威尼斯商人.ppt

content the introduction of the author the achievements in shakespeares life the origin of the merchant of venice the plot of the merchant of venice the analysis of characters the significance of the merchant of venice william shakespeare if you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? if a jew wrong a christian, what is his humility? revenge. if a christian wrong a jew, what should his sufferance be by christian example? why, revenge. from the merchant of venice brief introduction of his life the english poets, playwright william shakespeare was born in 1564 in the town of stratford-upon-avon in warwickshire, england. shakespeare attended grammar school, knowing well of the basic techniques of writing and having a lot of knowledge around 1588, shakespeare started to writing. at first, he adapted the former script, and soon began to create his own works. then shakespeare became very famous. around 1590 he left his family behind and traveled to london to work as an actor and playwright. achievements in his life all his life he left for the world 37 dramas, 154 sonnets（1590 -1598), 2 long narrative poems and other various poems. shakespeares writing career may be roughly divided into four stages 1)the early years of his apprenticeship (1592-1594). during this period, his works marked by imitation of existing plays , by exaggerated language and by the frequent use of rhymed couplets. he wrote his early history plays and group of comedies. such as king henryvi, richard iii. 2)the second period (1595- 1600) is period of rapid growth and development. the main works are romeo and juliet , a midsummer nights dream .the merchant of venice ect. they show more careful and artistic work and concern more about human nature. 3) the third period (1601- 1608) is a period of gloom and depression. it is o period of his tragedies ,such as hamlet , othello, king lear, macbeth. 4)the fourth period (1608-1612) is a period of restored serenity after storm ,such as the winter s tale, tempest. the background of the merchant of venice 从十六世纪初期开始，英国资本主义经济迅速发展专 制王朝执行了有利于工商业发展的政策，得到新兴资产阶 级的支持，王室和资产阶级之间，形成了暂时的联盟。到 了十六世纪后期，在女王伊丽莎白一世的统治下，英国出 现了经济繁荣和政治安定的局面。 十六世纪九十年代，是莎士比亚创作的早期。这时， 英国社会基本上保持着表面的繁荣。作为一个资产阶级作 家，莎士比亚对于解决当时社会上和生活中的矛盾，充满 着信心，因此他这一时期的创作，大都带有愉快乐观的色 彩。他在八部喜剧以及正剧罗密欧与朱丽叶中，宣扬 了资产阶级人文主义的生活思想。 但是，从九十年代的后几年开始，英国社会的各种矛 逐渐尖锐化起来：在农村，“圈地运动”在加速进行； 在城市，资本主义手工工厂大量出现，导致手工业者和贫民 的状况不段恶化； 15941598年间，又连续发生涝灾和严 寒；15941598年间，又连续发生涝灾和严寒，农业歉收， 物价飞涨，农民和城市贫民纷纷起来反抗。这一时期，资产 阶级的力量也更加强大，它同王室的暂时联盟瓦解。莎士比 亚开始感到他的人文主义理想和英国现实间的矛盾，因此 1596年以后写的几部喜剧里，虽然调子还是愉快乐观的，但 社会讽刺因素已有所增长。这时完成的威尼斯商人就是 莎士比亚早期喜剧中最富有社会讽刺色彩的一部。 威尼斯商人是莎士比亚早期创作的一部喜剧。这时 期正当伊丽莎白女王统治的盛世，英国成了统一的民族国家 。新兴资产阶级刚登上历史舞台。人文主义者生气蓬勃。他 们提倡人权自由个性解放，反对封建割据和教会的统治。 这就使莎士比亚的喜剧充满了乐观主义的色彩。威尼斯商 人就表现了新兴的商业资本对封建的高利贷资本的胜利， 歌颂了人文主义的友谊爱情及个性的自由解放。 inspirations of the merchant of venice vduring the 16th century, william shakespeare wrote an extraordinary play and called it the “merchant of venice.“ elizabethans of this time, were extremely anti-semitic and because of their anti-semitism the subject matter of the play alone would have grabbed the audiences attention. inspirations for the “merchant of venice“ came from two different places for shakespeare. firstly there was a play showing called the “jew of malta.