Document Type
Freshman Seminar Essay
Publication Date
1985
Excerpt
Shakespeare exhibits two worlds in The Merchant of Venice, each with its distinct philosophical perspectives on a variety of topics, including money, and each in conflict with the other. The first world, Belmont, is filled with warmth, softness, light, hope, trust, romanticism, generosity; it worships love and promotes friendships. Venice, the second world, is filled with coldness, harshness, darkness, lost hopes, greed, mistrust, hatred, selfishness; it worships profits and fosters adversarial relationships. Money, however, is one commodity at home In both of these contrasting worlds; in fact, it bridges the two worlds in the play. Money also has two distinct dimensions which parallel the two worlds of the play. Like an apothecary's potion, money can be used positively to heal and aid people in life or it can be misused and lead to ruin. Money is a "double-edged sword," like many other things in the range of human experience Shakespeare presents.
Recommended Citation
Whippo, Robert, "Two Views of Money (1985)" (1985). The Valpo Core Reader. 506.
http://scholar.valpo.edu/core_reader/506