1. Today’s learning target: I have a better understanding of the basic plot and major characters from the plays below
Friday, January 13th
A brief exploration of The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest, and Macbeth

2. The Merchant of Venice- a summary
Setting: Venice, Italy
Bassanio wants to marry Portia, but he is broke, so he wants to secure a loan so that he can buy some nice ships and impress her
His friend, Antonio, cannot help him, so he suggests Bassanio gets the loan from another moneylender and make him the loan’s guarantor
Portia’s father has died, and she must marry the suitor the correctly selects one of three caskets (gold, silver, and lead)

3. The Merchant of Venice- a summary
Bassanio secures the loan from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender who holds a grudge against Antonio for being anti-Semitic
Shylock demands a pound of Antonio’s flesh if the loan goes unpaid
Bassanio heads to Belmont (where Portia lives) with a friend
Bassanio gets to Belmont, he and Portia fall in love, and he picks the lead casket (the correct one)
The celebration is short lived as news arrives that Antonio’s ships are wrecked and he cannot pay back Shylock

4. The Merchant of Venice- a summary
Shylock ignores pleas for Antonio’s life, and is set on taking the pound of flesh that is owed
Portia, dressed as a lawyer, finds that the contract between the men is legally binding, but Shylock is not permitted to any of Antonio’s blood
Basically, Shylock gets the shaft and everyone else has a happy ending

5. The Merchant of Venice: Major Characters
Shylock- Antagonist
Antonio- The Merchant of Venice
Jewish moneylender
Owed a pound of flesh from Antonio
Either a monster, a clown, or a product of what everyone forces him to be (or all three??)
“They decided he had to be a certain way, and he was trapped” Holling Hoodhood 48
Depressed little diaper baby mopey boy
Anti-Semitic and cruel
His feelings for Bassanio influence him into offering up his own flesh to guarantee Bassanio’s loan from Shylock
Ultimately gets freed

6. The Merchant of Venice: Major Characters
Portia
Bassanio
The object of Bassanio’s affection
Potential suitor must choose the correct casket in order to marry her (thanks daaad)
Saves Antonio by dressing as a man an acting as a legal representative
“The quality of mercy is not strained”/ If you can forgive people, it makes one more “godly”
Loves Portia
Wants to impress
Gets money for ships
He and Portia fall in love and he picks correct casket
Goes back to Venice to save Antonio
Cannot see through Portia’s disguise

7. The Tempest- a summary
The play begins with a tempest, or storm, that strikes a ship carrying a party that has just left a wedding
Prospero, who orchestrated the shipwreck from a nearby island, is seeking revenge against his brother Antonio, who took from him his title as Duke of Milan. He has been on the same island for the past twelve years
Reveals much to his daughter, Miranda, and receives the most help from Ariel, his captured servant
Lures Ferdinand, the Prince of Naples, to marry his daughter

8. The Tempest- a summary
Elsewhere on the island, the shipwrecked crew worries about Ferdinand
Antonio plans to kill the rest of his party, but they awake just before he can
Ferdinand happily works for Prospero to secure Miranda’s hand in marriage (Miranda eventually proposes to him)
Caliban gets drunk and plans to kill Prospero, but Ariel does his thing and continuously distracts and frustrates Caliban

9. The Tempest- a summary
Ariel reveals to the shipwrecked party the reason for their predicament
Ariel tells Prospero of Caliban’s murderous plan
Everyone meets up and everything (mainly the reason for the shipwreck and the marriage between Ferdinand and Miranda)
Everyone will return happily to Italy, after which Ariel will be released

10. The Tempest: Major Characters
Prospero- Protagonist
Miranda
Was once the Duke of Milan, but was overthrown by his brother, Antonio
Is capable of using magic; seeks revenge against those who wronged him
Very much the puppeteer of the play, controlling many of the other characters
Becomes more likeable by the end of the play, and ultimately his scheme leads to a happy ending for most; asks for audience’s forgiveness
Fourteen year old daughter of Prospero
Is arranged to love Ferdinand via Prospero’s magic ways
Attempts to educate Caliban, and is a generally kind person

11. The Tempest: Major Characters
Ariel
Caliban
Prospero’s winged helper
Rescued by Prospero from a long imprisonment by Sycorax
Can get to anywhere on the island instantly, and he also has the ability to change shapes
Is hoping to be freed by Prospero once his service is completed
Slave of Prospero, son of the witch Sycorax, and referred to as a monster by many of the other characters
Only actual native of the island in the play
Plans to murder Prospero
May represent native cultures taken over by European colonialism

12. Macbeth- a summary
The play begins with three witches that speak in rhyme
We see the military camp of the Scottish King Duncan, where we find out that his generals Macbeth and Banquo just put in WORK on the battlefield
Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches, who tell MacBeth that he will receive higher political ranks until he is officially king, and that Banquo’s sons will be kings, though he will not
Macbeth’s first prophecy comes true, he geeks, and writes to his wife about the king’s planned visit

13. Macbeth- a summary
Lady Macbeth wants Duncan dead so her husband can be king
Macbeth is skeptical, put his wife finally convinces him after calling him a coward
Macbeth has visions of a dagger before eventually killing Duncan in his bed (his wife poisoned the guards)
When the king is discovered, Macbeth quickly kills his guards out of “rage for their crime”
The king’s sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, flee

14. Macbeth- a summary
Macbeth attempts to have Banquo and his son killed, but his son escapes
Banquo’s ghost haunts Macbeth at a feast that night
A frightened Macbeth visits the witches, who tell him, among other things, to beware Macduff, that no one of woman birth can kill him, and that he will be king until the woods move on his castle
Macbeth has Macduff’s family killed

15. Macbeth- a summary
Macduff joins Malcom’s English army, and they make way to Scotland
Lady Macbeth goes crazy, sees blood on her hands, and eventually kills herself
Malcom’s army disguises themselves using tree branches, his castle is taken. it turns out Macduff was ripped from his mother’s womb, and Macduff kills Macbeth
Malcolm becomes king

16. Macbeth: Major Characters
Lady Macbeth
Royal and honored warrior, who lacks strong character
Three witches twist his ambition
Murders the king and his friend and other men’s families
Eventually overthrown and beheaded by MacDuff (Malcolm is new king)
“…we are made for more than power…. Pride combined with stubbornness can be disaster.” –Mrs. Baker 109
“Is this a dagger I see before me?”
Stronger, more ruthless, and more ambitious (and guilty) than her husband
Pushes him to commit murder
Imagines she sees the blood of the king on her hands
Eventually jumps out of a window

17. Macbeth: Major Characters
The Three Witches
Banquo
Use supernatural power and knowledge of people’s weaknesses
They have beards and rhyme throughout
Are they fate?
They embody evil
Is with Macbeth when he gets the first prophecies from the witches
Thinks ambitiously, but does not follow the same dark path as Macbeth
The anti-Macbeth
His ghost haunts Macbeth at a large banquet dinner after Macbeth has him murdered