WHO’ST ART THOU NAME?

THEMES

IDEALISM vs REALISM• BaSsaNiO & PoRTiaaCt 2 scEne 2 : Bassanio wins Portia

by refusing to judge her by appearances

• LoReNzO & JeSsiCaAct 5, sCenE 1 : cOmpare

TheMsELveS to mYthiCaL loVeRs

Hatred is a cyclical nature

• ShYlOck & AntOniOAct 3, sCenE 1 LinE 60-61“If yOu pRicK Us dO We nOt

bLeEd?”

The divine quality of mercy.

sYmBOlS

thReE CasKEts…..

GOLD SILVER LEAD

PoUnd OF fLeSH

ThE RiNGs…“Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire” (II.vii.5), and the silver casket, which says, “Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves” (II.vii.7). The correct casket is lead and warns that the person who chooses it must give and risk everything he has.

The Social Background

• VENICEVenice was a powerful trading republic by the time

Dhakespeare came to write his play. It was famous for the quality of its justice, strict laws and impartial enforcement.

• ANTI-SEMITISMChristians in Shakespeare’s England based their anti-

semitism on religious grounds because the Elizabethans inherited the fiction, fabricated by the early Church, that the Jews murdered Christ and were therefore in league with the devil and were actively working to subvert spread of Christianity. This resulted against the Jews.