A deeper look

I mentioned in a previous post about the financial decisions of Antonio, Bassanio, and Shylock made in the play. I now want delve a little deeper and show where these mistakes were made, and what lessons I hoped they learned and what we can learn.

Antonio

      Is a successful businessman who has a place in his heart for a good friend.  When Basanio comes and asked for help Antonio can’t say no even though he has no money.  He breaks one of his own rules because he doesn’t want to let his friend down. When negotiating with Shylock Antonio states, “although I neither lend nor borrow By taking nor by giving of excess, Yet, to supply the ripe wants of my friend, I'll break a custom.” He agrees to a loan with no collateral to back it. He uses his own life as collateral. Antonio is confident his ships will return. He assures Bassanio, “Come on: in this there can be no dismay; My ships come home a month before the day.” Unfortunately his ships didn’t come back in time.  I hope Antonio learned these 3 things. 

1. Do not put all of your eggs in one basket; you need to diversify your investments.
2. Even if you qualify for a loan it may not be wise to take it.
3. If everything else fails make sure you have a good lawyer.

Bassanio

Bassanio came to understand what happens when you rely on others to help you get money, when Shylock and Antonio are negotiating terms, Bassanio realizes things are getting pretty deep and states, “shall not seal to such a bond for me: I'll rather dwell in my necessity.” The assurance from Antonio quiets his concerns. However a few months later when he receives a letter from Antonio his worst fears occur. “Bassanio, my ships have all miscarried, my creditors grow cruel, my estate is very low, my bond to the Jew is forfeit; and since in paying it, it is impossible I should live, all debts are cleared between you and I, if I might but see you at my death. Notwithstanding, use your pleasure: if your love.” It could have ended a lot worse but I hope Bassanio learned these things:

1. Don’t put your financial obligations on someone else. 
2. The burden of a penalty coming due is greater if you have no power to affect the outcome.

Shylock

Shylock was persecuted, and this wore him down, he became greedy and thought his desires could be satisfied by the law being fulfilled. When negotiating the contract he was eager to take a pound of flesh from Antonio if the payment didn’t come in full. This is what he wanted and he wouldn’t accept anything else. “What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong? You have among you many a purchased slave, Which, like your asses and your dogs and mules, You use in abject and in slavish parts, Because you bought them: shall I say to you, Let them be free, marry them to your heirs? Why sweat they under burthens? let their beds Be made as soft as yours and let their palates Be season'd with such viands? You will answer 'The slaves are ours:' so do I answer you: pound of flesh, which I demand of him, Is dearly bought; 'tis mine and I will have it. If you deny me, fie upon your law! There is no force in the decrees of Venice. I stand for judgment: answer; shall I have it?” Even after Bassanio offers him 3x the sum owed even 10 times. Shylocked continued, “An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven: Shall I lay perjury upon my soul? No, not for Venice.” With one last effort Portia pleads, “A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off Nearest the merchant's heart. Be merciful: Take thrice thy money; bid me tear the bond.” Shylock has become narrow minded and Portia must confide, she informs Shylock of all the stipulations of removing the pound of flesh. Basically making it impossible to complete without Shylock losing everything at this point Shylock back tracks, he says, “I take this offer, then; pay the bond thrice And let the Christian go.” But it was too late Portia has to continue, “Jew shall have all justice; soft! no haste: He shall have nothing but the penalty.” Shylock loses everything, his greed led to his demise. I hope Shylock learned these things:

1. Be willing to negotiate when the contract is due. Be Christlike and show mercy
2. Contract language is difficult and can be interpreted differently if you are not very careful
3. Always focus on the bigger picture and try not to become narrow minded and close your mind.

I hope you can gain something from these lessons that these men have taught us, if you think of any others let me know.

A look at the Merchant of Venice

This weekend I had the opportunity to an adaptation of The Merchant of Venice for young audiences. It was put on by some students at BYU. I wondered what major themes they would emphasize and if they would adapt some of the key conflicts. Here is what I saw.

First and foremost the show focused on integrating the children into the show. This meant that they 5 main actors chose students to fill in the other roles. With this addition no two of the performances will ever be the same. The kids were on their toes looking for opportunities to participate, and just when they began to get comfortable, a twist was thrown where two of the kids were destined to be married. This got some interesting facial expression from the kids and caused the audiences to laugh.

