Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
¶ … Nathaniel's Nutmeg: The True and Incredible Adventures of the Spice Trader who Changed the Course of History" by Giles Milton. Specifically, it will discuss the main theme of the book. The world was a different and much more profitable place after spices were discovered in the East, and spices changed Europe especially. Spices encouraged exploration, created vast fortunes, encouraged European colonization on far away shores, and changed global trade forever. The world could not live without spice, and spice created a new world.
Spices were an important part of living in medieval Europe. They were said to have medicinal properties, and they were used in many recipes. However, they were expensive, and Venice owned a monopoly on their trade. The author notes, "spices had become so popular that demand had long since outstripped supply" (Milton 21). The Portuguese initially had a stronghold on the Spice Islands in Indonesia, but before long, other countries were sending out their own expeditions to bring home precious...
These early discovery voyages fueled exploration and colonization around the world. The text states, "Ferdinand Magellan [...] had long believed there was a far quicker route to the Spice Islands than the lengthy voyage around the Cape of Good Hope" (Milton 24). Thus, the Spice Islands and their bounty created an Age of Discovery that has never been rivaled. In addition, these voyages encountered new lands, and new people, as the author writes, "The journals and letters written by men like Hudson and Juet, along with the accounts preserved by the English East India Company, form an invaluable record of the first European contact with native tribes" (Milton 183).
Trade increased as spices became more readily available, and trade benefited the entire world, not just the rich merchants of Europe. The author writes, "[T]he London merchants reasoned that if they could exchange these goods for cottons, then barter cottons for spices, they would have established a triangle of trade which would benefit everyone"…
References
Milton, Giles. Nathaniel's Nutmeg: The True and Incredible Adventures of the Spice Trader who Changed the Course of History. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999.
Also, the role of the Duke would not be as prominent if the city of Venice would not have been selected for the majority of the activity of the play. The city in itself ensures a certain aura that traditional cultural life as well as the fame of a modern, yet traditional in many instances cities, that provides the story a special twist, embedded in culture, yet modern in
Shylock is also perceived and portrayed as an enemy of the Christian faith and as the nemesis of the play's protagonist, Antonio. He therefore serves a distinct literary purpose by contrasting the depth of friendship exhibited by Antonio's group. Because he is not viewed as a friend, he cannot truly betray any of them. Thus, when Shylock does not back down from his bond with Antonio he is merely
Bassanio chooses lead, when asked to select from the three caskets that Portia offers to test her suitors. She is happy that he wins, and the lead is supposed to be the correct choice, for the person who chooses lead is supposed to be a man who has hazarded all he has, to win Portia. But in truth, Bassanio has hazarded nothing and desires Portia's gold. It is Antonio
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
Merchant of Venice In William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, the playwright uses certain symbolic items to illustrate points about human characteristics. Shakespeare's plays are usually full of symbols which feature in to the major themes of the piece. In The Merchant of Venice, much of the plot consists of the desire for wealth and riches and the things that people are willing to do to acquire more. To mirror
Merchant of Venice is an anti-Semitic play. Rather, what I see in the play is Shakespeare cleverly mocking stereotyped views of both Jews and Christians. Shylock, the Jew, is cruel and inhumane in his demand of a pound of flesh from Antonio for his unpaid debt. On the other hand, the Jew, who is definitely not a nice guy, and who was the subject of laughter in early scenes,