Antonio

• How does Antonio reflect prejudice & intolerance?

  • Audience sees A’s anti-Semitism when him & B getting money from S, who is showing that his money lending practices are in the Bible -> despite this, A still rude to him
  • “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose” (A1S3)
  • Saying even devil can use scripture to try & justify his actions
  • Shows how much Antonio despises & distrusts Shylock simply because he is Jewish (damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t)
  • Defines the controversy of the play -> depicting a hatred towards a different group just because they belong to a different category
• “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose” A1S3 - Word-level analysis

  • “Devil” -> metaphor -> draws attention of reader by engaging their interpretation via imagination -> create more manageable images, prompting engagement -> describes Shylock
  • Declarative sentence -> sentence that states a fact, feeling or mood -> here, Antonio is stating his fact that even a horrible person like Shylock can use scripture (the Bible) to justify his actions
• How does Antonio reflect wealth, prejudice, friendship & mercy?

  • When Antonio realises he is bankrupt & all his ships have been completely sunk, & realises that he’ll have to give a pound of his flesh to Shylock who is delighted at this because he will now get the ultimate form of betrayal -> if he takes Antonio’s pound of flesh he can kill him
  • Antonio tries to reason with him & says “Hear me yet, good Shylock” (A3S3)
  • Antonio is being manipulative, as he called Shylock a devil a few scenes ago
• “Hear me yet, good Shylock” (A3S3) - Word-level analysis

  • “Good” -> adjective -> manipulative
  • Caesura in “,” -> gives choppy & dysfunctional tone to text, while simultaneously increasing reading pace, which builds tension, relays feelings of frustration to reader -> Antonio is really nervous
• How does Antonio reflect justice & mercy?

  • Antonio realises Shylock is dead set on taking the pound of flesh & is going to die
  • He gives up & says “I’ll follow him no more with bootless prayers” (A3S3)
  • Antonio is done with speaking to Shylock, admits defeat
• “I’ll follow him no more with bootless prayers” (A3S3) - Word-level analysis

  • Personification of “bootless prayers” -> creates depth in text by giving a voice to otherwise silent, unmoving objects -> allows reader to become fully immersed in the text, maximising engagement -> prayers are personfied as not having any boots -> being inept (not effective anymore)
• How does Antonio reflect love & friendship?

  • When Bassanio is there & he is upset because if he hadn’t given the loan over, Antonio wouldn’t be at risk of dying
  • Antonio is showing loyalty & says “Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you” (A4S1)
  • Still insists he is keeping the friendship w/ Bassanio -> Antonio knows he will die but has given Bassanio the money -> makes Antonio happy knowing he has helped Bassanio win over the hand of Portia & find happiness in marriage -> almost too self-sacrificial
  • Showing his loyalty to Bassanio even to the end
• “Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you” (A4S1) - Word-level analysis

  • Alliteration in “fallen” & “for” -> draws attention to certain phrases or sentences, draws the eye of the reader & phrase has more emphasis when read
  • Imperative sentence -> a sentence that issues a command -> asking Bassanio to stop grieving & feeling bad
• How does Antonio reflect justice, mercy & prejudice?

  • Things change: Balthazar shows up & picks up all the holes in contract that S & A have & realise that S is wrong -> committed a crime for asking for A’s flesh -> S faces punishment of losing all money
  • A shows mercy by saying instead of S having to give up all of his wealth he can give up half of his wealth which goes to Jessica & her husband Lorenzo
  • Antonio says, “He presently become a Christian” (A4S1)
  • Saying to Shylock that he can no longer be a Jew and has to convert to Christianity (anti-Semitism) -> explains the play’s controversy
• “He presently become a Christian” (A4S1) - Word-level analysis

  • Assonance in “he”, “presently” & “became” -> creates rhythm in a text, allows readers to interpret a sentence the way the author intended by making clear which vowel should be stressed -> shows Antonio’s anti-Semitism
• 2. How does Antonio reflect love & friendship?

  • “My Lord Bassanio, Let him have the ring” (A4S1)When both Bassanio & Antonio go to Balthazar (Portia) & ask what gift to offer -> Balthazar asks for Bassanio’s ring and he refuses & claims the ring is a token of love from Portia
  • Antonio convinces Bassanio because Balthazar saved his life
• “My Lord Bassanio, Let him have the ring” (A4S1) - Word-level analysis

  • Alliteration in “him have” -> draws attention to certain phrases/sentences -> draws eye of reader on the page, phrase has more emphasis when read -> shows Antonio is passionate in convincing Bassanio
  • Caesura -> choppy & dysfunctional tone to the text, whilst simultaneously increasing reading pace which builds tension & relays feelings of frustration or confusion to reader -> Antonio showing Bassanio the gravity & importance of Balthazar’s actions