengeance 2

Answer 5

“Oh my ducats! Oh my daughter!”
anaphora and alliteration
similar sounding phrases reveal his equivalent level of importance for both
values money equal to his family showing his immense motivation for vengeance for Antonio
emblematic of Elizabethan times of jews greed of only job being usury

Question 6

Greed and Vengeance 3

Answer 6

“If every ducat in six thousand ducats/ were in six parts, and every part a ducat,/ I would not draw them, I would have my bond”
hyperbole + parallelism
vengeance overrides monetary greed
Shylock denies extra payment in Act 4 Scene 1 to demand his “pound of flesh” bond
inconsistency with usurer stereotypes

Question 7

Conflict between loyalties 1

Answer 7

“but when this ring/ parts from this finger, then life parts from hence”
ring prop of unionisation through marriage metaphorically symbolises the binding loyalty of Bassanio to Portia
talk about Belmont contrasting to Venice
Romantic
could say comedic contrast with the end in Belmont

Question 8

Conflict between loyalties 2

Answer 8

“let… my love… be valu’d against your wife’s commandment”
juxtapositioned between love and commandment represents Bassanio’s internal conflict (friendship and morals vs wife)

“not with me esteem’d above thy life”
dramatic tension and antithesis
conflict between Bassanio’s loyalties between wife and antonio
reveals complex nature of loyalties as Bassanio is forced to favour one, causing the ring to further become a symbol of conflict
Friendship

Question 9

Conflict between loyalties 3

Answer 9

“I shall end this strife, become a Christian and thy loving wife”
Rhyming couplet + soliloquy
Jessica sacrificing her father showing her conflicting strife of loyalties
feels grief and regret as she has to decide between loyalties defying societal norms
Familial
abandoning her father and religion for love and acceptance by Christian community