Individual and collective human experiences are interconnected. Discuss.

The interconnection of both the collective and individual human experience provide the
audience with an opportunity to empathise and relate to the issues being presented to them,
and in doing so allowing them to understand more of the world in which they live. Through the
play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ Shakespeare continuously challenges the reader to consider
issues of religious discrimination, gender inequality and wealth. He uses characters of differing
religious backgrounds such as Antonio and Shylock as a framework to reflect on the need for
tolerance and acceptance in the world. Also, Portia is used as the catalyst for understanding the
subservient nature of the role of women in the Elizabethan context. In addition to this
shakespeare illuminates how the desire for money, control many aspects of people’s lives.
Shakespeare effectively uses aspects of the dramatic form to examine the experiences of the
individual within the collective framework of a Christian and patriarchal context.

The Christian religion was the dominant religion in Venetian society and a lack of tolerance and
understanding of the Jewish religion was evident. This provides the framework for Shakespeare
to convey his narrative about religious discrimination and in so doing to encourage the reader to
accept others who are different. Shakespeare encourages the audience to empathise and
understand the issues that Shylock faces. Shylock suffers many discriminatory comments, from
Christians due to his Jewish religion. These characters continuously refer to him as “the Jew”
where the definite article “the,” removes any personal identity Shylock has and thus objectifies
him. Emotion arising from this experience is revealed when he expresses the difficulties he has
endured from Antonio as a result of being considered subhuman- an attitude held in the
Elizabethan context. This includes Antonio “spitting’ upon him and ‘spurning’ him, thus indicating
that Antonio’s Christian values do not resonate with his malicious behaviour. Like Antonio,
Portia, further displays inconsistent behaviour as she speaks of how one must be “merciful” and
that it is “an attribute to God himself” in her monologue in the courtroom. Her actions, soon after
contradict her words. This is apparent when she tells Shylock to kneel “down ... and beg mercy
of the duke”. These imperatives further highlight an inconsistency in human behaviour as,
despite preaching about the goodness of mercy, Portia is unwilling to show mercy unto Shylock.
Therefore, Shakespeare ultimately

Shakespeare challenges this subservient role by portraying Portia as a strong-minded woman

who is prepared to defy the terms of her father’s will in order to marry a person of her choice. In
addition, the personal traits of cleverness that Portia possesses catalyses the representation of
her in the play. Her intelligence portrays her as inconsistent with the behaviours of other women
of her time. Portia states, “...I would rather he should shrive me than wive me”, this comment
from Portia completely opposes the idea and the social norm that the only thing women want
and need is to get married. However, the relationship that Portia finds herself in with Bassanio
also forces her into a paradoxical situation. Furthermore Portia’s immense intelligence is
exposed when she develops a plan to disguise herself as a man, walk through the rialto in
Venice and appear as a judge in court, in order to assist both Bassanio and Antonio in their
case against Shylock, which she ultimately won.
Furthermore the collective experience of the complete obsession with money, reveals how it
consumes one’s life ultimately affecting their judgement and relationships. The entire play is
based on the pivotal element of wealth and the desire of money. The plot of the ‘Merchant of
Venice’ revolves around a Venetian merchant, Antonio who enters a contract with a hated
jewish moneylender, Jewish, in order to help his friend Bassanio court a woman, but
unfortunately Antonio fails to repay the loan. Throughout majority of the play, the various
characters' attitudes toward wealth, the economy, and usury are ultimately utilised as a method
to differentiate between Christians and Jews. The Christians are portrayed as generous and
even careless with their fortunes, hence why Antonio lends money without charging any form of
interest. However the money-hungry Shylock, is accused of caring more for his ducats than
human relationships. This is exposed when Shylock is overwhelmed when he discovers that his
daughter, Jessica has run off with a Christian and his fortune, “My daughter! O my ducats! O my
daughter!”, where the use of the exclamation mark reveals his overwhelming emotion on the
fact that he just lost everything that mattered to him. This further highlights the significance of
money and material items within the character's lives and how it plays an important role in the
way they make their decisions and the way they feel about different issues. Alongside this
Shylock has a grudge against Antonio because he lends out money without charging any
interest. This directly affects Shylock, as being a money lender is the only occupation a jewish
man can occupy, Antonio’s actions cause the interest rates to decrease which leads to less
income for shylock, “He lends out money gratis and brings down the rate of usance here with us
in Venice’. Through the portrayal of Shylock as a money-hungry Jew, Shakespeare encourages
us to understand how the collective experience of the complete obsession with money,
consumes one’s life affecting their judgement and relationships.

Overall the interconnection of both the collective and individual human experiences provide the
audience with an opportunity to empathise and relate to the issues being presented to them,
and in doing so allowing them to understand more of the world in which they live. Through this
shakespeare forces them to question their own morals and beliefs and evaluate how they can
improve not only for themselves but for others who experiences these issues everyday.