Unit 19 The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice

Warming up

( ) William Shakespeare

( ) William Shakespeare

威廉 · 莎士比亚（ William Shakespeare ） 1954 年 4 月生于英格兰特拉福德镇 (Stratford-Upon-Avon) ，父亲叫约翰 · 莎 士比亚（ John Shakespeare ），是个手 套商人。莎士比亚的父亲在他出生时非 常富有，但是后来被控卷入黑市羊毛交 易，而家道中落，并失去了市议员的位 置。

1596 年，莎士比亚唯一的儿子 Hamnet 死亡，于 1596 年 8 月 11 日安葬。很多人 相信莎士比亚的名剧《哈姆雷特》 （ Hamlet ）就是为了纪念他的儿子的 年，莎士比亚把他在特拉福德镇的 “ 一栋家宅、两间畜舍、两个花园、两个 果园，和其他所有东西 ” 以 60 英镑的价格 售出，到伦敦，成了一名著名的演员和 作家。

他最后还成为一家剧团的合伙人 —— 张 伯伦勋爵剧团（ The Lord Chamberlain ‘ s Men ）, 是以资助它的贵 族的名字命名的。该剧团十分受到欢迎， 以至于当伊丽莎白一世去世后，詹姆士 一世赞助了它，剧团更名为国王剧团。 他得以在伦敦的富人区买了一栋房子， 还在家乡特拉福德镇拥有一座最大的住 宅。

1609 年莎士比亚发表了他的十四行诗， 其中很多是写给一个神秘的女人（ “ Dark Lady ” ）和一个男人（ “ Fair Lord ” ）的。 他大约在 1611 年退休，从此之后就再也 没有发表其他作品了，直到 1616 年去世 。巧合的是，他与同时代的另一个西班 牙大文豪 塞万提斯 死在同一天。中国著 名剧作家 汤显祖 也于同一年去世。

Tragedies o 罗密欧与朱丽叶 (Romeo and Juliet) o 麦克白 (Macbeth) o 李尔王 (King Lear) o 哈姆雷特 (Hamlet) o 奥赛罗 (Othello) o 考利欧雷诺斯 (Coriolanus) o 脱爱勒斯与克来西达 (Troilus and Cressida) 雅典的泰蒙 (Timon of Athens) 诗

Comedies o 错中错 (The Comedy of Errors) o 皆大欢喜 (All's Well That Ends Well) o 如愿 (As You Like It) o 仲夏夜梦 (A Midsummer Night's Dream) o 无事生非 (Much Ado About Nothing) o 一报还一报 (Measure for Measure o 第十二夜 (Twelfth Night or What You Will) o 威尼斯商人 (The Merchant of Venice) o 空爱一场 (Love's Labor's Lost) o 冬天的故事 (The Winter's Tale)

histories o 亨利四世，第一卷（ Henry IV, part 1 ） o 亨利四世，第二卷（ Henry IV, part 2 ） o 亨利五世（ Henry V ） o 亨利六世，第一卷（ Henry VI, part 1 ） o 亨利六世，第二卷（ Henry VI, part 2 ） o 亨利六世，第三卷（ Henry VI, part 3 ） o 亨利八世（ Henry VIII ） o 约翰国王（ King John ） o 理查德二世（ Richard II ） o 理查德三世（ Richard III ）

poetry 十四行诗（ The Sonnets ） o 爱人的怨诉（ A Lover's Complaint ） o 鲁克丽丝失贞记（ The Rape of Lucrece ） o 维纳斯和阿多尼斯（ Venus and Adonis ） o 热情的朝圣者（ The Passionate Pilgrim o 凤凰和斑鸠（ The Phoenix and the Turtle ）

Hamlet To be or not to be: that is the question.

It is a question whether to live on in this world or to die, that is, to take action or to do nothing.

To be or not to be: that is the question. Meaning: Is it possible or not? Is he alive or not?

King Henry IV Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

A person who has great responsibilities, such as a king, is constantly worried and therefore doesn't sleep soundly.

Meaning: The life of leaders isn’t easy. Having many responsibilities, leaders often can’t sleep well. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be. Meaning: be careful to take or give money to others. You’d better be careful.

Romeo & Juliet Romeo, Romeo, why are you Romeo? Deny your father, and refuse your name…

Why must you be the son of my family’s greatest enemy? Refuse your family for my love.

Romeo, why are you Romeo? Deny your father, and refuse your name… Meaning: if only you had a different name, we would not have this problem and would be together forever.

Troilus & Cressida Words, words, only words, no matter from the heart.

Empty words, not real thoughts or ideas from the heart.

Meaning: it’s all empty words, and there isn’t any truth in them. You just talk, but you don,t mean it. Words,words, only words, n o matter from the heart.

Listening

Shylock Bassanio Po r tia Antonio

Questions: 1.In which city does the play take place? 2. How much time passes between the beginning of the play and the end? 3. How much money does Bassanio need to marry Portia? 4. What must Antonio give Shylock if he can’t pay back the debt?

