Unit 19 The Merchant of Venice The Merchant

Unit 19 The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice

Warming up

William Shakespeare ( 1564 -1616)

William Shakespeare ( 1564 -1616)

Tragedies o罗密欧与朱丽叶 (Romeo and Juliet) o麦克白(Macbeth) o李尔王(King Lear) o哈姆雷特(Hamlet) o奥赛罗(Othello) o考利欧雷诺斯(Coriolanus) o脱爱勒斯与克来西达 (Troilus and Cressida) 雅典的泰蒙(Timon of Athens) 诗

Comedies o错中错(The Comedy of Errors) o皆大欢喜(All's Well That Ends Well) o如愿(As You Like It) o仲夏夜梦(A Midsummer Night's Dream) o无事生非(Much Ado About Nothing) o一报还一报(Measure for Measure o第十二夜(Twelfth Night or What You Will) o威尼斯商人(The Merchant of Venice) o空爱一场(Love's Labor's Lost) o冬天的故事(The Winter's Tale)

poetry 十四行诗（The Sonnets） o爱人的怨诉（A Lover's Complaint） o鲁克丽丝失贞记（The Rape of Lucrece） o维纳斯和阿多尼斯（Venus and Adonis） o热情的朝圣者（The Passionate Pilgrim o凤凰和斑鸠（The Phoenix and the Turtle）

To be or not to be: that is the question. Hamlet

It is a question whether to live on in this world or to die, that is, to take action or to do nothing.

To be or not to be: that is the question. <Hamlet> Meaning: Is it possible or not? Is he alive or not?

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. King Henry IV

A person who has great responsibilities, such as a king, is constantly worried and therefore doesn't sleep soundly.

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. <King Henry IV> Meaning: The life of leaders isn’t easy. Having many responsibilities, leaders often can’t sleep well.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be. <Hamlet> Meaning: be careful to take or give money to others. You’d better be careful.

Romeo, why are you Romeo? Deny your father, and refuse your name… Romeo & Juliet

Why must you be the son of my family’s greatest enemy? Refuse your family for my love.

Romeo, why are you Romeo? Deny your father, and refuse your name…<Romeo & Juliet> Meaning: if only you had a different name, we would not have this problem and would be together forever.

Words, words, only words, no matter from the heart. Troilus & Cressida

Empty words, not real thoughts or ideas from the heart.

Words, words, only words, no matter from the heart. Meaning: it’s all empty words, and there isn’t any truth in them. You just talk, but you don, t mean it.

Listening

Antonio Bassanio Shylock Portia

Questions: 1. In which city does the play take place? 2. 2. How much time passes between the beginning of the play and the end? 3. 3. How much money does Bassanio need to marry Portia? 4. 4. What must Antonio give Shylock if he can’t pay back the debt?

Questions: 1. In which city does the play take place? Venice. 2. How much time passes between the beginning of the play and the end? Three months.

3. How much money does Bassanio need to marry Portia? Three thousand ducats. 4. What must Antonio give Shylock if he can’t pay back the debt? A pound of flesh.

Task 1 Match the two columns 1. Antonio a. the judge 2. Shylock: b. the moneylender 3. Bassanio c. the merchant of Venice 4. Portia 5. Duke: d. Antonio’s friend e. Bassanio’s wife

Shylock Portia Antonio Bassanio

What is their relation to the other characters in the play? Shylock: the moneylender Bassanio: Antonio: Antonio’s friend the merchant of Venice Portia: Bassanio’s wife Duke: the judge

Shylock Bassanio a cruel Antonio’s best friend businessman gets married with Portia with lends Antonio the money borrowed from 3000 ducats. Shylock. Antonio A kind merchant of Venice borrows 3000 ducats from Shylock for Bassanio. Portia a rich and beautiful The duke woman to marry Bassanio, also acts as the President of Venice head of the court. lawyer.

The Merchant of Venice

Antonio is a rich businessman of the city of Venice. Everyone likes him because he is always ready to help others. At the time of this story his ships are all at sea to trade with foreign countries. Bassanio , Antonio’s best friends, is in love with Portia is a rich and beautiful lady. She loves Bassanio but they cannot get married because he is too poor. Then Bassanio asks Antonio to lend him three thousand ducats.

Being short of money just then Antonio goes to Shylock to borrow the money, Shylock has always hated Antonio, because Antonio has often in public shown how cruel and terrible Shylock is. Shylock agrees to lend Antonio the money but Antonio must promise to allow Shylock to take a pound of flesh from any part of his body if he cannot pay the money back after three months. Antonio agrees to this, takes the money and gives it to Bassanio.

On the day Bassanio and Portia get married, they receive a letter from Antonio saying that all his ships have been lost at sea. Now he himself does not have enough money to pay back the three thousand ducats and so he must give Shylock one pound of his flesh. Portia thinks of a clever plan to save Antonio. she asks a good friend who is a doctor of law, to lend her some of his lawyer’s clothes and books. Dressed as a lawyer, she arrives at the court of the Duke, where Antonio case is decided.

As the Duke is wondering what to do, Portia gives him a letter from the famous lawyer whom she has visited. In the letter it says that Portia is a learned young doctor from Rome who is young but very wise. The Duke accepts Portia to take the place of the famous lawyer and handle this difficult case.

Free talk: As we know, Antonio didn't have money at that time, but he still borrowed money from Shylock he hated for Bassanio. If you were Antonio, what would you do?

Speaking

speaking What makes a play a masterpiece is that the ideas behind the play are about problems which are still important to people of different ages in modern times.

Mercy VS revenge Shylock Create a chance to kill Antonio. Duke Has a chance to punish Shylock. (vengeful) (merciful) He used the chance. He forgave him.

It happens everywhere around the world: two young people love each other, but when the boy is poor or doesn't have a good job, often the parents of the girl don’t allow them to get married.

VS Love VS Money

Discussion: What would you do if you had your worst enemy in your power? Useful expressions Correct me if I’m wrong, but… You shouldn't forget that… What shouldn't be forgotten is… One of the most important facts is… You could, for example, say… The way I would go about it… As far as I know… After all…

Discussion: Maybe you even know some examples in your hometown. Are the parents right? If not, what do you think about the situation like that? What should be done?

Further discussion: ---We all know the story of Romeo & Juliet, in the play the lovers didn't have a happy ending because of revenge. If you were Juliet’s father, in order to let your daughter live a happy life, do you want to give up the revenge? Do you want to have mercy on Romeo? After you forgive Romeo, there is another man who loves Juliet very much. What’s more, he is richer than Romeo, but Juliet doesn’t love him, will you marry your daughter to him instead of Romeo?

To err is human, to forgive, divine. --- Pope 人皆犯错，你能原谅别人，你就是圣人。 Creditors have better memories than debtors. 放债的比借债的记忆好。--- Benjamin Franklin All the splendors in the world is not worth a good friend. 人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友. ---Voltaire

Dirty money will not bring good luck. 不义之财不会带来好运气。 The course of true love never did run smooth. 通向真爱的路从无坦途。--- Shakespeare Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence. 爱是对人类之存在这一问题唯一明确而又令人满意的答案。

The ideals which have lighted my way , and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully have been kindness, beauty and truth. 有些理想曾为我们引过道路，并不断给我新的勇气以欣然面对人生，那些理 想就是——真、善、美。--- Albert Einstein

Homework: 1. Retell: listen to the listening material again after class, then retell it with your own words. 2. Review Direct and Indirect Speech.