The Exponent, 1905-03-01

              The imstriai-Normal EXD011ent
VoL. 3 . ABERDEEN, S. D., MARCH,, 1905 No. 5
Characters From the Merchant of
Ven ice
The following characterizations
from the Merchant of Venice were
written as a portion of the final exam-ination
in English literature and are
representative of a portion of the
regular class work:
Bassanio
Freeman Chute.
Shakespeare in his dramas repre-sents
by means of characters, institu-tions
or principles of life in
conflict. That which is right is
set over against that which
is negative or wrong. The conflict al-ways
results in the triumph of right.
This triumph is effected in the tragedy
by the crushing of the wrong, and in
the comedy by the reformation of the
wrong. The Merchant of Venice is
one of the best types of the Shake-spearean
comedy, representing the
triumph of the Christian world and its
principle of love over the • Jewish
world and its principle, as conceived
by Shakespeare, of the letter of the
law.
The scene of the plot is laid in
Italy and centered about the great
commercial center, Venice. Towards
the last it was removed to Belmont, a
quiet, restful place. The reasons for
its having been laid in these places
are natural and agree with the char-acter
of the actors. The money lend-ers,
who were mostly Jews, and the
merchants would be found in the place
which was most favorable for their
business. What could be more na-tural
than the assembling at Belmont,
that place of quiet, away from the
turmoil of a commercial center, where
the newly married couples could en-joy
the Italian moonlight evenings and
the days in peace?
The three important characters are
Shylock, Antonio and Portia. Bas-sanio
and the others were not so
prominent.
Bassanio, falling in love with the
much sought for Portia, and having
no financial support, turns to his
friend Antonio, the merchant. An-tonio,
not having the ready money, he
takes a loan from Shylock, the money
lender, and gives the bond by which
it not redeemed on a certain date he
gives the forfeiture of a pound of
his flesh near his heart.
Was Bassanio right in accepting
the money at such hazards to his
friend? We must remember that we
of this day are centuries removed
from the time when the lives of per-sons
were taken as security for the
payment of debts. How many at that
time would have protested even as
much as Bassanio did against An-tonio's
having signed such a bond, and
would not have been satisfied when
assured that there was no danger? ,
Bassanio showed his generous man-