“ in this play, written by christopher marlowe the jews were portrayed as monsters. again, prior to shakespeares play dr lopez-who was queen elizabeths physician, was accused of attempting to poison the queen. the events only added to the elizabethans semitism and because of these events the elizabethans were not happy or pleasant towards the jews. the “merchant of venice“ seemed to be a perfect opportunity to express their hate for the jewish nation. “lopez“ is the spanish word for wolf. a wolf is a type of dog and throughout the book we read of shakespeare referring to the jews as dogs. once again the elizabethans would not have seen anything wrong with this, for that was how they referred to the jews themselves. what we need to realise is that there isnt only one audience; in fact there are two- the 16th century audience and the 21st century audience. whereas people of the 16th century agreed with shakespeare attitude towards jews, the attitude of the 21st century has completely changed. this change in attitude has happened due to the events of world war ii, where adolph hitler and the nazis treated the jews in unimaginable, inhuman and unacceptable ways. over thirty thousand jews were sent to concentration camps. six million jews were murdered, many were shot, but this method was too slow for the nazis, so they started to build chambers and in these chambers they would send up to two thousand jews to be gassed. within three minutes every jew inside was dead, the bodies were then burnt. there were many more horrific ways in which jews were killed; this is only one! 威尼斯商人中的宗教冲突 v 夏洛克之所以有这样的遭遇，主要因为 当时的社会背景和宗教背景。夏洛克这个既 具有鲜明个性又具有普遍意义的艺术形象， 真切的反映了中世纪西欧犹太名族卑贱的社 会地位和身份，剧中人物夏洛克是中世纪西 欧作为“客民” “异教徒” “放贷者”三 位一体的犹太民族的人物化抽象。他们是外 邦人，没有公民权；他们是异教徒，遭到嫉 妒的排斥和仇视；他们是放贷者，虽然为社 会所必须但却为人们所不齿。由于宗教历史 的原因，犹太人在实际生活中遭到歧视和迫 害是触目惊心的。 v而剧中夏洛克与安东尼奥之间的冲突正是高利贷 者与新兴资产阶级、高利贷资本与商业资本的对 立和斗争，这种物质利益上的冲突也正是当时社 会经济领域的一个缩影。16世纪末期的欧洲，商 业资本家代表了当时进步的社会势力。同高利贷 资本比较，商人资本能发挥金钱的流通作用，不 仅有利于国计民生，而且能促进工商业的发展， 因此受到社会舆论的称赞。高利贷者的重利盘剥 ，不仅使广大人民深受其害，而且严重威胁靠借 贷的商业资产者的利益，受到人民和工商业资本 家的普遍反对. v 基督教发源于犹太教，自产生之日起，就与 犹太教有着割不断的联系。根据基督教的宣传， 犹太人是基督教的死敌。因为基督教徒认为是犹 太人出卖、杀害耶稣，将耶稣钉在十字架上面， 这是多么大的仇恨。他们认为整个犹太民族是“ 与撒旦沆瀣一气的民族”。中世纪西欧对犹太人 有着强烈的宗教偏见，基督教创始人把犹太人的 圣经称为旧约，而将基督教增添的部分 称之为新约，言下之意为，上帝抛弃了犹太 人，与犹太人订约的事已成为过去，而现在上帝 已与基督教订立新约。新约中一些无端攻击 犹太人的不实之辞显然加深了普通基督教徒对犹 太人的憎恨，成为中世纪基督社会仇视犹太人的 一大根源。犹太教徒与基督教徒之间的这种宿怨 存在于精神信仰和日常生活中，促使他们之间的 矛盾不断激化。 v经济基础决定上层建筑，而宗教则永远是统治 阶级维护其统治的工具。处于当时社会主导地位 的基督教规定基督教徒不准从事金融放贷业。基 督教会鄙视放债业,认为这是“肮脏”的行当。 但是在法律上，却准许犹太人操此行业。这是因 为为了维持社会正常的经济活动需要借贷，而犹 太人非基督教徒,最适合干这种当时被视为最下 等、最肮脏、最可鄙却又不可缺少的行业。然而 ,犹太人从事贷款的活动实际上成为基督教统治 者补充国库和个人财富来源的手段。马克思写到 ：“中世纪已经留下两种不同形式的资本，它们 是在极不相同的社会经济形态中成熟的，而且在 资本主义生产方式时期到来以前，就被当作资本 了，这就是高利贷资本和商人资本。”而 v 但11世纪以后,伴随着意大利的崛起,欧洲各 地城市的普遍复兴,作为弱小的异族群体,犹太 人无法与正处于上升阶段的西欧各国商人主要 是意大利商人竞争。随着基督教社会对犹太人 的歧视和迫害加剧,犹太人的经济活动范围也越 来越小。在众多领域受到排挤的犹太人为了生 计开始转向放贷业。因而,与其说是犹太人选择 了放贷业,不如说是放贷业选择了犹太人。然而 财富的积累丝毫没有提高犹太人的社会地位， 当基督教在欧洲成为统治宗教势力以后，便开 始对犹太人进行了种种迫害。在对犹太人的排 斥与迫害的手段中，剥夺犹太人的信仰，强迫 其改宗，是惩罚所谓“异教徒”的最常使用的 手段之一。中世纪西欧不遗余力地鼓励犹太人 接受洗礼、皈依基督教。 v有些教会人士甚至认为“犹太人的皈依是耶稣即将 回来的标志，或者说耶稣正在等待这一时刻”。而改 变自己的宗教信仰对有着古老宗教传统的犹太人来 说无疑是一种极为残酷的惩罚。在戏剧的结尾处， 作者也通过法庭审判，真实地地反映了中世纪西欧 犹太民族的历史境遇：堪称基督教道德与智慧典范 的鲍西亚在法庭上根据威尼斯法律，给夏洛克找了 个莫须有的罪名“企图残害威尼斯公民”而将 他的财产全部剥夺，并且必须立即改信基督教。夏 洛克彻底失败了，最后也未能赢回自己的尊严。即 使有法律和约书，也毫无作用。犹太人是异邦人， 无法得到真正的自由和解放，而靠智慧和劳动创造 的财富不一定属于自己。夏洛克只能败诉，无奈地 接受基督教当局的宣判。 v威尼斯商人准确再现了中世纪犹太人悲惨 的历史境遇，深刻揭示了基督徒与犹太人关系的 本质。莎翁为后人留下了一个个栩栩如生的文学 形象，全剧在基督徒们“皆大欢喜”的笑声中以 喜剧收场，但喜剧形式的大结局并未能掩盖住基 督教与犹太教之间激烈争斗的实质，而夏洛克的 遭遇也正是整个犹太民族两千多年流亡和寄居生 活的一个缩影。夏洛克是个悲剧性的人物,其悲 剧的根源是社会矛盾造成的。