The merchant of vince

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The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and Hamlet
The similarities and differences between Shylock’s complaint about Christian prejudice and Emilia’s warning to straying husbands.
The Merchant of Venice and Othello are a comedy play and tragedy respectively.In both, we can see characters complaining about the current state of affairs. Shylock and Emilia, are not satisfied with how the society treats them. Shylock and Emilia reveals an attitude of revenge against their oppressor in the slightest of opportunity. For instance, in Act three scene one, Salarino asks Shylock what would be the benefit of taking Antonio’s life by cutting his flesh to bleed him to death. Shylock answer it’s for revenge and that if the death had no value, it could quench his thirst for revenge (Act 3 scene 1 lines 46- 60). Similarly on the other end, Emilia would revenge on a cheating husband, and this will make her confirm that men and women are equal.
The interaction between Emilia and Desdemona in scene three of Act four, reveal a lot of pain by Emilia. She claims that men believe that women have no value, she states that if women turn to be evil, men are to be blamed for that. In both parties, the characters being told the plans for revenge are against that is Salarino and Desdemona (Act 4 scene 3 lines 62- 67). Desdemona does not agree with Emilia’s idea for women to cheap because their men are doing the same (Act 4, Scene 3). She wishes Emilia a good night and say she would ask God to allow her to learn from women like Emilia but never turn to their ways.

Shylock is complaining of his loss his daughter Jessica for eloping away with a Christian suitor, and worsening the situation she ran with his valuable jewels (Act 2 scene 5 lines 41- 46). At the same time, Antonio owes him a lot of money whose ships is rumored have been wrecked in the sea. He wonders how Antonio will pay his debt but still he will be happy to take his life in revenge for the prejudice that he experiences. Likewise despite the disapproval of the talk by Desdemona concerning cheating, Emilia suggest that she would take the opportunity to cheat on a cheating husband and suggest that it fun.
The main difference between the two passages is that the arguments are between men, and the next is between women that are, the Merchant of Venice and Othello. The difference revealed by one complains over a social issue while the other complains about an economic issue. Emilia’s complaints based on social affair where husbands are presumed to be superior to women by the society. Shylock claims are based on the financial losses he is encountering, although aspects of social affair exist, he turns it commercial (Act 2 Scene 8). For instance, he claims that it will not hurt him to see his daughter dead on his feet with his diamond jewels than to be away alive with them.
Shylock has a parental love despite his harsh comment after her daughter’s elopement. He claims that after Jessica’s elopement exaggerated the curse he felt for being a Jew among Christians (Act 3 scene 1 lines 74- 76). Jessica doesn’t find it as love if she cannot be allowed to love whoever she loves. The outcome is elopement with Lorenzo a Christian. On the other hand, Othello doesn’t feel the deep love that Desdemona had for him. He gets information from Iago about her wife cheating with his lieutenant and ends her life (Act 3 Scene 3).
An analysis of Desdemona by comparing her with Portia and Jessica. What happens to dutiful and disobedient daughters in these plays?
Desdemona is among the main characters in the tragedy of Othello; she has a lot to compare with Portia and Jessica from the drama Merchant of Venice. Their fathers have an active influence in their lives especially on the suitors they should end up with marriage. The three women have nobles father, and this obligates them to take into relationships of their class. For instance, in Othello Act one scene threes Desdemona talks about her divided loyalty and taking Othello over her noble father. Portia and Jessica have noble fathers although a Jew, Shylock was respected for he was a leading money lender. Shylock was a strong economic driver in Venice.
Venetian culture required that white women be married to white men, Desdemona chooses to be married to Othello an African man as revealed by the elopement in Act 1 scene 1. The act was rebellious and against her father’s expectation. Similarly, Jessica elopes with a Christian while her father expected that she married a fellow Jew (Act 2 scene 5 lines 41- 44). Her father is so protective to an extent of asking her to lock her room’s windows and door. There was a nearby ceremony with Christian music that Shylock never wanted contaminate her daughter as revealed in Act 2 scene 5 line 30. Portia’s late Christian father had ordered for a customary marriage, and although Portia doesn’t like it, she sticks to the arrangements. With her intelligent she gets Bassanio her preferred suitor to choose the correct casket by hitting to him in Act 3 scene 2.
The three women feel that they have a problem whose source is their fathers. Jessica hates her father and chooses to rebel. On other hand, Portia and Desdemona, have a problem with their fathers but doesn’t hate them. They want to solve their problem in intelligent ways. The three women were against traditions and had specific suitors they preferred. Although Portia had no specific suitor chosen for her, she was not contented with the means by which she was to get a suitor via the casket (Act 2 scene 7 lines 11-12). Desdemona is naïve on how she love and the kind of questions she asks Emilia. For instance, she asks if it was possible for a wife to cheat (Act 4 Scene 3). She is loyal and in deep love with Othello even after she was accused of cheating, she still never believed that she was going to die, and her end is tragic. Similarly, Ophelia in the play Hamlet, she is portrayed as blindly following her father command and wishes. Ophelia believes that she has to obey her father and whatever she is told she should follow (Act 1 scene line 145). She believes that once she is married potentially by Hamlet, she is expected to show submissiveness and love to her husband. Her blind obedience led to her tragic situation, she is asked to spy on her potential suitor by her father for kind Claudius, as revealed in Act one scene three. Latter Hamlet discloses that he doesn’t love her and that all the tender cares were not real. She is shocked and goes mad with time since she could not deal with such degree of disappointment.
In conclusion, not all the marriages or relationship ends up well. Ophelia and Desdemona never get to consummate their marriage and relationship respectively. Portia and Jessica seem to have achieved their dreams; they ended up with men of their choice. The reality is that women in this context have no value before men. Women from the plays have no control over their bodies, their fathers and husbands are in control, their fathers define their worth. In modern England, women have attained equality with men, and they get to choose their suitors.
Works Cited
SparkNotes. SparkNotes. Web. 2 July 2015. <http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/merchant/canalysis.html>.
SparkNotes. SparkNotes. Web. 2 July 2015. <http://nfs.sparknotes.com/othello/page_250.html>.
SparkNotes. SparkNotes. Web. 2 July 2015. <http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/hamlet/section3.rhtml>.