Okay, I meant to write up about this as soon as I got home on Saturday, but I ended up spending pretty much the entire weekend sleeping. Something about two hours in the car, I guess. . .
Anyway, I went to see the BYU production of the Merchant of Venice, a play that was specifically aimed at kids. They did a fairly good job of simplifying some of the more complex concepts for the kids, and even went so far as to get some of the kids to participate as minor characters. It was cute to watch them interact with the kids, especially the shy ones. There were times when I didn't quite understand what they were saying, but the body language made a huge difference in understanding some of the passages I had read previously. There are three important things I wanted to talk about: Antonio being Antonia, the use of necklaces to designate allegiance to a country, and Shylock as a character.
The first thing I noticed while reading the program was that Antonio, from the original play, had become Antonia in this adaptation. At first I assumed that they must have had more girls than guys, but that didn't answer all of my questions. Then, as I was watching the part of the play where Bassanio says that he would pay any price, even losing his wife, to save his friend, I suddenly understood Portia's jealous reaction. Bassanio and Antonia had been friends for years. Portia had only just been married to Bassanio, and didn't know him very well. Maybe Antonia also liked Bassanio, and that was why she was so sad at the beginning of a play. When Antonia was Antonio, there was almost a hint at a gay theme in the play. This way, it is easier for my mind to grasp the love triangle that could exist between these three.
When reading the play, it upset me that Shylock had to give up his religion to save his life. Watching the production brought this point home. The important people of the land wore necklaces with a blue star on them. Shylock, being from another land, wore one with an orange spiral. When Shylock swears fealty to the dominant culture, he throws down his necklace and his hat. The imagery there almost made me cry. By taking away his religion, or his culture, Antonia and the Duke were taking away his very identity. This did not strike me as fair at all.
The idea of fairness brings me to my third observation. At first glance, one sees that Shylock showed no mercy, and so little mercy was shown to him. Then I started thinking, what if one person had shown kindness to Shylock, instead of pulling him down, ostracizing him and insulting him. Maybe, he would not have been so bitter towards Antonia and all that she stood for. Maybe then he would have shown mercy towards her, instead of demanding a pound of her flesh. It is hard to say what could have happened.
ooh, I hadn't thought about the gay aspect of the play before. I'm always the last to pick up on that kind of theme, but I guess it makes sense. On the other hand, the new marriage lends itself easily to any kind of jealousy, be it of a sexual nature or otherwise. It is interesting though, that they made Antonio into Antonia. I'd be curious what other people from our class think?
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