ASSIGNMENT
Assigned Readings: Primary Reading:
Shakespeare, William. “The Merchant of Venice!’ The Norton Shakespeare: The Essential Plays/Sonnets, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, 3rd Edition, W.W. Norton and Co., 2015.
Secondary Reading: Note: Please read only the page numbers indicated on the citation. You do not need to read the entire book. Lewalski, Barbara K. “Biblical Allusion and Allegory in The Merchant of Venice:’ Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 13, no. 3, 1962, pp. 327-343. 4, a Berry, Phillipa. “Incising Venice:The Violence of Cultural Incorporation in The Merchant of Venice.” Renaissance Go-Betweens: Cultural Exchange in Early Modern Europe, De Gruyter, 2011, pp. 248-261. 4,
Prompts
After completing Module 7, please post your Third Miniature Synthesis Essay below.
Using Hegel’s and Michelet’s excerpts below, demonstrate the legal relevance of the latin expression « partes secanto » and its psycho-religious impact on either the character of Antonio or Shylock.
Take the horrible law, which permitted a creditor, after the lapse of a fixed term of respite, […] to cut pieces off the debtor […] with the proviso that if the creditor should cut off too much or too little, no action should be taken against him. It was this clause, it may be noticed, which stood Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in such a good stead. (Hegel, Philosophy of Right)
The debt acknowledged, the case duly judged, let the law be put on him (the insolvent debtor), let him be brought before the judge. The tribunal closes with the going down of the sun. If he does not satisfy the judgement […] the creditor will lead him away and tie him up with belts or chains […].Let the creditor live on what he has. […] On the third day […] let (the creditor) cut up the debtor into several parts (in partes secanto). (Michelet, The Origins of Laws)
ANTONIO: Grieve not that I am fall’n to this for you, For herein Fortune shows herself more kind Than is her custom. It is still her use To let the wretched man outlive his wealth, To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow An age of poverty – from which lingering penance Of such misery doth she cut me off. Commend me to your honorable wife. Tell her the process of Antonio’s end. Say how I loved you. Speak me fair in death. And when the tale is told, bid her be judge Whether Bassanio had not once a love. Repent but you that you shall lose your friend, And he repents not that he pays your debt. For if the Jew do cut but deep enough, I’ll pay it presently with all my heart. (4.1.278-93)
Guidelines:
Compose a miniature synthesis essay which brings together the module’s primary text of study with the two accompanying secondary scholarly articles in an original, interesting analysis that responds to one or more of the questions listed at the end of each module. Each miniature essay should be approximately 500-600 words, excluding the works cited.
Cite two secondary articles AND a primary reading(s) from the modules in order to receive full credit for this assignment. Failure to include these sources will result in a 1-point deduction from their original grade for each source not included.
The primary reading that also needs to be cited is “The Merchant of Venice” by Shakespeare.
