MERCHANT OF VENICE QUOTES Flashcards
(7 cards)
Portia - “O me, the word ‘choose’!”
inverted commas - criticises the patriarchal society ; she hasn’t got any love, nor choice
exclamatory scent - implies anger; women were seen as inferior/objects
Portia - “the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father”
compound structure - separates the 2 opposing views of living and dead
verb - “curbed” - Portia’s dreams have been crushed and restricted
pun on “will” - father is more masculine and daughter has had dreams crushed and more femenine
Portia - “yes, yes it was Bassanio - as i think he was called”
repetition - shows Portia’s excitement of being able to have a choice
exclamatory scent - implies further
dash - tone shift; Portia has forgotten to control her emotions and tries to hide her true feelings. spin so gives her more power in patriarchal society
Portia - “ one half of me is yours, the other half yours… and so all yours”
repetition - “yours” - Portia is willingly giving herself away; follows social expectations, and love B very much
blank verse - suggests Portia is putting on a performance and not being honest; she is objectifying herself and conforming to social expectations
Portia - “i stand for sacrifice”
sibilance - creates a snake-like hissing sound, snakes are evil in christianity, suggesting an evil side to Portia
Antonio - “my purse, my person, my extremist means lie all unlocked to you”
repeated use of poss pron - “my” - emphasises the sheer amount of Antonio’s belongings that are being given freely to Bassanio
superlative - “extremest” - highlights that Antonio will give B anything to make him happy further suggesting a homoerotic behaviour between the two characters
Shylock - “you kick me like a stranger cur”
verb - “kick” - violent behaviour that Christians carry out towards the Jewish community
adjective - “stranger cur” - now means a stray dog - dehumanises the Jewish community comparing them to animals
