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The interaction between father and son takes place in Act II, Scene ii, with a teasing display of affection where Lancelot fools his father into thinking he is dead, and then asks for his help in leaving Shylock's employment. His father, an old blind servant, supports his son and urges Bassanio to hire his son. The unconditional love between father and son is quite clear in this funny yet touching scene. This is in direct contrast to the relationship between Jessica and Shylock. Jessica despises living in her father's house and hopes to elope with her love, Lorenzo. She finds her father stingy and live in her home is "hell." She despairs when Lancelot leaves, and determines to leave as well. Both she and Lancelot chafe at Shylock's ways, but her relationship with her father is strained at best. The healthy relationship between Lancelot and his father only serves to point out the difficulties between Shylock and his daughter, and serve to show the importance Shakespeare placed on family relationships in his work. Eventually, Jessica denounces her father and her family religion, and hopes to become a Christian, which is the ultimate rejection of her Jewish father and his way of life.
Both plays certainly address family issues differently, and yet the core is the same, as it is in so many Shakespeare plays - comedy, tragedy, or romance. Family issues are at the core of many of the characters' most important, life-changing decisions. The relationship...
Shakespeare uses this emotional and often volatile relationship as a tool in his work, and even when it is not the dominant theme, as in these two works, it certainly plays an important role beside the other characters in the plays. These two works illustrate the subtle and not so subtle way family relationships alter how the characters look at the world. Jessica sees the world as an escape from her father's iron hand, while Henry uses his position and power inherited from his father to change the face of England, at least for a time. Family relationships are at the root of their actions and the root of their rewards, as well.
In conclusion, both of these plays illustrate the intricacies of parent/child relationships. Some are exceedingly healthy and adult, while some are exceedingly childish and harmful. It is quite clear from these two works that parents can influence and drive their children's lives - often long after their deaths. Many of Shakespeare's works include this theme of familial bonding and bondage, and these two works illustrate this theme in very diverse ways, but with commonalities, too. The parent/child relationship has dominated families for centuries, and Shakespeare's works help show the complexities of this nearly unavoidable family relationship.
Merchant of Venice: Queen Elizabeth vs. Portia There are a number of similarities that exist between Queen Elizabeth of England and William Shakespeare's character Portia in his play The Merchant of Venice. Both women had a good amount of money and power; although Portia was not royalty, she was still a wealthy heiress in the city of Belmont. Because of the money and power associated with these women, they each had
His daughter Martha married David Ramsay, a physician, historian, and South Carolina Congressman. Her lifelong journal was published by the family after her death, and it chronicled her life, but much of her father's life in the political arena as well. Lauren's son, Henry Jr., married Eliza, the daughter of John Rutledge, and inherited his father's estate, and his other daughter Mary had been involved in a dubious relationship with
Patrick Henry the Man Who Started the American Revolution On December 1, 1763 a young relatively unknown lawyer stood in public for the first time and openly defended in court the rights of the American colonies to be free. He started his speech by stuttering and stammering, but that did not last long. And when he was done speaking, cries of treason went up from the crowd, however, his argument was
Sztejn v. Henry Schroder Banking Corp Case: The Sztejn v. Henry Schroder Banking Corporation case, which was decided by Judge Shientag is considered as a landmark case that contributed to the development of English case law with regards to the fraud exception. The applicant of the letter of credit in the case sought a court injunction against the issuing bank in order to stop it from paying on documents that were
) "Sonnet 130" by Shakespeare and "Sonnet 23" by Louis Labe both talk about love, as so many sonnets do. Their respective techniques however, differentiate them from each other. Shakespeare uses a rhyme scheme that became known as Shakespearean rhyme scheme or English rhyme. He writes about love in a sarcastic manner though. He is mocking the traditional love poems and the usual expressive manner in which women are often compared
Parliament What three factors were most important in the development of Parliament as an independent institution with broad political, legislative and financial powers prior to Henry VIII? Parliament (meaning parler, or 'to talk' in French) came into common use in the mid-thirteenth century (p. 155). It was the term used to refer to the primary meeting of the King and his Great Council. The King typically relied on such assemblies of lords,