People will often do whatever it takes to get their hands on money. It can be dangerous, risky, or even illegal, and people will still do it. A person needs money to live the lifestyle that meets their expectations, and to manage life's necessities. In the Shakespeare play, "The Merchant of Venice, two merchants Antonio and Shylock, who hate each other (due to religious conflicts), make a deal involving a lot of money. If their bond failed, Shylock could cut out a pound of Antonio's flesh. When Antonio fails to pay Shylock back, both characters learn important lessons about money and greed. In the end, Shylock ends up not gaining anything from the trial. Money causes people to make selfish decisions, and tends to worsen situations. This play demonstrates how being greedy and never content with what you are offered can actually break and ruin and person. The play, "The Merchant of Venice", portrays that money is the root of all problems and often directs a person towards the pathway of evil.
People that have problems with money lack compassion for others and quite often have a hard time showing emotions towards other people. "I'll have my bond! Don't speak against my bond! I've sworn an oath that I will have my bond!" Shylock decided that he would rather have a piece of Antonio's flesh than to have three times more money than the original bond. This cruel decision was made in an effort to harm Antonio because of their religious differences. But,the original reason why they are in this situation began with the problem of money. "You might as well stand on the seashore and bid the tide not to reach its usual height, or as the wolf why he has made the ewe cry for its lamb. Anything equally hard you might as well attempt to do, as try to soften the hardest thing of all - his Jewish heart." Antonio believes that Shylock is a cold hearted person and the hardest thing that you can possibly think of is probably easier than trying to soften his heart. Shylock has no mercy at all for Antonio, because he wanted to see Antonio suffer. However, if Antonio and Shylock had not made such an outrageous deal in the first place, they wouldn't be having this problem. Money was the start of this conflict, and lead Shylock to become an even crueler person than he was before.
When people have lots of money, they start fulfilling their wants intead of their needs. "Give me my money back and let me go." Once Shylock learns that he can't shed any blood when he cuts of a pound of Antonio's flesh, he decides to take the money instead. However, the judge says that its too late because he already denied the money. Since Shylock was already rich from being a successful merchant, he wanted to watch Antonio suffer, because he didn't necessarily need the money. "Well, then, may the devil give him joy of it! I'll tolerate no more of this." In the end, Shylock ended up with no money, no piece of Antonio's flesh, a signed will that gave all of his possessions to his daughter (who hated and stole from him), and had to convert to Christianity. This shows that money and greed causes people to make evil choices and does no good. People with lots of money are never content with the offers that they are presented with, which leads to problems in the long run.
The majority of this play revolves around a singular theme; money. Money was the main cause of the character's problems, and made them make improper choices and decisions. In the end, Shylock was the most unhappy man because he had to give up things that truly mattered to him. Antonio was the one who broke the bond, yet Shylock was the one who had to pay for it because of his greediness. There is nothing wrong with money itself, but once it starts controlling a person and their decisions is when the real problems begin to happen. Ones desire for money causes them to become selfish and ruthless and does more harm than it does good.
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