In class, we watched the movie adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’ made in 2004. I preferred this because i have always had trouble understanding Shakespearean texts. While watching the movie, i followed along with the book, kind of acting as subtitles and noticed that there were a lot of omissions from the movie.
I am however quite upset at how Shylock was not given justice and ended up being punished. With the dissapearance of his daughter and a good amount of his money, he was already fueled with rage and then for Antonio to not be able to pay what he owed and his friends asking him to reconsider and have mercy might have been the breaking point. In my opinion, He should first of all have had a lawyer because his bond had a lot of obvious loopholes that were later used against him. Shylock should have at least had some compensation when he couldn’t have the vengeance he seeked.
Also, it should be noted that there are a lot of unanswered questions. We see Jessica at the end of the movie, twirling the emerald ring that Shylock was told she had exchanged for a monkey. Was Shylock lied to just to get a reaction and heighten his aanger? Did she trade the monkey back for the ring? And also, Bassanio and Gratiano, would they be as quick to throw away their wives trust again as quickly as they gave away their rings? Would they lie again?. As for Shylock. Will he be able to live a life as a christian, the religion he despised so? And finally, how can they all move on so naturally after stripping Shylock of his dignity and his way of life when all he wanted was justice?
In conclusion, i really enjoyed the movie and i have a lot of strong opinions about it.