在今天，莎士比亚 的喜剧仍然能给那些是崇尚自由、追求平等的人 们以启示。 the brief introduction of the merchant of venice bassanio, a young of noble rank, wishes to woo the beautiful and wealthy heiress portia of belmont. having squandered his estate, bassanio approaches his friend antonio, a wealthy merchant man for three thousand ducats needed to subsidize his expenditures as a suitor. antonio agrees, but since he is cash-poor - his ships and merchandise are busy at sea - he promises to cover a bond if bassanio can find a lender, so bassanio turns to the jewish moneylender shylock and names antonio as the loans guarantor. shylock agrees to lend antonio the sum without interest upon the condition that if antonio is unable to repay it at the specified date, he may take a pound of antonios flesh. antonio signs the contract. with money at hand, bassanio leaves for belmont with his friend gratiano. bassanio warns his companion to exercise self- control, and the two leave for belmont and portia. meanwhile in belmont, portia is awash with suitors. her father left a will stipulating each of her suitors must choose correctly from one of three caskets one each of gold, silver and lead. if he picks the right casket, he gets portia. the first suitor chooses the gold casket. the second suitor chooses the silver casket. both suitors leave empty-handed, having rejected the lead casket because of the baseness of its material and the uninviting nature of its slogan: “who chooses me must give and hazard all he hath.“ the last suitor is bassanio ponders his choice and chooses the lead casket, winning portias hand. at venice, antonios ships are reported lost at sea. this leaves him unable to satisfy the bond. shylock is determined to exact revenge from christians after his daughter jessica had fled home ring and eloped with the christian lorenzo, taking a substantial amount of shylocks wealth with her, as well as his late wifes ring. at belmont, bassanio heard that antonio has been unable to return the loan taken from shylock. portia and bassanio marry. bassanio and gratiano then leave for venice, with money from portia, to save antonios life by offering the money to shylock. portia has sent her servant, balthazar, to seek the counsel of portias cousin, bellario, a lawyer, at padua. the climax of the play comes in the court of the duke of venice. shylock refuses bassanios offer of 6,000 ducats. he demands his pound of flesh from antonio. the duke refers the case to a “doctor of the law“. the doctor is actually portia in disguise. portia advised him that mercy “is twice blest: it blesses him that gives and him that takes.“ (iv,i,185) however, shylock insists on the pound of flesh. as the court grants shylock his bond and antonio prepares for shylocks knife, portia points out that the contract only allows shylock to remove the flesh, not the “blood“, of antonio . defeated, shylock concedes to accepting bassanios offer of money for the defaulted bond.but portia refused it. she then cites a law under which shylock, as a jew and therefore an “alien“, having attempted to take the life of a citizen, has forfeited his property, half to the government and half to antonio, the duke immediately pardons shylocks life. antonio asks for his share “in use until shylocks death, when the principal will be given to lorenzo and jessica. at antonios request, the duke grants remission of the states half of forfeiture, but on