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A review by duarshe
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Bear with me, because at this point I'm just going to use my recently acquired knowledge from my English Literature course to review this.
I will start by saying that reading classics, especially English classics (as in the language), is hard for me. It is already hard to read a Spanish classic written in the medieval Spanish language, even though it is my first language. Imagine reading Shakespearean English without having English as a first language. Honestly, half the time I just do not know what the characters are saying, but I try, and, to me, that is what matters. Therefore, when rating classics, I need to keep in mind that if it feels boring or way too complicated, it is probably just my Spanish ass not understanding the language. Now, taking this into account, when rating a classic, I try to be as objective as possible in the sense of language and writing, because I know that if I had read it in Spanish, I would have had a great time.
Now onto the actual book, shall we? This was a hard one to decide on, if I am being completely honest. The Merchant of Venice is considered a comedy, which is quite controversial since comedies are basically based on jokes, making people laugh, entertaining, etc. So what should an author do when writing a comedy? Joke a lot. Shakespeare knew better than me the society he lived in and the jokes that were going to be successful. That is why he played a lot with stereotypes, such as in Act I, Scene II, where Portia and Nerissa are talking about Portia's suitors. Shakespeare plays with the stereotypes of multiple European countries (Germans are all alcoholics). LOL. Hilarious), and people laughed at it. It is fine; we do that all the time nowadays.
Where is the problem, then? Well, one of the objects of such stereotypes is Shylock (a rich Jew, who would've known); he is the main villain (and, dare I say, the main character) of the play. He tries to get rid of Antonio by claiming the bound. By Act V, everything is solved (thanks to Portia, obviously), and the solution to ending Shylock is making him convert to a Christian (I was not a fan, but okay). Shakespeare played with anti-Semitic jokes, and, honestly, 16th-century Anglicans were eating this up because making fun of Jews was a whole vibe back then. Nevertheless, nowadays we cannot see anti-Semitism the same way, and it is not as funny or hilarious anymore. Since the 16th century, many years have passed, and, in between, a whole world war based on anti-Semitism that caused the death of millions of Jews. So, is this fun? If the main victims of a war would have been alcoholic Germans, then Portia saying that about one would not have been funny either.
The point I try to make is that, from a 21st century point of view, this is not a great comedy, if we are being honest. However, read and performed in its time, The Merchant of Venice was golden. The most important thing when reading classics is to read from both perspectives (now and before) and ALWAYS be autocritical. Never accept that a book is good or that its issues are acceptable just because it is a classic and bla bla bla. I mean, Twilight is going to be a classic if it is not yet. Does this mean we should just embrace that Jacob Black imprinted on a baby? Obviously, NO.
Anyway, I enjoyed the book, and Portia is everything I want to be some day.
I will start by saying that reading classics, especially English classics (as in the language), is hard for me. It is already hard to read a Spanish classic written in the medieval Spanish language, even though it is my first language. Imagine reading Shakespearean English without having English as a first language. Honestly, half the time I just do not know what the characters are saying, but I try, and, to me, that is what matters. Therefore, when rating classics, I need to keep in mind that if it feels boring or way too complicated, it is probably just my Spanish ass not understanding the language. Now, taking this into account, when rating a classic, I try to be as objective as possible in the sense of language and writing, because I know that if I had read it in Spanish, I would have had a great time.
Now onto the actual book, shall we? This was a hard one to decide on, if I am being completely honest. The Merchant of Venice is considered a comedy, which is quite controversial since comedies are basically based on jokes, making people laugh, entertaining, etc. So what should an author do when writing a comedy? Joke a lot. Shakespeare knew better than me the society he lived in and the jokes that were going to be successful. That is why he played a lot with stereotypes, such as in Act I, Scene II, where Portia and Nerissa are talking about Portia's suitors. Shakespeare plays with the stereotypes of multiple European countries (Germans are all alcoholics). LOL. Hilarious), and people laughed at it. It is fine; we do that all the time nowadays.
Where is the problem, then? Well, one of the objects of such stereotypes is Shylock (a rich Jew, who would've known); he is the main villain (and, dare I say, the main character) of the play. He tries to get rid of Antonio by claiming the bound. By Act V, everything is solved (thanks to Portia, obviously), and the solution to ending Shylock is making him convert to a Christian (I was not a fan, but okay). Shakespeare played with anti-Semitic jokes, and, honestly, 16th-century Anglicans were eating this up because making fun of Jews was a whole vibe back then. Nevertheless, nowadays we cannot see anti-Semitism the same way, and it is not as funny or hilarious anymore. Since the 16th century, many years have passed, and, in between, a whole world war based on anti-Semitism that caused the death of millions of Jews. So, is this fun? If the main victims of a war would have been alcoholic Germans, then Portia saying that about one would not have been funny either.
The point I try to make is that, from a 21st century point of view, this is not a great comedy, if we are being honest. However, read and performed in its time, The Merchant of Venice was golden. The most important thing when reading classics is to read from both perspectives (now and before) and ALWAYS be autocritical. Never accept that a book is good or that its issues are acceptable just because it is a classic and bla bla bla. I mean, Twilight is going to be a classic if it is not yet. Does this mean we should just embrace that Jacob Black imprinted on a baby? Obviously, NO.
Anyway, I enjoyed the book, and Portia is everything I want to be some day.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism