The Merchant of Venice by Shakespare Appearences vs reality Sofía Busso Level 5D

What someone shows of themselves In general what they want the others to think of them A lieDoes not reflects who that person really is What that person truly is Not a lieReflection of the person Appearance is Reality is The apparence is a danger of knowing only what can be seen

There are several occations in the novel where this theme can be identify.

“Is like a villian with a smiling cheekˮ (I, iii, 91) From Antonio to Bassanio about Shylock Shylock is like a devil that pretends to be nice Shylock is false because he is cheating from the outside Pretending to be a nice person, but instead, in reality he is like a villain

“If I do not put on a sober habit, talk with respect, and swear but now and then, wear prayer- books in my pocket, look demurely… To please his grandman, never trust me moreˮ (II, iii, 157) From Gratiano to Bassanio Gratiano is saying he will be a totally diffrent person in Belmont Gratiano will were a mask Gratiano will pretend to be someone he is not He will show people in Belmont a lie

“In the Rialto you have rated me… For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe. You call me misbeliever, cut- throat dog… Fair sir, you spat on me on Wednesday last, you spurned me such a day, another time you called me dogˮ (I, iii, ) From Shylock to Antonio Antonio seems to be a good man, but by these words of Shylock we can realize he is not the person we thought Antonio says he is not ashamed, he would do it all over again Shakespare wants the audience to emphasize with Shylock

“Tis not unknown to you, Antonio, how much I have disabled mine estate by somehting showing a more swelling port than my faint means would grant continuanceˮ (I, i, ) From Bassanio to Antonio Shakespare uses these words to demonstrate that sometimes people act like they are somebody else because of what people will think of them and the respect they will have Bassanio wants to appear rich to get a good reputation around Venice Bassanio lost all of his money by showing something that was not real

Javier Bazterrica An Argentinean who pretended to be a polo player that belonged to a prestigious and wealthy family He was passing off as a polo player to make people believe he was wealthy and to obtain money from the women he hanged out with but this what not what he actually was. He was living a lie, his whole life was a lie This is related to the theme appearances vs reality in The Merchant of Venice since Javier Bazterrica was passing off as something other than what he is. But most important of all, this is really similar to the roll of Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice.

To conclude, we can say that the theme appearances vs reality has a powerful symbolism in the novel The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare. Appearances vs reality is not only present in the Merchant of Venice a novel of the XVI century, in fact it is very common nowadays.