ENGL 105A Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: The Love Test, Main Plot, Subplot
Document Summary
The merchant of venice: lecture #7 1-31-17: plot structure. The tale of gianetto and the lady of belmont. Venice: urban, metropolitan, diverse, biggest trading city of the time; ghetto, largest jewish city, commercial city, place of law and commerce, ordinary world (london) Belmont: doesn"t exist, imagined, fairytale land of this place, 3 casket choice occurs here, place of great wealth, but not of commerce. Shakespeare is imagining belmont, he is imagining the elizabethan great house: portia"s wealth is from belmont, but because she is born with it , not really from here. Belmont: rural, fantastic, beautiful, traveling action; portia and nerissa travel from belmont to venice to free antonio. *** action moves in a pattern way between venice and belmont: bassanio travels from venice to belmont (ideal magic kingdom world) and wins her in ideal world, action in the two plots echo each other; mirror each other.