Questions: 1. In which city does the play take place? 2. How much time passes between the beginning of the play and the end? Venice. Three months.

3. How much money does Bassanio need to marry Portia? 4. What must Antonio give Shylock if he can’t pay back the debt? Three thousand ducats. A pound of flesh.

1. Antonio 2. Shylock: 3. Bassanio 4. Portia 5. Duke: a. the judge b. the moneylender c. the merchant of Venice d. Antonio’s friend e. Bassanio’s wife Task 1 Match the two columns

Portia Shylock Bassanio Antonio

Antonio: Bassanio: Duke: Shylock: Portia: the moneylender Bassanio’s wife Antonio’s friend the merchant of Venice What is their relation to the other characters in the play? the judge

Shylock a cruel businessman lends Antonio 3000 ducats. Portia a rich and beautiful woman to marry Bassanio, also acts as the lawyer. Antonio A kind merchant of Venice borrows 3000 ducats from Shylock for Bassanio. Bassanio Antonio’s best friend gets married with Portia with the money borrowed from Shylock. The duke President of Venice head of the court.

The Merchant of Venice

Antonio is a rich businessman of the city of Venice. Everyone likes him because he is always ready to help others. At the time of this story his ships are all at sea to trade with foreign countries. Bassanio, Antonio’s best friends, is in love with Portia. Portia is a rich and beautiful lady. She loves Bassanio but they cannot get married because he is too poor. Then Bassanio asks Antonio to lend him three thousand ducats.

Being short of money just then Antonio goes to Shylock to borrow the money, Shylock has always hated Antonio, because Antonio has often in public shown how cruel and terrible Shylock is. Shylock agrees to lend Antonio the money, but Antonio must promise to allow Shylock to take a pound of flesh from any part of his body if he cannot pay the money back after three months. Antonio agrees to this, takes the money and gives it to Bassanio.

On the day Bassanio and Portia get married, they receive a letter from Antonio saying that all his ships have been lost at sea. Now he himself does not have enough money to pay back the three thousand ducats and so he must give Shylock one pound of his flesh. Portia thinks of a clever plan to save Antonio. she asks a good friend who is a doctor of law, to lend her some of his lawyer’s clothes and books. Dressed as a lawyer, she arrives at the court of the Duke, where Antonio case is decided.

As the Duke is wondering what to do, Portia gives him a letter from the famous lawyer whom she has visited. In the letter it says that Portia is a learned young doctor from Rome who is young but very wise. The Duke accepts Portia to take the place of the famous lawyer and handle this difficult case.

Free talk: As we know, Antonio didn't have money at that time, but he still borrowed money from Shylock he hated for Bassanio. If you were Antonio, what would you do?

Speaking

What makes a play a masterpiece is that the ideas behind the play are about problems which are still important to people of different ages in modern times. speaking

Shylock Duke (vengeful) (merciful) Create a chance to kill Antonio. He used the chance. Has a chance to punish Shylock. He forgave him. Mercy VS revenge

It happens everywhere around the world: two young people love each other, but when the boy is poor or doesn't have a good job, often the parents of the girl don’t allow them to get married.

VS Love VS Money

Correct me if I’m wrong, but… You shouldn't forget that… What shouldn't be forgotten is… One of the most important facts is… You could, for example, say… The way I would go about it… As far as I know… After all… Useful expressions What would you do if you had your worst enemy in your power? Discussion:

Maybe you even know some examples in your hometown. Are the parents right? If not, what do you think about the situation like that? What should be done? Discussion:

Further discussion: ---We all know the story of Romeo & Juliet, in the play the lovers didn't have a happy ending because of revenge. If you were Juliet’s father, in order to let your daughter live a happy life, do you want to give up the revenge? Do you want to have mercy on Romeo? After you forgive Romeo, there is another man who loves Juliet very much. What’s more, he is richer than Romeo, but Juliet doesn’t love him, will you marry your daughter to him instead of Romeo?

To err is human, to forgive, divine. 人皆犯错，你能原谅别人，你就是圣人。 --- Pope All the splendors in the world is not worth a good friend. 人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友. --- Voltaire Creditors have better memories than debtors. 放债的比借债的记忆好。 --- Benjamin Franklin

Dirty money will not bring good luck. 不义之财不会带来好运气。 The course of true love never did run smooth. 通向真爱的路从无坦途。 --- Shakespeare Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence. 爱是对人类之存在这一问题唯一明确而又令人满意的答案。

The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully have been kindness, beauty andtruth. 有些理想曾为我们引过道路，并不断给我新的勇气以欣然面对人生，那些理 想就是 —— 真、善、美。 --- Albert Einstein

1. Retell:listen to the listening material again after class, then retell it with your own words. 2. Review Direct and Indirect Speech. Homework: