Bassanio

• 1. How does Bassanio reflect power & wealth during the play?

  • “I have disabled mine estate” - A1S1
  • This is while he is speaking to Antonio
  • Is admitting how he squandered Antonio’s inheritance money
  • Bassanio additionally belongs to nobility (upper-class man)
  • Shows that Bassanio is “bad” with money
• “I have disabled mine estate” - A1S1 - Word-level analysis

  • Technique: assonance in “have”, “disabled”, and “estate”
  • Creates rhythm within text in order for the reader to interpret the sentence in the way the author intended by making clear which vowel sound should be stressed
• How does Bassanio reflect love & friendship during the play?

  • “To you Antonio, I owe the most, in money and in love” - A1S1
  • Shows the close relationship between Bassanio & Antonio -> explains people hypothesising that Bassanio closeness with Antonio; Antonio overlooking his bad relationship w/ money-> could be because Antonio is a homosexual
  • 2 perspectives of love: Love homosexually or brotherly love & friendship
• “To you Antonio, I owe the most, in money and in love” - A1S1: Word-level analysis

  • Superlative: “most” -> B admits not able to pay loans, now asks for another loan in order to make everything right once and for all -> tells Antonio that he’ll marry a rich woman (Portia) -> claims that he’ll not just pay back all the money but will also settle debts
  • “most” -> owes Antonio a considerable amount
  • “most” and “money” -> alliteration -> sets the tone for the “pound of flesh” -> constant owing of money
  • “money” -> abstract noun -> refers to concept -> and shows how loyal Antonio is to his friend
• How does Bassanio reflect justice, prejudice and wealth in M of V?

  • “I like not fair terms and a villain’s mind” - A1S3
  • When S agrees to loan of 3000 ducats to B,he mentions that if the payment is not made back to him in good he will take a “pound of [Antonio’s] flesh” -> without any mention of interest/money back -> therefore Bassanio feels very reluctant to go through with the deal by stating this
  • Reflects that he isn’t entirely selfish & does take A into consideration -> doesn’t like the terms of the bond
  • S takes B's reaction as a joke however B does not trust his character
• “I like not fair terms and a villain’s mind” - A1S3 - Word-level analysis

  • “fair” and “villain” -> juxta. -> S’s personalities in context of each other -> good & evil
  • “fair” -> ‘good’ terms (not crazy amounts of money) -> return for 3000 ducats S not bothered about payed back money -> still emphasises pound of flesh
  • ‘good’ terms juxtaposed by “villain’s” mind -> (technique) foreshadows S does show himself to be villain when later on asks for pound of A’s flesh (wants to kill him) -> reader an implication on what to come -> highlights distressing events to come while plot relatively calm
• 2. How does Bassanio reflect power & wealth during the play?

  • “Outward shows least themselves: the world deceived with ornament” - A1S3
  • B at P’s home (choosing 3 caskets) -> justifies not choosing gold based on appearance -> ends up choosing the correct casket (lead)
  • Proverb saying (aphorism) -> widely accepted truth -> witty -> trust w/ reader, engagement & persuades reader of writer’s argument -> people show themselves out to be glitzy, beneath surface is opposite (“least themselves”)
  • “deceived” - ppl misguided by appearance of surface-level things -> doesn’t want to be misguided by that
• “The outward shows be least themselves: the world is still deceived with ornament” - A3S2 - Word-level analysis

  • Assonance of “be”, “least” and “themselves”
  • Creates rhythm within text in order for the reader to interpret the sentence in the way the author intended by making clear which vowel sound should be stressed
  • “world is still deceived” -> hyperbole -> saying that everybody except himself is deceived by outward appearances which leads him to pick the correct casket -> adds comedy to a mundane subject in order to be taken seriously
• How does Bassanio reflect prejudice & love during the play?

  • “There is no vice so simple but assumes / Some mark of virtue on his outward parts” (A3S2)
  • Spoken in iambic pentameter -> Shakespeare only use this device w/ the upper class
  • Implying that there is no mistake/downside of our characters that’s as bad as choosing & picking things based on their external appearance
• “There is no vice so simple but assumesSome mark of virtue on his outward parts” - A3S2 - Word-level analysis

  • Sibilance of “so simple” -> Draws attention to this phrase in particular, the negative atmosphere here is created to the emphasise the weakness in men
  • Oxymoron of “vice” and “virtue” -> vice meaning immorality (bad qualities) whereas virtue is the opposite being highly moral qualities
• 3. How does Bassanio reflect wealth & power during the play?

  • “All the wealth I had ran in my veins” - A3S2
  • Claims honesty and the fact that he’s always been a good gentleman to Portia
  • However admits he is not rich because he squandered all his money
  • Wealth is personified by running through his veins -> telling Portia that she should be aware that he doesn’t not own a lot of money -> his only redeeming quality is himself/ my body -> creates depth within the text by giving a voice to an otherwise silent topic -> allows reader to become more fully immersed in the text, maximising engagement
• How does Bassanio reflect justice & mercy during the play?

  • “How unwillingly I left the ring” - A5S1
  • justifies giving away ring he promised -> repeats “ring” (epistrophe) -> panicked -> Not only draws eye of the reader on the page, but the phrase has more emphasis when read
  • P pretends to be angry w/ him
  • Declarative sentence -> fact, feeling or mood -> pleading w/ P & emphasises loyalty, explaining he had to give away to pay back lawyer (P = dramatic irony), saved A whilst S asking for p of f -> long sentence frustrating for reader, helps the writer further develop a tone in their writing