In setting the stage for the play the staff showed kids bullying based solely on someone being different, this set the stage for one of the critical themes of the Merchant of Venice and the misunderstanding people have of eachother. Instead of pitting Jew vs. Christian the cast pitted major culture vs. a minor culture. Throughout the show you could see how people in essence tend to pick on those they don't understand. Throughout the play Shylock was shown as an outcast, and by the end this had torn him down that he had become even more an outcast and less willing to ever want to belong.

The Actors helped me see more of the emotion that is involved in the play and the relationships became more vivid in my mind. It was different having Antonio be Antonia, but seeing Portia's cunningness before the duke and her plea to Shylock helped solidify the play in my mind. An excellent production that I w
ish I would have taken my niece to see.

Shakespeare teaches you need a good lawyer, and a good financial advisor

In reading this play, I really became fascinated by the financial issue that is featured throughout the story. What lessons did each character learn?

• Antonio
• No matter how secure you feel to pay back debt, sometimes you become unable to.
• Bassanio
• If you can get someone to cosign your debt all the obligation is off of you but you will feel the sorrow of your cosigner if the debt goes unpaid.
• Shylock
• Contracts are ruthless, vengeance is never as sweet as it seems. When you are a creditor you probably want more collatoral than a weight of carrion flesh.

I am intrigued to here more from the members of our class today. I will follow this post up later this week on what investing and lending lessons we should learn, and give some advice to these three for future transactions.

Monkeys and Shakespeare?

So I was searching around the internet and found this article,
check out this link Monkeys creating Shakespeare

"The fewer men, the greater share of honour."

It was interesting to see how different characters felt they could have an influence on the decisions King Henry would make. From the beginning with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely to King Henry's old friends fighting for loyalty.  King Henry comes into his role and delivers what the people need.

      King Henry motivational lines:

• "The fewer men, the greater share of honour."
• "Let me speak proudly: tell the constable We are but warriors for the working-day;"
• "Take it, brave York. Now, soldiers, march away: And how thou pleasest, God, dispose the day!"

By being able to hear and see these lines after reading I was able to gain greater appreciation for the words that Shakespeare used in allowing King Henry to fulfill his role and lead his people.

Fleeting Magic

After reading The Tempest some may perceive Miranda and Ferdinand's relationship to be magical. But those who have learned the truth know their magic is fleeting.

Our discussion opened my mind as to what my view on magic is? Here is what I found
Definition from Bing
In this definition it highlights one thing I learned.  Anyone can have magic, all you need is a specialized knowledge that the person you are interacting with doesn't have. Each person in the world has some specialty that can fall into this category. Think of all the many times you yourself have been amazed by something. But when you figure it out the magic goes away...

My Personal Learning Plan

I want to be able to achieve the 5 objectives that Dr. Burton expressed in the course Syllabus.

1.       Gain Shakespeare Literacy

2.       Analyze Shakespeare Critically

       

3.       Engage Shakespeare Creatively

4.       Share Shakespeare Meaningfully This includes engaging in the following:

5.       Gain Digital Literacy

If I can achieve each of these objectives this will really be an effective class for me. I believe that all of these objectives are possible. To accomplish them I will strive to work on and complete the following items:

Blogging

·         Manage a blog where I will post my thoughts and interact with others online. I will be consistently posting new material 2-3 times a week.

·         Link my Shakespeare Literacy to the present day, by finding one present day example a month.

·         Start reading blogs of classmates to see style and learn how I am supposed to write.

Studying

·         Read 5 entire Shakespeare Plays, and become familiar with another 5 plays

·         Choose one piece of Shakespeare to deeply study, and analyze. Review others commentary and analysis and listen to it being read.

Involvement

·         Be active in attending 2 live Shakespeare plays.

·         Memorize one of Shakespeare’s Sonnets

·         Work in a team to identify and complete a creative project that helps others to understand Shakespeare.

Well I better get started, good luck everyone!

The first of many to come.

I have never blogged, never a reason to start. But if I must I will start blogging about my great love and passion for Shakespeare. That love isn't there yet but hopefully it will be by the end of this class.

I am familiar with Shakespeare but have never delved into it much. I do have a few siblings who know alot more than I do. My brother majored in Theater at BYU. Hopefully they as well as all of you will help me to gain the love for Shakespeare.