THEME AND SYMBOL

THEME

Theme is the premery idea of a story, novel, poem, or play. It usually expressed as a general statement about life.

　　The main theme in this film “the Merchant of Venice” is racism because in this play told about how the Christians consort with Jews. The Christian consider that Jews are inferior and malicious. As a fact, when Antonio met shylock, he spat upon to Shylock’s face. It is because he feels disgusted when he meets jews. Jews also may not work like Christians, they cannot be merchant. They just may become the creditor or money lender.

    According to many resources, we found that there are many themes in this play. For example:

Love and friendshipWhy the theme is love and friendship because there is central romantic between Bassanio and Portia, when Portia marriage with Bassanio, the servant’s Portia also marriage with Bassanio’s friend Gratiano. Also, Jessica is daughter’s shylock with Lorenzo.

Human and Animal
This theme shows that when Antonio borrows some of money to shylock with agreement whether Antonio doesn’t pay on time, shylock can cut the pound of flesh from Antonio’s body.

Law, mercy and revenge
When Antonio don’t pay on time, shylock gives the problem to jurisdiction. Shylock asks justice suitable with their agreement if Antonio don’t pay on time, shylock has the right to cut pound of flesh from Antonio’s body. Shylock attempts to revenge to Christian appropriate in Venice system then duke and Portia try to ask mercy from Shylock by giving alternative but he refuses.

Reading and interpretation
Reading interpretation occur in the merchant of Venice. When suitors’ Portia try to solve the riddle of casket and Portia tries to read and understand Venice’s law to save life Antonio.

 

SYMBOL

    Symbol are people, places, or things used to represent somehing else in literature. There are two kind of symbols. They are symbol in literature and symbol act.

Symbol in literature is a thing that suggests more than its literal meaning. 

Examples:

In Herman Melville’s Moby – Dick, the great white whale of the book’s title apparently means more than the literal dictionary – definition meaning of an aquatic mammal. He also suggests more than the devil, to whom some of the characters associate him. The great whale, as the story unfolds, comes to imply an amplitude of meanings, among them the forces of nature and the whole created universe.
In Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, in which the pound of flesh has two symbolic meanings that feature the entrenched ironies in the play.

    First, the pound of flesh symbolizes the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio. The flesh that Antonio owes to Shylock was risked because of Bassanio. Bassanio, says that he will stand between Antonio and the Jew's knife. Bassanio and Antonio are connected so intimately that they are even one flesh. Of course, Bassanio abandons Antonio at every opportunity. At the beginning of the play, Antonio is so obviously distraught at the departure of his friend for Portia that he is sunk in depression. So, even though Antonio risks a pound of his own flesh for his best friend, Bassanio will ultimately abandon his friend for the marriage with Portia.

        Second, the pound of flesh also symbolizes the loss Shylock endures of his own flesh and blood, his daughter Jessica. When Jessica elopes with Lorenzo, she not only steals Shylock of his family, but also of every thing of value that she can lay her hands on. After this betrayal, Shylock's desire for revenge against Antonio, his insistence on obtaining his pound of flesh becomes obsessive and destructive. In a sense, he is attempting to get back what he has lost his daughter, Jessica. Since she was stolen from him Lorenzo, he seeks to get a pound of flesh back from them.

Symbolic act is a gesture with larger significance than usual.
Example:
Before setting out in pursuit (search/quest) of the great white whale, Melville’s Captain Ahab in Moby-Dick deliberately snaps (break/crack) his tobacco pipe and throws it away, as if to suggest that he will let no pleasure or activity entertain him from his vengeance (revenge).
In The Merchant of Venice, the one of examples of the symbolic act is when Christians throw the Jew in the river. It symbolizes that Christians assume and feel inferior and malicious for their religion because they are fanatic religion .