the condition of shylock converting to christianity and bequeathing his entire estate to lorenzo and jessica (iv, i). bassanio does not see through portia disguise. after all the other characters make amends, antonio learns from portia that three of his ships were not stranded and have returned safely after all. the analysis of the characters antonio antonio in this play is a good merchant of venice who is always willing and ready to help. also, he is not so successful but with lots of ambition. he is always ready to help others; he is faithful to their friendship and willing to risk losing his life to defend their friendship; you cannot better be employd, bassanio, than to live still and write mine epitaph. (p91) faced with death ,he is calm. my patience to his fury, and am armd to suffer, with a quietness of spirit, the very tyranny and rage of his. (p87) he is kind-hearted and tolerant with shylocks behavior. so please my lord the duke and all the court to quit the fine for one half of his goods, i am content; so he will let me have the other half in use, to render it, upon his death, unto the gentleman that lately stole his daughter: two things provided more, that, for this favor, he presently become a christian; the other, that he do record a gift, here in the court, of all he dies possessd, unto his son lorenzo and his daughter. (p100) his jewish heart: therefore, i do beseech you, make no more offers, use no farther means, but with all brief and plain conveniency let me have judgment and the jew his will. he presently become a christian; the other, that he do record a gift, here in the court, of all he dies possessd, unto his son lorenzo and his daughter. (p89) his jewish heart: therefore, i do beseech you, make no more offers, use no farther means, but with all brief and plain conveniency let me have judgment and the jew his will. (p89) he presently become a christian. (p101) he treats other religions with prejudice; i pray you, think you question with the jew: you may as well go stand upon the beach and bid the main flood bate his usual height; you may as well use question with the wolf why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb; you may as well forbid the mountain pines to wag their high tops and to make no noise, when they are fretten with the gusts of heaven; you may as well do anything most hard, as seek to soften that than which whats harder? bassanio a noble who is neatly dressed, he is a handsome and intelligent young man. he is so faithful to their friendship that he weights friendship than love. my lord bassanio , let him have the ring. let his deserving and my love withal. be valuedgainst your wifes commandement. go, gratiano, run and overtake him: give him the ring; and bring him if thou canst, unto antonios house. away ! make haste. (p103) shylock shylock obviously is most noteworthy figure in the play, who is a selfish, mean, greedy, and bloodthirsty jewish merchant. he is stubborn . so can i give no reason , nor i will not , more than a lodged hate and a certain loathing i bear antonio , that i follow thus a losing suit against him. (p89) the pound of flesh ,which i demand of him, is dearly bought . tis mine and i will have it. if you deny me , fie upon your law ! there is no force in the decrees of venice. i stand for judgement. (p90) he is so cold-blooded and cruel. why dost thou whet thy knife so ea