Act 4 Questions As always, ensure your answers have quotes! 1. How is the extremity of human behaviour depicted in the opening of Act 4? What does Shakespeare suggest we need to do to balance these extremes in order to live a fruitful existence? Depicted through Shylock's need for revenge through taking a pound of flesh by Antonio which he agrees to due to their belief in the value of the law. Shakespeare suggests that we need to be able to balance mercy with justice in order to live a more fruitful existence which is evident through Portia’s speech. 2. Was justice served with Shylock? Why is it important that mercy was shown to him? How is Shylock being used as a lesson to teach the importance of bringing mercy into justice system? Justice was not fully served to Shylock as he was not truely accounted for, for the money which he lost. However him being pardoned for his immoral actions highlights how mercy can be placed on those even though they are not Christian, this showcases how giving mercy is not limited to those whom we consider equal or higher than but is to be placed even on those that we consider to be lesser than us. Practice what we preech. It is important to bring mercy into the justice system to maintain our humanity and our moral values, we need to keep people in the centre of it in order not to lose our sense of humanity. 3. Why do we feel sympathy for Shylock in this moment and what does this complicated feeling reveal about the nature of our humanity? Everything has been stripped of him and his chance for justice has been taken from him. It complicates our feelings for him as his rights have been srripped of him and he is forced to give up his own religious beliefs, somerhing which defines him as a person. This then allows us to sympathise with Shylock while still believing that he is immoral for the ways in which he goes about the justice which he believes he deserves after being wronged and treated as lesser than his whole life. However the way in which he goes about extracting justice is immoral. Sylock is repsodning to the treatment he is subjected to. We cannot excuse everything that he is done but we are able to understand what and sympathise with him. Shows we are multifaceted. 4. In this way, how is the complexity of Shylock’s character diminished by the end of this act? How is he being used as a tool to impart Shakespeare’s message about mercy and balance? (Consider the contrast in the way Shylock speaks and acts at the end of this scene compared to the beginning of the play, and the amount he speaks for himself by the end of this act). Complexity of sylocks charactr is diminished by the end of this act as his sens eof morality and humanity is stripped of him. When he speaks its very repetitive and wrong - he is getting more anrrow minded - symbolistic of him dimishment of his identity. Highlights how if someone if fully driven by revenge that they lose their sense of humanity of what makes them of their identity his experiences become less and less diverse - he has mothing else. Portia has all this experience and is bringing these values and morals to make this world a better place - we need a range of things to fing balance and be fruitful memebers of society. 5. This play is often considered a ‘problem play’ because it is neither a clear comedy nor a clear tragedy. The comedic elements come through in the ring plot and the dramatic irony of Portia. In this act, we see a subversion of the typical tragic character (think Othello) in Shylock. While he never really starts as a heroic or admirable figure, we still see the impact of hubris on his experience. What is that hubris? What warning is Shakespeare giving us about how we live our lives? His fatal flaw is his relentless persuit for justice and revenge and his full comitment to the law highlights how we should not live our lives to the letrter of the law and should bring mercy and humanity to balance justice. Form and portias costuming. Blending of the tragic and the comedic. Giving different ways into the message.
