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Good And Evil In William Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice

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Much has been discussed and elaborated about one of numerous Shakespeare’s masterpieces – The Merchant of Venice. Opposite points of view have been supported, concerning the themes displaying the play, and all of them have been accepted as quite valid throughout the centuries. How is it possible to achieve such a result, out of interpretations which are in absolute contrast amongst themselves? Needless to say, every generation in history tends to analyse the great masterpieces of the previous times according to the current patterns. The themes touched in the play are highly topical, for we can engage in a comparative analysis of such themes, which are nowadays on the headlines. Portia’s resoluteness goes beyond patriarchal structures, first by …show more content…

Despite on the surface there is a logic allocation of characters in the opposing categories “evil vs. good," the play gives rotundity to the characters, in an exquisitely relativist fashion. The man is permanently swinging between the two extremes of good and bad, never reaching one of the two absolutes. In those times, such as nowadays, a silent but capital part is played by money, but the lust for capital, by the need to possess things. Shylock gets as far as asking for its rival flesh in exchange for the debt, in an extreme will of possession; the happy ending of the story is enriched by the news delivered by Portia, “ three of your argosies are richly come to harbour suddenly” (Act V, scene I). Maybe Freud made us somehow skeptical about the understanding of friendship between men, and in this way we may grasp the possibility for Antonio’s semi latent sexual attraction for Bassanio, expressed by his unexplained depression and readiness to give everything for his friend. The possibility for endless interpretations is what makes a classic what it is, and this perfectly combines with Shakespeare ability to create complex, multifaceted

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