Q1. Imagine you are Portia. You are all elated with the win against Shylock. You want to describe the day's proceedings to your mother. Write an informal letter as Portia in about 150 words.
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Answer:
Many readers find it difficult to rejoice in Portia’s victory. Ultimately, Shylock’s pursuit of a strict letter-of-the-law brand of justice, which makes no allowance for anything that even approaches compassion, undoes him. He proves blind to everything other than the stipulations of his bond, refusing even to summon a doctor to attend to Antonio’s wounds. But we may feel that the punishment Portia exacts is too heavy. Perhaps the court’s verdict fits Shylock’s crimes, but the court indulges in an equally literal and severe reading of the law in order to effect the same vicious end: the utter annihilation of a human being. Before doling out Shylock’s punishment, the duke assures him that he will “see the difference of our spirit,” but the spirit of the Venetians proves to be as vindictive as the Jew’s (IV.i.363). The duke spares Shylock’s life, but takes away his ability to practice his profession and his religion. In the course of the play, Shylock has lost his servant, his daughter, his fortune, and a treasured ring given to him by his dead wife. He will forfeit his estate to the man responsible for stealing his daughter, and he will abandon his religion for one that forbids him from practicing the trade by which he earns his livelihood. Modern audiences cannot help but view Shylock as a victim. He has become a tragic figure in a comedy that has no place for a character so complex.
Explanation: